Miami Open photo
Audio By Carbonatix
With sky-high ticket prices to Monday’s college football national championship, University of Miami fans are already scrambling to find the funds necessary to foot the bill. And while hefty price tags have long inspired harebrained ideas like selling one’s organs, particularly expensive parking passes have some college football fans thinking way outside the tackle box.
The University of Miami Hurricanes are set to play the Indiana University Hoosiers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Monday night for the College Football Playoff National Championship. In an effort to save hundreds of dollars on Hard Rock Stadium’s notoriously difficult parking situation, some have taken to social media to suggest that attendees park illegally, have their cars towed, and pay the impound fee — because it’s likely cheaper than paying for a pass. Unfortunately for the pious, rule-following crowd, the theory appears to be true.
In an Instagram post, @thepattefacts, a college football podcast, points out that “A user online may have a genius idea for Miami and Indiana fans that do not want to pay $747 to park at the College Football Final on Monday. The user suggests that it may be smart to just park wherever and pay the fine to pick it up at the inbound after getting towed.”
While parking passes for early ticket buyers may have been less than $100, a typical price for events at Hard Rock Stadium, resale prices have shot up. As of Thursday morning, there were 46 passes left on Stubhub, with only a few parking spots costing less than $150, and they’re not exactly a brief walk from the stadium. There were a handful of parking passes between $324 and $400, but the majority of Hard Rock Stadium’s parking passes range from $400 to $7,650.
Having your car impounded in Miami-Dade County, however, might run you less than $200 if you pick it up within six hours. After that, the fees will really start to pile up. Miami-Dade County’s maximum non-consent towing rate is $145 for a “Class A” vehicle, which is typically one less than 10,000 pounds (so your Ford F-350 or Cadillac Escalade will probably not make the cut). Should anyone be so bold as to attempt this theory, Miami-Dade offers a matrix showing exactly how much “non-consent” towing and impound rates are.
Some users were quick to point out that rideshares like Uber and Lyft are available to and from the stadium, but others sprinted to the comments to warn just how difficult it is to get one from Hard Rock Stadium. Many users argued that attendees have to walk miles away from the stadium and into Miami Gardens neighborhoods just to order a ride. Depending on who you’re rooting for and how the game goes, you might take that walk elated or dejected, dehydrated from all the beer, and unsure of when (or if) your ride will arrive.
Or you could just find the scrappy guy on Instagram who wrote, “For $300, I’ll let you park at my mom’s house in Hialeah, take you to the game, and pick you up after.”
