Let's look at the picture from another perspective. Let's say that the Stadium seats 24,500. Then let's say that they reserve 8,000 seats for students. Next let's say that they sell 13,500 season tickets. That leaves 3,000 tickets that can be sold individually. Of those, let's say that they issue 500 to opposing teams. Now you are down to 2500. What price differential would it take to equalize sales between the various games?

Thus, for example, the goal for pricing the Marshall ticket is to price it high enough that they don't have excess demand for the few tickets that they have, but to price it low enough that they sell all the tickets they have.

Just curious...How many of us regular BA posters let ticket prices influence our purchases of tickets, either season tix or single-gamers?

My own thinking? I regard what I pay as a contribution to Alma Mater as much as or more than ticket buying. Even with Lynne gone, I continue to buy two season tix.

It influences my buying because since I split the tickets with family I need more than 2 tickets. Four members of my immediate family are alumni of the school. Four tickets in the tour club are 1500 dollars and just a few rows below that premium family packs are going for 180. I'd rather put the extra 1300 dollars toward my pledge for the academic center.

BG-Wisconsin at Cleveland Browns Stadium had 30,307. Even with a good chunk of that likely being Badger fans, I think looking at that number we could realistically hope for 40k. Every game I go to for OHIO football outside of Athens I'm impressed by the Bobcat turnout.

Still, I'd rather just play in Athens. If we did this though, I'd be there and I'd be excited about it.

I think you are dreaming or smoking some of Athens finest if you think playing in Cleveland would be a financial success. I know Akron tried it years ago and lost money. They BG game probably lost money. Believe me, the Browns aren't going to let you use the stadium for free. I think the Toledo-OSU game did Ok, but 90% of the people were routing against Toledo. Taking away a money game is a severe penalty. I don't think you would get any major team to play there. It is nice to say all the alums in the area would come, but my two children are alums and they would have no interest. It always seems good on paper, but when you get into the economics, I think it just doesn't work.

I think everyone is looking at the Sept 1, 2007 game between NIU and Iowa at Soldier Field, which drew 61,500 and thinking "we can do that!". As the BG and Toledo games show, it doesn't always work. NIU went back to the well, and tried it again, playing Wisconsin at Soldier field September 17, 2011, and drew only 41,068. Then they played Iowa on Sept 1, 2012 and drew 52,117. My gut tells me that if you draw 50,000 or more, it works financially, but below that it doesn't. Therefore we have 2 examples (NIU-Iowa) of games that worked, and several examples (NIU-Wisconsin, Akron, and BG) of games that didn't.

As a side question, why did Iowa outdraw Wisconsin, considering that Wisconsin is closer to Soldier Field (161 minutes from Madison to Soldier Field versus 206 from Iowa City), and given that I think Wisconsin generally has better fan support? My guess is that people expected a better game against Iowa, and that's what they got. Wisconsin beat NIU 49-7, while the two games against Iowa were 16-3 and 18-17. If so, that's a lesson - don't set up one of these games unless you have reason to believe it not only is a foe with good fan appeal, but it's also a foe where fans will expect a close game.

By the way, I don't know the nature of the deals that NIU made with Iowa or Wisconsin, or the deals Toledo or BG made, but I did find this press release concerning the cancellation of a deal that Nebraska had to play at Soldier Field: http://tinyurl.com/q29oawq
Apparently Nebraska was going to play at Soldier Field in exchange for two games in Lincoln. Those 2:1 deals will kill you financially, and I don't think even attendance of 50,000 would be enough.

Looking at the NIU schedules, the Iowa deals appear to be 1:1, with a pair in 2006 and 2007, and another pair in 2011 and 2012. (Of course, as Billy points out, Iowa may have taken a share of the gate from Soldier Field, too, so NIU may not have done as well as it appears at first glance.)

As for Wisconsin, they played at Wisconsin in 2002, 2007, and 2009, and played a "home" game at Soldier field in 2011. There is no way to know the nature of that deal, which could have been 1:1 with two money games, or something else.

In any case, NIU did pay another cost for having some 2:1 deals in that they only had 5 home games in 2010, 2013, and 2014. That might be a partial factor in their weak attendance in recent years. By scheduling only 5 home games, they in essence turned their backs on the Dekalb business community, and the people of Dekalb may have responded in kind.

The more I think about this, the more I think it's a very bad idea, with a lot of ways to lose, and not many ways to win. I think it would be better to just keep finding ways to squeeze a few more people into Peden, such as bleachers on the roof of the Academic Center (which would only be used on Parent's Weekend and Homecoming), and continue trying to upgrade the schedule, and definitely keep having 6 or more games a year in Peden.

No, I think you're right, at least as to college football. OSU would sell out First Energy Stadium even if they played Hiram College (no offense to Hiram College) but there's no financial incentive for OSU to play Ohio here in Cleveland. OSU's stadium seats close to 40,000 more people than the Browns' stadium does, especially after some of the seat reconfiguration Browns Stadium underwent last year. First Energy only seats something like 67,000-68,000 people now.

Agreed on Ohio State in Browns Stadium. That is why I said if we are going to play them we might as well do it in Columbus. Either way it would be a majority OSU crowd. No sense in wasting a home game on that.

I still think Ohio could pull a good crowd against someone like Wisconsin in Cleveland. I really don't think it is worth it though (even with a decent crowd) with L.C. pointing out the benefits of playing games in Athens.
I'm of that opinion for all college teams. Not just Ohio. Keep your games at home not at neutral sites.

No, no different. Toledo and BG have MACC titles, and failed with this strategy, and NIU had more success with this strategy back in 2007 before their MAC titles than they had after the titles.

I have struggled to understand why, despite their success on the field, NIU attendance has been miserable the last few years, near the bottom of the MAC. Obviously the mid-week games are part of the answer (Presbyterian on a Thursday 12,398; Toledo on a Tuesday 8,462), but they don't explain the weak attendance at Saturday games, such as 11,211 to see Miami on Oct 18th last year, or 15,620 to see Kent State on October 4th. I think the games at Soldier Field are part of the answer. By moving 3 games to Soldier Field, they took money out of the DeKalb economy.

The more games Ohio plays in Peden, the more the Athens business community will benefit, and the more they will be behind Ohio. People scratch the back of the one that scratches their back. If Ohio starts playing games in Cleveland it will erase a lot of progress that has been made over the last ten years, and you'll see a lot more OSU gear and support in Athens.


Haha, I have a funny idea. Play a game, not in Cleveland, but in Columbus. Pick a week where Ohio State is on the road, and schedule to play Michigan in Ohio Stadium. ROFL ...oh wait, Brady Hoke is gone... hehe

Play osu in Crew Stadium. Charge $200 for single game tickets. It'll still sell out. Take the $4 million gate to the bank.

Respectfully, Ohio is not a loser and already had the MAC's highest avg attendance in 2014. MAC titles have not seemed to help NIU in the slightest.

Really want to give away all the revenue the local businesses would derive from a home game?

Most people don't even realize UK plays football