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Media Relations

Bloomington Herald-Times Articles

August 19, 2008

2007's successes not filling more seats
Record eight home games makes IU football season tickets harder to afford
By Chris Korman
August 19, 2008

Indiana season football tickets are selling at essentially the same pace they did a year ago.

That wasn't what athletic department officials hoped for in the wake of the program's first bowl game in 13 years. Nor is it particularly surprising, given the economic strife afflicting many.

"There's been a price increase, both because we're following the budget plan we set a few years ago and because of the eight-game schedule," said Senior Associate Athletic Director Tim Fitzpatrick. "Those two factors coupled with the general state of the economy means that it has been difficult for some people to make the financial commitment."

Fitzpatrick said he believes Indiana will ultimately sell at least 19,400 season ticket packages, matching last year's total. He said a promotion that will begin this week -- two season tickets in the upper corners of the stadium for the price of one ticket ($249) in the more desired seating areas -- should bolster sales in the run-up to the Hoosiers' opener on Aug. 30 against Western Kentucky.

Season tickets cost $199 for seven games last year, meaning the per-game price for tickets went up about three dollars to $31 for this season. Single-game tickets sell for $39 (except the Wisconsin game, which is $49).

"When Terry Hoeppner got here, we obviously were very aggressive about trying to rebuild the fan base, and that included some deep discounting on ticket prices to try to get people in the building," Fitzpatrick said, noting that Indiana sold just 10,604 season tickets in 2004, the year before Hoeppner arrived. "As we've gone along, we've tried to grow the program in a systematic way and small ticket price increases were part of that plan so that we could get to where we need to be."

One result of the eight-home-game schedule -- the first in school history -- could be that more fans will opt to buy single-game tickets. Indiana is home for four of the first five weeks of the season, with two of those games already scheduled for 7 p.m. (and one to be determined).

Student season tickets are also selling at a pace similar to last year. About 4,000 have been sold so far and Fitzpatrick expects another 2,000 students to opt to buy tickets.

"For them, I think it's really about the quality of the experience," Fitzpatrick said. "But if you look at the Purdue game last year, that was when we hope we really turned the corner. It was a sellout and a large IU crowd.

"Our fans are just getting accustomed to success in football. It was a great year last year, but a great year that followed 13 difficult years. You'd love to say this year is going to be another successful year, and we think it will be. But I've learned that you can't really control the rate of progress, you can only control your commitment to progress. And I think we've done that with our football program."

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