quote:
Schools should seriously consider going down on ticket pricing/donation reqs, at least a little bit. Give something back to the fans that make their fat tv contract so.. fat.

Ticket prices only go down when schools are not winning and there are empty seats ... ala Tennessee. But it's rare and it never sticks. Prices will only continue to rise as long as tickets are selling and there are 85-90% of the seats being filled.

Sell-outs are one thing, attendance is another. ADs are looking for balance. If every game is completely packed then they take into consideration concessions. But few programs fill 100% of their seats for every game these days ... thanks to TV.

I was told, and this was a few years ago but it probably still applies, that you have to rake in $300 per square yard of seating space in a stadium before you break even ... that's the industry standard. I'm talking just ticket sales, gear sales on game day and concession sales ... that is not counting TV revenue. TV revenue is the gravy if you are not hitting that $300 per square yard of seating space figure, otherwise you have to dip into TV revenue to pay game day bills when TV revenue is supposed to go towards recruiting, facilities, etc.

Booster money is supposed to go towards facilities, recruiting and scholarships as well.

The object of every AD's budget is for that stadium to pay for its own operating costs - to be self sustaining even including basic maintenance and upkeep.

Ticket prices will not go down.