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Is It Price Gouging To Increase Hotel Prices For Major Events?

Thursday's Indiana University football game at Memorial Stadium is the first time IU has hosted a season opener against a ranked team, and Bloomington hotel rooms are filling up at premium prices

The game against Ohio State University means a lot of fans will be coming in from out of town.

"You know you are going to have a huge influx of people coming in from Ohio," says Senior Lecturer Kim Donahue from the IU Kelley School of Business, IUPUI campus. "I hate to say this, they almost view this as a home game because it's so close to Columbus."

One night at a downtown hotel is going for up to $500. The same room next week is priced at a quarter of that.

Donahue says it's not price gouging, just simple supply and demand:

"This is not a have-to purchase so that is why it doesn't legally count as price gouging," she says.

Number 2 Ohio State is favored to win, but Donahue says if IU can pull off an upset it will help ticket sales moving forward.