The Duke College Basketball Gameday Experience With Amazing Arena Atmosphere

The North Carolina vs. Duke game on Feb 20, 2019 was as close as college basketball gets to Super Bowl magnitude.

There arguably had not been a college prospect like Zion Williamson before, as he was a big reason fans were willing to spend Super Bowl prices to see this regular season rivalry matchup.

I was not one of those people.

BUT…

I was willing to go for $400 or less, as opposed to $2,500 and up which was the market price.

The rational event spectator in me felt it would be easy to walk away from an expensive ticket offer from someone trying to sell me a ticket for the tiny basketball venue that’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“If you’re interested in squeezing into Cameron Indoor Stadium to watch the first installment of the legendary rivalry in 2019, you’ll have to spend $2,500, the price of the cheapest available ticket.

Between Zion Williamson, a No. 1 ranking and this being one of the biggest rivalries in sports, there’s intense demand,” “There’s also a limited supply of inventory, which is having a major effect on price. 

When you factor in that the floor seating is reserved for students, you’re left with a short supply — and massive demand.”

*Source: ESPN Pre-Game Preview

Why So Expensive?

1. Duke is a team fans love (and hate* – but are still intrigued by) around the world and would travel to see.
2. Most expensive ticket in college basketball.
3. Duke stars Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Tre Jones and Cam Reddish are all going to be NBA talents, three of which are likely to be drafted in the top five of the upcoming NBA Draft despite declaring after their freshman year.
4. North Carolina stars Luke Maye, Coby White and Cameron Johnson are an exciting “Big Three.”
5. Duke was ranked number one overall, and UNC was number eight.
6. Same conference, long rivalry history; some feel is the top rivalry in all of sports.
7. Big Nationally televised game on ESPN.
8. Intra-state/Intra-tobacco road region.
9. A UNC-Duke game at Duke is on many sports fans’ bucket lists, including mine, BUT with me, it has to be at the right cost.

If not, I’ll walk away. Fortunately, there is plenty to see in the North Carolina Triangle Region in addition to Duke.

#10: Duke’s Basketball Pedigree Will Have Sellers Raising the Price of Tickets

Duke University, as academically centric the university’s students may be, their men’s basketball team absolutely is the main reason individuals around the world talk about it so much.

The Blue Devils have won four NCAA championships and over 20 ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) tournaments and produced dozens of All-Americans and nine national players of the year, all in addition to having a Hall-of-Fame coach in Mike Krzyzewski.

I read getting a Duke Basketball ticket is the toughest ticket in college basketball because of the team’s historic success and small capacity of Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314 seats).

I felt it was a situation where I was just going to suck up the larger-than-normal cost of a big-time basketball game, but worth it.

#11: “Cameron Crazies”

“Cameron Crazies” – The undergraduate students that occupy the side of the court on the lower level across from the team benches and scorer’s table.

*Source – Duke Athletics Website

Because they occupy a large space, it’s ultra-competitive to try to get the other seats at the tiny venue at a decent price (let alone, any!).

But the small capacity of Cameron Indoor Stadium is part of what makes it so great. You witness 9,314 screaming Duke fans giving it to the other team at all times.

Opposing fan bases make fun of the Cameron Crazies, but they are one of the best, if not the best, undergraduate student body fan bases in the country.

They come prepared with chants specific to each opponent and they keep the energy going from the get go.

My “Dilemma”

I say dilemma in quotations because I was just lucky to be there and to spend the day enjoying the beautiful campus with my good friend Daniel who lives near there.

There was no “do-or-die” dilemma.

I am not a fan of overspending on a three-hour event. When you’re having fun, it goes by so quickly.

So I tried to get in to the game. And I did a lot to try to make this happen!

Before: What I Did to Try to Get In to the Game

I Became an Iron Duke(!) – Marketing Bait, Right?

Absolutely not! Being an Iron Duke was the highlight of my entire Duke day, and I will explain later on.

I gave a $100 donation to the Duke Alumni Association, so I could:

1. Be invited to one of the best pre-game parties on campus ($16 to attend), with the Duke basketball band, all-you-can-eat western-style barbecue (FOOD IS ALWAAAYS ON MY MIND!), nice alumni, and basically an indoor tailgate.
2. Get myself to the front of the line for affordable tickets should an alumnus or alumna sell a ticket back to the box office. They then go to the Iron Dukes waitlist.
3. Be given numerous Duke apparel to wear to the game.

Duke Ticket Office Waitlist

I put myself on the Duke Ticket office waitlist for $137 to have access to great seats should they pop up through that marketplace.

The key here was the money was refundable if I wasn’t selected.

TickPick Bid

Since I would have been happy ending the night having spent $400 on this incredible event I placed a lower-level seat bid for $400 on the TickPick app two weeks in advance.

It’s my favorite secondary market ticket app, since there are more discount codes and all the ticket prices you see are with fees included. No trickery, no misleading costs.

A Cool Pre-Game Activity to See on Campus Before the Big Game

Duke has built up some great basketball history in the last 40 years.

A popular local opinion is the best place to experience that is at the Duke Basketball Museum & Sports Hall of Fame attached to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

(**video was an instagram story, so it couldn’t rotate for this format**)

You can walk through to see mementos of the National Championship teams, articles from former players, and trophies from the in-season tournament the Blue Devils have won.

There’s also an area where you can experience old sounds from great Cameron Indoor moments. I love their fight song.

I spent about two hours there.

Right outside is the tenting in Krzyzewskiville, the tent area named after Coach K.

“Krzyzewskiville, or K-ville for short, is, the line for students hoping to get the best seats in the house for major home games.

But that line forms well in advance and may better described as a “tent city.”

Students camp out to be the first in Cameron Indoor — and those doors won’t open until about an hour and a half before tipoff if they get tickets.

*source: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/page/fansectionfeatureduke/duke-cameron-crazies-krzyzewskiville

During [Part One: Iron Dukes Pre-Game Dinner and Rally].

I stepped into the beautiful Blue Devil Tower overlooking Wallace Wade Field.

People painted their faces white and blue, some nervous about how the Duke game would go down in two hours.

I asked those at my table why they were nervous in a matchup where Duke was favored comfortably.

“I skipped work so I can sleep all day to prep for this crazy game,” one said while giving his wife a guilty look.

She laughed and seem to approve of his decision 100% because she too was a diehard.

“I skipped work just so thinking about this game tonight wouldn’t distract me from performing my duties at work,” another said while chugging beer.

I asked my typical Grasshopper Greg question:

“You guys know anyone who’s looking to get rid of an extra [ticket]?!”

For the first time EVER, after canvassing around 10 people who tried hard to find me a ticket thru their extensive Duke contact base, they COULD NOT!

I loved the people at my table.

They taught me so much about the University, told me some of their stories partying way back when they were students, how much the upcoming game means to them and we also networked.

Their careers and businesses fascinated me!

The food was delicious, and it was a terrific experience.

It was like a Duke-themed celebration.

The Takeaway from the Party

If my attempt to get into the game at a “reasonable” cost was unsuccessful by the end of the evening, I had so much fun at this party and the day I had on campus that I would be A-OKAY with skipping the game.

Other Neat Pre-Game Spots At or Near Duke

There aren’t that many options for good pregame fun before Duke Basketball games. There’s no true gathering spot where Duke fans chill before games.

The Bull Durham Bar at the Washington Duke Inn (aka WaDuke) is really your only option for something walkable.

It’s generally a gathering of somewhat older alumni and fans and is only a 10-minute walk from Cameron Indoor.

People end up there right after games as well.

You can always go to classic Duke sports bars like Satisfaction Restaurant and Bar, but the pick is the Washington Duke.

During Part Two: The Ticket Search

I waited near the main security entrance of the arena, separating myself from the others looking to buy.

Thousands of people of all ages walked past me as I held up the innocent finger as in “I’m looking to buy one!…

…If you’re looking to sit next to someone nice, I’m that guy!”

But Duke basketball is SUCH A BIG DEAL that the average fan would not sell a ticket to the game for $2,500 and would rather go.

A few people stopped to ask me the price I was looking for. And be prepared to have some laugh at you.

“How much you looking to spend?,” said one guy.

“I’d get in for $250,” I said. Guy instantly walked away.

I countered with $315. He thought about it, but rather went inside with the ticket.

Another man comes by and made the mistake of asking me what tix were going for (bad negotiation question which gives the power to the buyer).

I told him the secondary market ticket trend from the day, going from $3,000 to about $1,000 and less.

He didn’t believe me, so I pointed out to him (I took a screenshot) of a ticket from the secondary market listed at $700.

It surprised him, and I said, “you have an easy sale at $300.”

He said, “let’s double that.”

I walked away (kindly).

He said, “let’s settle at $500.”

I said, “$400.”

He said “I’m walking away at anything less than $500.”

I gave it some thought, but as a value traveler, I wouldn’t feel good blowing $500 (for a single ticket) on a three-hour event. And it was something I could watch on TV.

And as I thought about that, it hit me:

“I’m happy with the day I had and the time I had at that party where I don’t even need to go to the game.”

The Takeaway from The Ticket Search

I would much rather go on a 17-day trip, or a couple of shorter trips, for $2,500 than to use it on an event.

I have learned through the years it is comfortable to walk away from something tempting feeling great about following your instincts.

This was one of those times.

Where I Went to Watch the Game

I walked right across the plaza to the team store, where it had a humongous-sized tv with movie theater sound inside and a seat. To me, there was no better place to watch the game at this point, and it was right there!

Getting To The Game

Once you have figured out your ticket strategy, you need to figure out how you will get to the game. Luckily, getting to Durham, North Carolina is relatively easy for much of the Eastern and Midwestern United States. The closest, easiest airport to access is likely Raleigh-Durham International, roughly twenty-minutes away from Duke’s main campus. At the same time, Raleigh is still within a reasonable drive of major cities like Charlotte, Richmond, Washington D.C, and Atlanta. Before purchasing your gameday tickets, be sure to figure out a plan for getting to the game.

The Big Game

33 seconds into the game…the TV play-by-play guy says:

“Zion [Williamson] is down! He slipped but I’m not sure how…

…Oh, his shoe BROKE.”

His Nike shoe split in half while planting his foot. He went down hard, as his knee injury forced him off the court to the locker room.

Team doctors ruled him out for the rest of the game. Fans saw him run up and down the court once and that was it.

I felt horrible for him and for the fans who spent a fortune to see him play.

I know I would not have enjoyed much of the rest of the game knowing I paid way too much not to see him play over 33 seconds.

But I felt a slight sigh of relief being on the TV spectator side of things having saved my money on a game that was supposed to be the game of the year, but like any sporting event, NOT guaranteed to be worth the money.

This game flat out wasn’t.

You don’t know when a player you pay to see gets hurt, winds up on the injury report at the last minute, gets rested by his coach because of “load-management,” or has to take personal leave.

That’s why I don’t buy tickets in advance with exception to a small percentage of times.

And you shouldn’t as well unless you are taking a family or group of four or more. You will spend more money on tickets than the day of the game.

Duke lost by 16 at home and both teams did not play well.

For this particular game, fans did not get what they paid to see.

But I wholeheartedly endorse trying to get into a Duke basketball game.

As you can see, there are ways to circumvent pricey events if you’re willing to be creative.

Before you head home after the big game, check out if there are any tourist friendly Native Indian reservations nearby.

Other Amazing Arenas For College Hoops

If you haven’t had your fill of the college basketball arena atmosphere, there are plenty of other incredible venues to watch hoops. The best venues are often categorized by Their current relevance, historical building significance, as well as the fanbase, or student section. Notably, some of the most popular arenas are at BYU, Purdue, VCU, and Kansas State. Also, you will love “The Barn,” home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. For over twenty years between 1950 and 1971, this college stadium once held the largest seating capacity of any NCAA basketball arena. To experience more incredible sports travel experiences, check out our guide on the ultimate New Orleans Saints gameday experience at the superdome. Certainly, learning about other arenas is a great way to make the most of your Duke college basketball sports travel experience.