Auburn's athletic dept. operated at a deficit of $866,000 last year'

quote:

---

Rather than place available tickets on the open market, Auburn leaned on big-money boosters to sell out its 2013 home games with Georgia and Alabama, according to a report late Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal.

The country's leading financial newspaper did an intensive study into Auburn's ticket-selling practices last season, and found that the Tigers' 3-9 record in 2012 left it challenged to fill Jordan-Hare Stadium. That struggle continued late into the season, even with the team on the way to the SEC title.

With ticket sales waning early in 2013, the school began sending emails to members of the Talon Society (boosters who have donated more than $500,000 to the athletic department) and other top donors, asking them to purchase tickets. The strategy apparently worked, as the school sold all but 43 tickets to the Georgia game and 212 to the Iron Bowl.

In detailing those ticket sales, the WSJ found the following:

• Thirteen Auburn donors each bought 20-plus tickets at $95 each for the 2013 Iron Bowl, while four bought more than 50. For the Georgia game, those numbers were 16 and six, respectively.

• Auburn booster Jim Cleveland spent a total of $17,100 for 180 tickets to the two games. Cleveland, owner of Cleveland Brothers Construction in Auburn, is a close friend of athletics director Jay Jacobs.

However, by not placing the tickets on the open market, Auburn might have cost itself more than $1 million according to the WSJ's research. Auburn's athletic department operated at a deficit of $866,000 in 2013.

The school chose this route over releasing the tickets into the open market because it didn't want more rival fans than was absolutely necessary getting into the games.

"Our goal is not to have empty seats at the stadium," Auburn spokeswoman Cassie Arner said. "We especially don't want any seats to be occupied by fans of other schools, including Georgia or Alabama fans."

---