Basketball ticket prices to increase 10 percent

Kayla Webley
2005-05-25
The Daily

Season ticket prices for next year's basketball season increased minimally due to extra games, team success and increase costs, said University officials.

Season ticket holders will pay $375 for 17 games -- up from $300 for 15 games last year. The new ticket price is approximately $22 per game, an increase of $2 per game from this year's ticket price.

"The majority of the ticket increase is due to the fact that we have two more home games," said Leslie Wurzberger, assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions. "Also, our budget expenses go up every year. We thought a 10 percent increase in ticket prices was a reasonable increase to make."

The athletic department is in a position to increase ticket prices due to an increased demand after the team's success this season, said Wurzberger.

"It's exciting," said Wurzberger. "This is a different position than we have been at in the past with basketball."

Student tickets are being reworked, though. Wurzberger said the athletic department will continue to provide 1,200 seats for the student section.

The changes are being made to compensate for student seats that many times go unfilled. The average number of students who attend the games is 800 -- leaving 400 seats empty, said Wurzberger.

"When you're a in a sold-out venue, you don't want to have any empty seats," said Wurzberger. "We want to have 1,200 students in the building, but they are not coming to every game."

The athletic department is considering many options to solve the problem, including selling season tickets that do not include the games during winter break -- as many students are unable to attend, said Wurzberger.

"Winter break [attendance] is significantly lower, because if students aren't here, they can't come," said Wurzberger. "That would free tickets for those who just want to come to one game."

Another option would be to have an online system where students who hold season tickets could go online and say whether or not they would attend the game.

Unused tickets could be released for purchase 24-hours before each game for non-season ticket holding students, said Wurzberger.

Regardless of the final decision, Wurzberger said the goal is to make it as easy on students as possible

"We are focusing all changes on being easy and convenient, while still trying to help fill the seats in the building," said Wurzberger.

The athletic department hopes to finalize the decision on student tickets within a month, said Wurzberger.