28
October
2016
|
06:00 AM
America/New_York

Ohio State proposes 2017-18 athletic ticket prices

Buckeye fans may pay a little less to catch the Running Rebels and a little more to see the Sooners next year.

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees will consider new ticket prices for the football and men’s basketball teams at its November meeting next week.

For football, the Oklahoma Sooners head to Ohio Stadium as one of the marquee match-ups in the nation for 2017. Those tickets would be $190 next year. But the game against UNLV will set you back only $65. It’s a continuation of the differentiated pricing system in place since 2013. Season ticket discounts would be maintained at 15 percent for public season ticket holders and 20 percent for faculty and staff.

“Aligning pricing to market is an effective tool in generating ticket sales revenue to support our athletics department, which remains one of only 18 self-supporting athletics programs across the nation,” said Gene Smith, senior vice president and Wolfe Foundation-endowed athletics director. “This revenue helps sustain scholarships for more than 625 student-athletes, and allows us to continue to support 36 fully funded varsity sports.”

Proposed 2017 Football Ticket Prices

Opponent Reserved Box/Club Faculty / Staff Student
Oklahoma $ 190 $ 215
Army $ 70 $ 95
UNLV $ 65 $ 90
Maryland $ 80 $ 105
Penn State $ 140 $ 165
Michigan State $ 190 $ 215
Illinois $ 80 $ 105
Season Ticket $ 695 $ 845 $ 652 $ 238

The ticket price recommendations come from the Ohio State Athletic Council, a University Senate committee, and go before the trustees for final approval. The council is made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni and helps develop policies governing intercollegiate athleticsMen’s basketball is also expected to see changes in the pricing structure. The council is recommending an expanded variable ticket pricing model that will provide a more fluid pricing structure to align to market demands, offer significantly more choice for ticket purchasers, establish a 12 percent discount for public season ticket purchasers, and maintain the 20 percent discount for faculty and staff season ticket purchasers.

For the 2017-2018 season, single game tickets would range from $7 to $29 for non-conference games. Tickets for conference games would cost between $10 and $46, and premier game prices would be as low as $14 and as high as $57.

While the schedule for next year is not known, premier games this season include Connecticut, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Students are not impacted by either price change. The current student football ticket price of $34 is expected to remain through at least the 2020 season. Student basketball tickets also see no changes.

Smith says the ticket pricing proposal also includes plans for lower-priced seating zones. “In response to fan feedback, we are creating two additional price zones in the upper level of the arena, which will allow a more-affordable option for families and groups to attend games,” said Smith.

Proposed 2017-2018 Men’s Basketball Prices

Opponent

Category

PSL & Club Level Public Zone 1 Public Zone 2 Public Zone 3 Public Zone 4 Fac/Staff Zone 1 Fac/Staff Zone 2 Fac/Staff Zone 3 Student
Exhibition $ 10 $ 10 $ 10 $ 10 $ 5 $ 10
Non-Conference $ 29 $ 24 $ 13 $ 11 $ 7 $ 12
Conference $ 46 $ 41 $ 28 $ 19 $ 10 $ 13
Premier $ 57 $ 52 $ 32 $ 23 $ 14
Season Ticket $ 684 $ 604 $ 374 $ 276 $ 546 $ 341 $ 253