I think we're all frustrated to miss out on great non-conference home games, but most of us are realistic. And before you become apoplectic about my contentment with "mediocrity," tell me: Do you honestly believe that our program has the finances to turn down $500,000+ paydays any time soon? Answer with your head, not your heart.

Despite your saber-rattling and threats to stop donating, I think we all know you're a true fan. But Duke? Duke is what you hold up as a realistic example to emulate? They're a wealthy private school and their athletic budget is more than $71 million -- and breaks even thanks to hoops and licensing. They play in the ACC. Their stadium seats 39,000. The university is in a large, growing affluent community. Yeah, they're just like us.

I wish everyone had the passion you do about Ohio athletics. I actually enjoy your posts (even the ones where you froth at the mouth). It's good to have people pushing for excellence, but I cannot understand your implacable schedule anger.

What's the point of this post really.  There's no comparison to OHIO's situation.

You're Love game face ready to rant as we're a couple days away from Woffy?!  In the same vein--well, actually a much bigger, mainstream, makes-sense one--I'm ready to slam back at your inappropriate fantasies.  Whatever that means.

The Love, it's time to put all schedule regret aside and slam hard rootin' for the 'Cats.  The better we do, the more substantial we are and you help us become, the closer we should get to the kind of sched that you want.

Do you have your Wofford game face on?

Actually there is a direct comparison. Duke went ahead and kept the home game, and was able to leverage it into massive season ticket sales. Ohio had the same opportunity, first with Pittsburgh, and then with U.Conn. They were able to fill the stadium both times, but only by discounting tickets, and the interest in that single game did not translate into season ticket sales. Having made the comparison, we can either choose to ignore the results and pretend that the Ohio situation is the same as Duke, or we can look at alternative possible solutions.

All tickets should be sold at a price low enough that the attendance is (capacity - 1). 

So the Cleveland Indians should be selling tickets for $1 five rows up? If your product is not valued, you have to charge the very few who do value it a little bit more to subsidize the continuance of it.

If OU football games are only worth $10 of entertainment to the fans who go to Peden, the program is insolvent. And if we didn't put the ticket prices in the student fees, it really would be insolvent.

I look at ticket sales like online newspapers. If you give people something for free, they expect it to be free evermore. They then feel like you've ripped them off when you ask for money for access to articles or actually ask them to pay a reasonable amount to watch a Division I football game.

UConn screwed up people's perceptions about the worth of an OU football game. They're still comparing that deal to paying $20 for watching OU play Wofford in their minds. I know that because my own father complained to me.  He, the cheapest man in the world,  and my mom went to last year's home opener for $20.  Going to a WOFFORD GAME (as he expasperated into my ear on the cell phone yesterday) is costing him more than that. He found it strange.

I told him to shut up and pay it, in kinder terms than that. I value Ohio football, so I don't think it's unreasonable to pay up to $35 per ticket to watch it play at Peden.

You can't make money with penny candy if the customer dislikes the flavor. So you have to find out who values the product by charging more....and yes, bringing in better competition to merit the hike.

Over the last half decade the Ohio football program has charged less for its marquee games and more for its crappier games. That's just backwards.

UConn was a game worth paying $35 for...so why did people get in for $10?

Both sides are correct:  Pricing tickets too cheaply sets a perception of what they are worth, making higher prices after a discount a mental barrier to further purchases ('why so expensive now?!').  But prices do have to be low enough to get people in, to produce revenue for the program.

So, it's a balancing act.  Which means, in America, that you'll get carped at by both sides and be regarded as 100% wrong no matter how you price the tickets.

As many of us have posted so often, the real answer is probably in winning.  That should solve a host of pricing and quality of opponent issues.

So, what's the immediate solution for you?  Back the Bobcats!