Hawkeyes fans are driving en masse 25 hours from Iowa to the Rose Bowl

Right now, the state of Iowa is driving through America, for football.

With hundreds of flights cancelled between Dallas and Chicago, Hawkeye fans headed to the program’s first Rose Bowl in 25 years who didn’t leave early have abandoned air travel plans and started driving.

“There are more of us out here now because of the weather,” 35-year-old Iowa fan Bob Heath said on Tuesday night.

Heath is en route to Pasadena with a carload of Iowa fans, driving straight from Coralville, Iowa to Southern California. The estimated 25-hour run stopped in Omaha to watch Iowa basketball upset undefeated Michigan State.

Driving was always the plan for Heath. When his wife passed on the invitation (“I have three children at home under the age of five,” he notes) he called up friends and decided to drive it. All of it.

“I would’ve found a way to go to a Playoff game, but in Big Ten country, going to this bowl is a bigger deal than going anywhere else.”

Even the Playoff?

“Even the Playoff. It’s been 24 seasons. Kirk Ferentz has three top 10 finishes and went to the Orange, the Capital One and the Outback. Never the Rose.”

If you live in Iowa and cheer for the No. 5 Hawkeyes, you’re probably going to California. The day after Iowa lost the Big Ten Championship to Michigan State (a game also taken over by Iowa fans, who even striped the neutral-site stadium) and was bounced from Playoff consideration, Heath bought a pair of tickets for a face value of $350 apiece. Plus taxes and fees, he spent about $800, and he’s one of the lucky fans.

StubHub’s average Rose Bowl ticket sold is at $422 through Dec. 28, according to figures the company provided SB Nation, with the single highest ticket sold through its service at $3,500. Currently, the cheapest ticket available is $95.

“There’s a guy in the car right now who paid a lot more than me,” Heath said on Tuesday night.

“Hey Nick? Can I tell him how much?” Heath asks the passenger.

“More than twice as much. He said $750 a ticket before taxes and fees,” Heath said. “And they’re not that great, 25th row, 5-yard line.”

A representative from StubHub said the Rose is the company’s second-highest-selling bowl behind the Cotton, but the $422 Rose average is almost double that of the average seat for that game’s Alabama-Michigan State Playoff semifinal ($263).

A representative for secondary market broker TicketNetwork said that Rose tickets are averaging $460 this week, but that while demand is high, prices have dropped steadily through December.

“We don’t find any of this surprising. There’s something amazing that happens with Big Ten programs that haven’t been to the Rose Bowl in a long time,” Rose Bowl Management Committee chairman Scott Jenkins said on Tuesday.

Jenkins said the Iowa demand isn’t unprecedented - it’s on pace with Michigan State’s appearance two years ago - but that it could be substantial on game day against a No. 6 Stanford appearing in its third Rose Bowl in four seasons.

“My dream is, I went to Cal, and they haven’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1959. It would be Cal against Minnesota, who hasn’t been here since 1961,” Jenkins said.

By contract, the Rose allocates 24,000 tickets to the Big Ten and 33,000 to the Pac-12. StubHub is reporting that sales by geography are even, with 26 percent in California and 28 percent in Iowa.

But per capita -- California is home to 38 million people and Iowa just 3 million -- it’s not even close. StubHub’s next highest state for sales is Illinois at 7 percent, where Chicago is a major alumni network for the Hawkeyes.

Heath and his friends will rotate driving four-hour shifts and should be arriving in Pasadena by dinner on Wednesday, in time to join the Hawkeye encampment.

“I would’ve paid $2,000 a ticket to do this. Every guy in this car would have, too. That’s how important the Rose Bowl is.”

“But also, we have to get rid of six face value tickets, if you want to mention that. bobheath3232@gmail.com. Thanks.”

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