http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/...thispage=1

Sunday, July 13, 2008JON SOLOMONNews staff writer
Ten years ago, a face-value ticket to the Iron Bowl cost $30. Today, $30 can't get you into any Alabama or Auburn game, even against the nonconference bottom feeders.

The price to watch college football has skyrocketed. The average SEC ticket price - including the minimum donations required for the right to purchase season tickets - has increased 80 percent since 1998, from $61.07 to $110.05, according to an analysis by The Birmingham News.

Combined with escalating gas and food costs in a slumping economy, some fans and athletics administrators worry the average college football fan is being priced out of stadiums in favor of wealthier clientele.

Others say higher ticket prices are simply the cost of doing business to produce a winning team. And they correctly point to a booming market in which rabid college football fans continue to pour into stadiums in record numbers.

In the SEC, Alabama ($50.71) and Auburn ($50) have the most expensive average face-value tickets in 2008; a decade ago, they each averaged $27.14. LSU ($47.50 average), Tennessee ($45), Arkansas ($45) and Georgia ($40) are among SEC schools that raised 2008 prices.

But it's not just the actual ticket that costs fans if they want to see the best games. Eight SEC schools require a minimum donation in order to purchase season tickets, up from six schools in 1998.

These donations are college football's scaled-down version of the personal seat license in the NFL: You can buy season tickets, but before you do it, it will cost you. And the more you donate, the better your seat.

For instance, Florida charges only $224 for season tickets because purchasing them requires a $4,200 minimum donation. That means Florida fans are paying at least $632 per game, tops in the SEC and a 183 percent increase from 1998.

Alabama charges $355 for season tickets and requires at least a $130 donation. To sit in better seats, there are minimum donation levels at $260, $390, $600, $1,300 and $3,250.

At the very minimum, a Crimson Tide fan who wants season tickets will pay $69.29 per game in 2008. That's up 67 percent from a decade ago.

Auburn season tickets cost $350 and must be accompanied by at least a $225 donation. That places the Tigers' average total ticket cost at $82.14, a 98 percent increase over their 1998 price.

The Iron Bowl ticket is up to $65, making it the fourth-most-expensive game involving SEC teams this season. Tennessee charges $70 each for games against Florida and Alabama, and some tickets for the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville cost $70.

Thirteen SEC games cost $55 or more this season. Alabama or Auburn is involved in nine of them.

It's come to this: A decade ago, a fan could pay $27 face value to see Steve Spurrier duel with Phillip Fulmer for SEC East supremacy. This year, watching their teams play UAB, a 2-10 team in 2007, costs between $35 and $50.

No loss of interest:

Ten years happens to be how long the lucrative and controversial Bowl Championship Series has existed. It's no coincidence ticket prices have spiked since then.

In essence, the regular season has become a playoff each Saturday with a lose-or-go-home atmosphere.

Regular-season gate receipts are a major reason why many presidents oppose a playoff. Their concern is that that would devalue the regular season and hurt ticket sales, which is the biggest source of revenue for most SEC athletics departments.

In the past two years, Georgia President Michael Adams and Florida President Bernie Machen publicly have supported a playoff. They also happen to preside over the only SEC schools that generate more money through donations than football tickets.

Universities gained even more ticket revenue in 2006 with the permanent addition of a 12th regular-season game. The extra home game can mean an additional $3 million per year for schools in 100,000-seat stadiums.

Nonetheless, ticket prices continue to increase. Athletics directors say the rising costs are due to higher expenses associated with athletics departments, particularly coaching salaries and the cost of tuition.

Fans may not enjoy paying more, but they continue to fill the stadiums most Saturdays.

The SEC's average attendance is up 12 percent since 1998, and several schools have expanded their stadiums since then. Tennessee is the only SEC school whose attendance has declined, although the Vols still average more than 100,000 fans per game.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Tennessee also is the only SEC school whose average ticket price has dropped since 1998 - the last time the Vols won a national or SEC title. By reducing the minimum donation from $1,000 to $500, Tennessee saw its average ticket cost drop from $193.67 to $116.43, which still ranks second in the SEC.

Fresh off its first SEC championship game appearance since 2004, Tennessee increased 2008 season tickets by 6.4 percent with hope of generating another $2 million.

"It wasn't easy to decide to make fans pay for more, especially during these difficult economic times," said Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton. "At the same time, our fans expect us to play at a certain level in all sports, and that comes with a cost to generate more revenue."

Student season tickets now cost $90 at Tennessee - they were free in 1998 - and rank third behind LSU ($144) and Auburn ($95) in the SEC. Alabama's student season tickets cost $35.

More athletics departments now view students and faculty and staff as greater sources of revenue. Student season ticket prices in the SEC are up 57 percent from 10 years ago, and faculty/staff season tickets have increased 113 percent.

`Gonna reach a limit':

The stiff, across-the-board price increases could lead to average fans being priced out of attending games, if that hasn't happened already, said Larry Templeton, Mississippi State's recently retired athletics director.

"It's a huge concern at Mississippi State," he said. "We didn't raise ticket prices (in 2008) for that very reason. Our fans hung with us through six years of losing, and the first year we have a winning season, we're gonna charge them more?"

Regardless, the ticket price increases don't seem to be going away.

Compared with other SEC prices, LSU was relatively undervalued for several years. LSU has won more championships than any SEC team in the past decade, but its average ticket price per win using 2008 costs ranks sixth in the conference since 1998.

Fresh off its recent national title, LSU pounced and raised the price of premium tickets by 12 percent this year and imposed new donation levels. A minimum donation costs $140 in 2008 and rises to $210 in 2010.

In addition, LSU charges a $10 waiting-list fee to purchase new season tickets and parking permits. The school expects to generate an additional $17.4 million in the next three years from ticket revenue.

If the past 10 years in the SEC are any indication, it's money in the bank. At this rate, the average SEC ticket cost will approach $200 in another 10 years.

"Fans keep coming," Templeton said. "But there's gonna reach a limit on what fans will spend. I don't foresee any way ticket increases and contributions can continue to rise at the level this thing has risen to in the last 10 years."

Is not just the SEC everyone has raised prices. To get a ticket at FIU to see the USF game is $48.

At USF most lower bowl tickets come with donation levels and they were increased a couple of years ago.
We are still offering group packages for families and the upper decks do not need donations.

College football isn't a sport in the South - it's a way of life. I have driven and flown all over the country to watch my beloved Blue & Gray take the field, but I wouldn't watch a pro game if they played in my backyard.

Hoquista Wrote:http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1215936908250310.xml&coll=2&thispage=1


For instance, Florida charges only $224 for season tickets because purchasing them requires a $4,200 minimum donation. That means Florida fans are paying at least $632 per game, tops in the SEC and a 183 percent increase from 1998.

That statement is very misleading.

The $4,200 donation is for NEW season tix only...as most of UF's stadium requires much less than $4,200 donation for tix.

My friend still sits in the Southeast Corner and his booster fee is still just $150 per ticket (going up to $200 in 2010).

See link and turn to page 5 for complete UF Booster Seating Chart.

http://www.gatorzone.com/tickets/pdf/foo...ochure.pdf

NOTE: Most UF season ticket holders with low booster minimums have had their season tix for the past 15-20 years...as it does take large sums of $$$$ today for new potential season tix buyers to grab some today.

This is the first time students at UT willl have to pay for tickets too. they have always got free tickets until this year. Wonder what effect this will have on attendance too.

With the Big Ten and ACC driving up the cost of good players, the SEC has to do something. If they didn't raise ticket prices they might have to dip into those millions of dollars that the schools get back from the conference each year.

The SEC home of the best players money can buy and where if you ain't cheat'n you ain't try'n.
CJ

gdayre Wrote:This is the first time students at UT willl have to pay for tickets too. they have always got free tickets until this year. Wonder what effect this will have on attendance too.

You obviously don't know Big Orange country. In Big Orange country there is no other choice than the University of Tennessee Volunteers, and the stadium is always packed with 100,000 screaming lunatics...

bitcruncher Wrote:

gdayre Wrote:This is the first time students at UT willl have to pay for tickets too. they have always got free tickets until this year. Wonder what effect this will have on attendance too.

You obviously don't know Big Orange country. In Big Orange country there is no other choice than the University of Tennessee Volunteers, and the stadium is always packed with 100,000 screaming lunatics...

pardon me,I have been to Neely staduim and yes are the many people. I also know that the students has always got in the football for free. Now that students have to buy tickets, I have already heard the grumbles from students here. That was part of the reason they chose UT. Students arent happy about this. Not all students at UT has wealthy parents too. That is one of the selling points they have used here in this area. That will have an effect on UT enrollment. UT will be the first school to do this in the state of Tenn. Rumor has it that by next year, it could be for all sporting events at UT.

There are going to be grumbles, but with a student population of over 30,000, UT will have plenty of students willing to cough up the money to go to Neyland Stadium to watch to Vols play. Bet on it.