Quote:The empty seats at Bulldog Stadium and Save Mart Center for Fresno State football and basketball games are a troubling sign, but declining attendance is only part of a larger problem for an athletic department intending to get bigger and better.

The famed Red Wave, which helped build those venues and has served Fresno State athletic interests so well for so long, is going gray. And as is the case for most of the nation’s Division I schools, the athletic department is struggling to entice younger fans to games and build a sustainable base of season-ticket sales that account for a significant portion of its revenue.

Quote:Forty-nine percent of Fresno State football season ticket holders are 56 and older, according to a recent athletic department survey, with 9 percent 35 and younger. In basketball, 75 percent of season ticket holders are 56 and older and 4 percent 35 and younger.

Quote:But Fresno State’s overall ticket sales have dropped sharply the past five seasons, a disturbing trend for a department that for years counted gate receipts as its second-largest source of revenue behind university support. In 2016-17, it is fourth behind university support, fundraising and a Mountain West Conference/NCAA distribution.




Fresno State sold 15,404 football season tickets in 2016, compared to 18,432 in 2015. It sold 3,809 in basketball, down from 3,970.

The athletic department also has struggled to get students into its venues, and in theory they are the season-ticket holders and donors of the future – the next Red Wave.

The average number of student tickets distributed for football games last season was 1,730, down from 2,570 the previous year.

Ticket revenue, the majority from football, has correspondingly declined significantly.




In 2009-10, it accounted for 36.6 percent of a $18.4 million budget, or $6.76 million.

In 2012-13, it was 19.7 percent of a $25.6 million budget, or $5.04 million.

In 2016-17, it accounts for 12.6 percent of a $34.2 million budget, or $4.31 million.