The College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee announced its final four teams Sunday afternoon as millions of fans watched. While it was a forgone conclusion that Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma would be the programs competing for a national championship, where each team would be ranked was the last remaining bit of mystery.

That element was also the one question fans needed a hurried answer to in order to make travel plans for the Dec. 31 semifinal games at the Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida) and the Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas). However, once it was made clear where exactly the teams would be playing, that is when the drama for fans really began as they quickly discovered the ticket prices.

“The College Football Playoff, much like the NFL and the Super Bowl, are pricing the average fan out of the games,” said Oklahoma fan Bruce Johnson. “I believe the games are becoming corporate and close to losing the qualities that make college football special inside as well as outside the stadium: the traditional chants, the students and divided stadiums who swing on every play of every drive. The cost very much is a reason why my best friend I will not be attending the playoffs this year.”

According to online ticket retailer TicketCity, the cheapest ticket at the Orange Bowl is $200. It goes all the way up to $5,900 for a regular seat. At the Cotton Bowl tickets range from $179 to almost $2,000.

For Kyle Moore, an avid Oklahoma fan, being able to take his family of eight to the semifinal game is an impossible feat due to what he considers skyrocketing ticket costs.

“As a family of eight, we would have to dedicate all of the budget we have for Christmas presents, and probably more, just for tickets,” Moore said. “I understand it is a for-profit business, and if they can sell out, I don’t have a major problem with it.”

With ESPN paying an estimated $610 million annual commitment ($7.3 billion over 12 years) to secure broadcast rights to the playoffs, organizers are not hurting for money.

The CFP is run by the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences. All 10 conferences, as well as the FBS Independents, are members of the entity – CFP Administration, LLC.

These conferences manage the semifinal games, as well as the CFP National Championship. A board of managers, management committee, counsel and CFP staff also assist in the execution of the playoff.

All FBS conferences and independent institutions receive significant increases in revenue from the CFP under the revenue-distribution plan adopted unanimously by the board of managers. So it is in the conferences and member institutions best interest to make as much money off the game as possible.

A conference will receive $6 million for each team that is selected for the semifinal games. There will be no additional distribution to conferences whose teams qualify for the national championship game. A conference will receive $4 million for each team that plays in a non-playoff bowl under the arrangement (in 2014-2015, the Cotton, Fiesta and Peach Bowls).

Each conference whose team participates in a playoff semifinal, Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowl, or in the national championship game will receive $2.08 million to cover expenses for each game.

“The organizers know that people will pay for tickets regardless of their income,” said Alabama fan Shelica Kennedy Jackson. “However, they are not talking into account the travel cost. They don’t care because people will buy. I don’t think the college football playoff prices are trying to slight anyone with their prices. I just think they know people will pay because of the experience and to say ‘I was there.’”

Heading into the finals days before last year’s title game between Oregon and Ohio State, tickets were being sold on StubHub at an average price of $859. That was down from the final average of $889 for Florida State and Auburn pairing in 2014, which was the final year of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system.

Both games were far below the ticket prices for Alabama-Notre Dame in 2013 ($1,640), Alabama-LSU in 2012 ($1,808) and Auburn-Oregon in 2011 ($1,154).

More than a month a away from the 2015-16 national title game, the cheapest ticket at the University of Phoenix Stadium is $656 and tops out at $4,900. On the secondary market, those numbers could go up or down depending on which teams make it to the game. But they will not go down by much.

That leaves Moore unable to make the trip to Arizona if the Sooners beat Clemson and land in the title game.

“With the advent of better TVs, it is so hard to justify going to games,” Moore said. “For the college football playoff, do I want to mortgage two months worth of bills to watch it live from a seat so far away from the game it’s hard to see or sit in my living room with my family and watch it in crystal clear Ultra 4k HD? It’s not just the ticket prices…$30 for a shirt, $50 for parking, probably $75 for concessions (or more), plus hotels, travel etc. plus taking vacation time from work. If you are a working family, how do you justify the trip?”