Oklahoma State University Athletics
Combo Tickets For Students
March 30, 2009 | General
As many of you know, Newson6.com ran a story equating poor student attendance in Gallagher Iba arena to the outlandish price of tickets. The reporter stated OSU's arena was “...the most expensive place in the country for a student to watch a major college basketball game at $242 for a season ticket”.  Â
Unfortunately, this is simply very sorry journalism. The writer did not do his homework. His short-sided information was picked up by Sporting News and re-ran in national publications. As I hold a B.S. in Journalism, I suppose what is tolerated as professional in today's media is different than yesterdays standards.
Please note the rest of the story below. Also, know this information took weeks (literally) for our Ticket Office representatives to dig up. Many private institutions are not willing to divulge information (they don't have to under state policy).  Â
FACTS:
Many of our NCAA peers have student athletic fees which help to hold the ticket cost down. In fact, 43 of the 71 BCS schools have an athletic fee and the average amount is $163/semester.Â
Twenty-three of the twenty-four schools in the ACC and SEC have a student athletic fee. The average fee in the ACC is $138/semester and the average for the SEC is $127.80.
These athletic fees are mandatory upon semester enrollment BEFORE we begin discussing season ticket prices. At Oklahoma State, the student has options to sign up for Men's Basketball and Football; all other sports are free with a student ID.
When you include this information along with the published student ticket prices you get a clearer picture of what it actually costs for students to attend athletic events at respective universities. Peer-to-peer comparisons are difficult because of the many variations and complexities in this space.
STRATEGIES:
As you know, we are very concerned about declining student attendance (so are many top programs around the country including Duke and KU...). Our staff has spent many hours developing different strategies/tactics to implement for next season.
NEW Student offering:
In the 2009-2010 academic year and it is available for immediate purchase, Oklahoma State students have the ability to purchase a new “combo” ticket that allows them to buy football and men's basketball tickets for a total of $330. The new ticket option will save OSU students $84 (more than 20 percent) from last year's prices, despite the addition of an eighth home football game.
Because of seating inventory in Gallagher-Iba Arena, only a limited number of the combo tickets will be sold.
We understand students create the atmosphere at our athletic events and play a big part in the success of our teams. We also know (and this is shared often by President Hargis...) students who attend football and basketball games are more likely to purchase season tickets after graduation and stay connected to the university. Given the tough economic times, the athletic department is making a concerted effort to make games more affordable and grow student attendance – we will continue to explore every option to achieve objectives knowing the most important component will be a competitive/successful basketball team.
Craig
