UConn Football: Season Ticket Sales Up Slightly
After UConn's first and only bowl win in 2004, there was a pretty good spike in season ticket sales the following year.
Can the same be said after the Huskies earned a share of the Big East title in just their fourth conference season?
Not really.
Sales have risen from an estimated 26,000 in 2007 to 28,000 so far this year. But in 2005, coming off a Motor City Bowl victory, sales reached the school's current high water mark of 32,000 season tickets sold.
think we're pretty happy being over 2,000 from last year," said Mike Enright, the school's associate athletic director for communications.
School officials are certainly pleased with what the students have done. All 4,700 season tickets in their section of Rentschler Field — which seats 40,000 — have been sold.
The total of 28,000 represents only 4,000 more season tickets sold than when the $91.2 million stadium opened in 2003, a season in which the Huskies went 9-3.
They joined the Big East the next year and season ticket sales jumped by 4,000 to 28,000 — same as today.
In 2006, 30,000 season tickets were sold and the team finished 4-8. Maybe that's why the number of season tickets sold dropped to 26,000 in 2007.
In comparing where the Huskies stand vs. some of their conference brethren regarding attendance, Louisville officials said Tuesday that 36,000 season tickets have been sold for 42,000-seat Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
And the Cardinals are coming off their worst year (6-6) since a 1-10 showing in 1997.
Rutgers Stadium, which currently seats 42,000, is being expanded because of waiting lists. RU officials said they've sold 28,000 for the upcoming season — after an 8-5 year.
Financial and scheduling factors could be why UConn's season ticket sales aren't higher.
David Burke of Andover had been going to UConn games before Rentschler was built. Once the Huskies moved to their East Hartford home, he'd plop down $25 a game for himself and each member of his family and think nothing of it.
This year, however, he's outraged about the schedule and starting times, particularly the two weeknight home games — Thursday against Hofstra and Sept. 19, a Friday, against Baylor.
"I have two teenage boys and would love to go to a Saturday afternoon game, but you can't because they play on weeknights now," Burke said by phone Tuesday. "It's ridiculous."
Scheduling, for the most part, is dictated by television.
The exposure, not to mention the paychecks schools get from the networks, simply can't be passed up.
A big issue is that times of most games have yet to be determined. As Enright says, however, TV calls the shots.
But he said it was actually UConn's decision to play Hofstra on the Thursday before Labor Day, instead of Saturday.
"It's that last weekend of the summer," Enright said. "It's important to a lot of people, especially in New England."
But Burke wasn't buying that argument.
"It would be one thing if it was Sunday, but you're off on the Monday, so I don't know," he said.
Difficult economic times have probably played a part as well, though the face value of the tickets hasn't changed since the stadium opened: $40 for a club seat, $35 for a chairback and $25 for preferred and reserved.
But the donations required for some of the seating have changed a bit.
Chairback donations for season tickets, $600 in the first three-year cycle, went up to $650 in 2006 (plus the $25 per game).
In the preferred section, from the goal line to the 35, the donation required was $100 for the first three years. Now it's $150 plus the price of the ticket. There is no donation for reserved seating. At $25 a pop with no donation, a lot of those seats are still available.
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Season Season tickets sold*
2003 24,000
2004 28,000
2005 32,000
2006 30,000
2007 26,000
2008 28,000
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Club seats
(inside, in tower): $40
Chairbacks
(between 35-yard lines): $35
Preferred (35 to end zone): $25
Reserved
(end zones, corners): $25
Season ticket prices are based on the number of home games multiplied by the ticket's face value. For 2008, six home games at $40 each equals $240. (UConn did not provide season ticket numbers by category.)
No. 2: The Donation
Each category — except reserved — requires an annual donation:
Club: $1,400
Chairback: $650
Preferred: $150
No. 3: The Cycle
The final piece of the season ticket cost puzzle is the three-year cycle. The current cycle began in 2006, so a fan buying a club seat in 2006 would have paid $1,400 for three seasons ($4,200) as well as $40 for each game.
In 2007, the donation was for two seasons ($2,800); in 2008, the donation covers one season ($1,400). A new three-year cycle, requiring a three-year donation commitment, begins in 2009.
Club: No Cheap Seat
The cost for a fan who purchased one club seat season ticket in 2006 and committed for three years:
Three-year donation: $4,200
2006 (7 games): $280
2007 (7 games): $280
2008 (6 games): $240
Total: $5,000
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UConn Football: Season Ticket Sales Up Slightly
