The number of football tickets sold this year has surpassed last year’s total at this point, due to more students buying tickets for the 2010 football season.

‘Student sales are up,’ said Scott Sidwell, executive senior associate athletics director. ‘The number of students that were in attendance at the first two home games is a good indicator of what kind of support we’re looking at for the remainder of the season.’

Last year, about 20,000 tickets were sold at the beginning of the season, Sidwell said. This year, sales are already in the low- to mid-20,000s, and sales are expected to continue, he said.

A large freshman class size is the main cause of the increase, Sidwell said, but not the only cause. Sidwell said ticket sales are also up for those in the Syracuse community.

‘People are excited to be back in the Dome,’ Sidwell said. ‘We just want them to get engaged and make it a real hostile environment for the visiting teams.’

Increased ticket promotion also helped sales.

A new sales team, helped by some in the Department of Sport Management, worked to target those outside SU, Sidwell said. The sales team started before the season began, calling Syracuse residents and SU alumni to increase interest and remind people of the upcoming season.

Since football head coach Doug Marrone’s arrival in 2008, Sidwell said there has been a renewed interest in SU football from both students and Syracuse residents. Marrone’s energetic personality has brought new life to the team, and his hard work has made people want to come out in support, Sidwell said.

Performance of the football team matters, he said. The team’s record of three wins and one loss has probably positively affected ticket sales, Sidwell said.

Season tickets can be purchased any time of the year, Sidwell said. The box office starts sending out renewal letters to season ticket holders in February after the schedule comes out, and then people can buy them any time after that. Season tickets are still available for purchase, and Sidwell said people would most likely continue to buy until the University of Pittsburgh game on Oct. 16.

For students, SU football season tickets are $100, and for the general public, the season tickets start at $100 and can go up from there, depending on where fans want to sit. Fans can also buy the Third-Down Package, which consists of tickets to three home games of their choice for $75. Sidwell said students can purchase the combo pack, which includes football and basketball season tickets for a discounted rate, and many take advantage of the deal.

Jon Bigel, a freshman health and exercise science major, is a season ticket holder and said he has enjoyed himself at the games so far. Bigel said he had planned to purchase basketball tickets over the summer, but because of the student combo deal, he decided to purchase that instead.

But not all SU students want to buy season tickets.

Dean Spence, a junior economics and math major, said he bought season tickets his freshman and sophomore year, but did not go to nearly as many games as he thought he would, and it ended up being a waste of money.

The football team not playing well in the past couple of years influenced his decision, Spence said.

‘In the quality of opponents we were playing, it didn’t seem worth the money,’ Spence said.

hawentz@syr.edu

 

Published on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm