Not sure we'd average 10,000 per game if we "paid" people $10.00 per game to attend? I understand the logic of trying to get something out of seats that would otherwise sit empty, but philosophically I'm not a fan of heavy discounting. You devalue the product and make people think the seats are really only worth $2.00, or whatever, each. You could never charge full price to most of these individuals because they're locked into thinking the seats are only worth this amount. I think we should either give them away free or charge full price.

As I said, I "get it" and understand the strategy. Your logic is sound and reasonable. I just don't necessarily care for it. When your NCAA Division I seat costs less than it does to attend an elementary school track meet, I think you've gone too low. The catch words "Sweet 16 Team" and "Six Straight Bowl Games" should not be in the same sentence as "$2.00 - $5.00 each season tickets." Sends two different messages. The billboards in our community promoting "Seats only $5.00 each" embarrass me as it gives the impression that's all the product is really worth. On one hand you're promoting the quality of the program, then on the other hand that the local high school game ticket has a value of up to four times as much.

Of the many things I disagree with fellow posters on this board about, my biggest issue is the push some make to raise ticket prices. Providing great value to consumers isn't something we should be trying to get away from.

In an era when the average college sports fan is asked to pay RIDICULOUS prices to attend D-1 football and basketball games nationally, providing reasonable prices and quite frankly unbelievable value is a great way to build a fanbase. It really seems like common sense to me.

I am biased. The reason I fell in love with Ohio athletics was because my parents both attended Ohio. I always knew I liked Ohio and always casually cheered for the Bobcats because my parents went here, but I never really became the diehard I now consider myself to be until my parents were able to take my siblings and I to games. Setting foot in the Convo as a kid was a gamechanger for me. The atmosphere really caught my imagination. I grew up in a nice house, but for a family, the cost of tickets, food, drinks, parking and transit to the game can add up very quickly and it can be a HUGE deterrent from attending sporting events.

It isn't like there are not higher priced options available. As catfan28 correctly mentions, I believe we have a great structure in place offering upgraded seating to those who can afford it. Offering reasonable prices so families can bring their kids to games is common sense. Ideally, you will see some of those fans who start in the cheaper seats some day have the money to pay for higher end seating.

Fast forward a little. After choosing to attend Ohio and finishing college in 2012, I am in my 2nd year as a football season ticket holder. I graduated in pretty good standing fiscally compared to most today, but I still wasn't in a situation where cost was not a factor in my ability to purchase sports tickets. I looked at the deals Ohio had and realized it was very doable for my budget. I was able to pay less for a pair of season tickets each of the last two years than two of high school classmates who attended Ohio State paid to buy individual game tickets. I will be purchasing basketball season tickets for the first time this year.

I don't view offering low-priced seats in an incredibly poor region of this country as "cheap" but rather "affordable."

"The most affordable high-major atmosphere in the country" doesn't have the ring to it I would like but I majored in finance not marketing.

I do hear a mentions of 5.00 dollar per ticket in Peden tacked on with sarcasm about it being a cheap ticket. That is not the real price that comes out of your wallet. Its the $119 or $170 for the tickets which is not free. Normal pricing for 4 season football tickets is about $385 which is a good chunk of money. As much as car insurance for the year for some people. If you can only make a few games a year it doesn't make sense but at $119 or $170 its the price of a Athens County hotel room. Face value of the football tickets in the family packs was $540 so its a 70%-80% discount compared with the regular season ticket discount of 30%. You have to buy 4 and get to sit in the endzones or up high for that more heavily discounted price.

I didn't see the addition of the premium family package. Interestingly, I think I prefer the family pack seats that I've had for several years now over those, since they are the front row of the closest section. Now for football, upgrading to the premium pack was the best thing I ever did because the regular family pack seats suuuucccckkkk.

I am with Optimist on this discussion. I think we do a great job of getting some good revenue from the more affluent fans with our more attractive seats, but also capture the fandom of the less fortunate (or frugal) with our less attractive seats. I think it is a good balance.

And of course the tired debate of the value of athletic interest adding value to the university is wrapped up in this discussion. If you're on the side that a strong athletic fan base does wonders for your university that go well beyond ticket revenue, then I don't see how you can't support the cheap season ticket options. Without trying to open up that can of worms, I will say the only alumni I know that have any type of ongoing relationship their alma mater are big Bobcat sports fans. And the best way to keep that going after graduation is exactly the situation Optimist described...he just graduated so the guy isn't exactly loaded but he can fairly easily grab season tickets.

What do you do with the tickets you don't use? I think we have a big untapped resource with what we do with planned unused tickets. If fans don't plan on using tickets or giving them away they can let the ticket office know and they can resell them. If the tickets are sold, the season ticket holder will get the OBC points for it.

We have very limited parking around the stadium. Why would it make sense to put OBC members farther away from the stadium, so that random fans can have better parking? It is the same as seating....if you want to be closer...pay up.

Not a bad idea, I would gladly let the ticket office know I won't be using my seats and they are free to resell them. But since we rarely get near a sellout, and when we do the season tickets are usually used...all we'd really be doing is getting slightly better seats for the walk up crowd.

This would be mostly for the seats that you can buy single game tickets for(Gold, Platinum). We would charge more for these seats than we would for regular walk up. It may be more hassle than it is worth, but it would generate more revenue and also fill in the empty lower bowl seats.

Could not have said it any better.

Kudos. Everybody throws up the Applachia card which I have never seen as a problem. Pricing it to get the butts in the seats and build the brand with local support is smart. If you get big money from Columbus or Cincy great but folks in Bloomington Normal, Wichita, Carbondale, Terra Haute are going to be largely local. WuShock fans are absolutely bonkers, if you ever meet one in the airport you will find them to be a lot like Bobcat fans. Chip on their shoulder, witty, intensely loyal, fairly astute when discussing their teams and somewhat cultish.

Setting a price point that fills the Convo is smart. I renewed in June when they first started calling.

Lotta good posts here. Indicative of why Homecoming week is so great at OHIO.

We have Ohio Basketball tickets and have since my daughter cheered for Ohio from 98 to 02. My daughter now works at UNC Hospital and has UNC basketball tickets. They do have a system where you can donate the tickets back to UNC and get a credit toward a Tar Heel Club membership. They are not in a position to be making donations to the Tar Heel Club but it is a nice concept. Of course the demand for tickets there is a bit higher than at Ohio so they also have connection to Stub Hub on their ticket website.

What about a ticket exchange for future games. For example: If I have two season tickets, but I'm unable to make a weeknight game, I can exchange those tickets for two extra tickets for weekend game that I am attending (granted the seats couldn't be together). That way, I could bring a couple friends/family to the game with me when I come. I see two benefits to this:

1) Added perk of buying season tickets - Could increase ticket sales.
2) More butts in the seats - If I know I have "free" tickets, I'm going to be inviting people I may not otherwise invite.

Also, I'm pretty sure that most business models are centered around increasing "season tickets", since these are guaranteed sales.