Premium seats to come at a price

— -- Those who want to guarantee themselves a premium ticket to the first college football title game under the new playoff system can start buying Monday.

But fans might want to check the limit on their credit cards before doing so, as the cheapest tickets will run almost $2,000.

Ticket and hospitality companies PrimeSport and Colonnade Group, two of the vendors chosen by the organizers of the College Football Playoff, posted identical prices on their websites Monday morning.

The cheapest premium seat available through either company for the 2015 title game, which will be played Jan. 12 in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is $1,899. The seat, in the corners of the top level of the stadium where the Cowboys play, comes with a three-hour pregame hospitality event, a full premium menu and top-shelf bar, and a $50 merchandise voucher.

The most expensive ticket is a seat in a suite located between the 20-yard lines, with hospitality, food, bar, gift bag and postgame field access, for $3,899 each. Options that include a three-night stay in a premium Dallas-area hotel drive the cost up to more than $5,000.

PrimeSport also notes that it has suites available, which range from 15 to 59 seats, for prices starting at $4,000 a seat.

The premium ticket offerings are only the first glimpse into the business of the college football playoff system. Last week, the organizers of the playoff announced that 1,000 tickets to the title game will be made available by a random drawing to fans who submit their names between Jan. 13 and May 1. Five hundred winners will be notified that they are entitled to purchase two tickets at face value, which has not been announced.

Face values for the two semifinal games, which will take place at the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015, and are controlled by the organizers of those venues, have not been determined.

The face-value ticket for this year's Rose Bowl ranged from $150 to $185, Sugar Bowl tickets ranged from $175 to $240, and title game tickets had face values of $325 and $385.