sstein55 wrote: Going to be a lot of tickets available next year on Ticketmaster with this price gouging. Myself along with several of my friends were able to purchase tickets from scalpers for every home game last year except the Michigan game for under $30, and these were good seats. The scalpers got burnt big time last year, I just cant see them purchasing tickets for face and trying to make a buck. I was to the point last year, that I was unwilling to pay face value, especially for the non-conference games. I really think this is the straw that breaks the camels back.

Not wanting to pick a fight but I do not believe this.

I don't doubt you bought a ticket for a game for $30.

But "good" seats for "several...friends" for the Neb were under $30 each?

You can believe what you want. I did not go to the Nebraska or Michigan game though. Maybe I was just lucky this year, who knows. I was given a ticken in A deck this year for the Purdue game. Thats surely has never happened before. Tickets for the non-premium games this year was just very cheap from scalpers.

sstein55 wrote: You can believe what you want. I did not go to the Nebraska or Michigan game though. Maybe I was just lucky this year, who knows. I was given a ticken in A deck this year for the Purdue game. Thats surely has never happened before. Tickets for the non-premium games this year was just very cheap from scalpers.

Your AD is not only dumb, but he is one greedy bastard. Raising ticket prices in this awful economy is not the right thing to do.

How much are tickets increasing by?

Well, look at the dollar amount, should roughly equate to about a million extra per game ($9 x 106k). When you factor in the increase in coaches salaries (not just Meyer but all assistants), Eddie coming on staff and a few other sports dignitaries this ticket price increase is necessary. Careful what you wish for when you go get the highest priced or one of the highest priced coaches in the land. Not to mention the top tier AD's all make ridiculous coin as well starting with Smith. The model is very upside down at OSU and these things do not typically support themselves for very long before a collapse so win while you can and re-structure in a few years. Either way it should be interesting to watch as the haves widen the gap with the have nots.

I'm ok with ticket prices increasing to $100/game and $150/game for the Michigan and top OOC games.

I found an old ticket stub from 2004 and it was $57.00. How quickly things change.

I'll still go to one game a year but am thinking it would be fun to get out to some road games soon.

Raising prices on something as price inelastic as the fixed number of seats at Ohio Stadium (which BTW has sold out every home game for the past 20 years) is the right thing to do.  It's also called capitalism.  Now if you increased prices and actually decreased your revenue, then that would clearly be a mistake.

Actual ticket prices aren't the only price-like increases either -- see seat licenses and alumni membership fees to enter the lottery pool and student tuition increases and state and local taxes (and tax breaks).  As long as there are more buyers than there are seats available, then the prices should be increased to the economically efficient level that maximizes revenue and gives priority to people based on their willingness to pay.

If you don't like higher ticket prices then you should also favor return home and home's with MAC teams, because both are extremely economically inefficient.  The reason that Ohio State doesn't play an away game with Kent State is that the stadium seats 65K less than Ohio Stadium.  Playing at that stadium loses money for both Kent State AND Ohio State.  

Similarly, selling a ticket to you, when I'm willing to pay $50 more for the same ticket doesn't make sense either.  If I make more money than you and I'm willing to pay more for tickets, then I welcome higher prices because it will make it easier for me to get my share of a finite number of tickets.

Now if they wanted to do something really cool like charge more for Michigan or Penn State game tickets, I'd like to see how that would go over.  Think about it, if they scheduled Notre Dame every year and charged $200-250 a ticket, not only would they sell out, but they'd make an extra $15-20M/year in seats, merchandising sales, parking, concessions, and TV coverage fees.  Everyone would win!

There is a limit and I think we will meet it soon.  Watching a game for free on a screen so much clearer than watching in person will ultimately make watching in person for most fans passe.

Why do you think NFL attendance is down? Higher cost of going to a game vs sitting at home watching it on TV, front row and no obnoxious drunk guy next to you and your kid. A buddy and me took his nephews to a Browns game this year. We sat in the Dawg Pound, thinking the boys would have a great time at their first real football game. Boy was we wrong, the first 5mins of being there we had a drunk lady puke on one of our seats, watched Browns fans argue among themselves and heckle an 80 year old lady who was sporting the opposing teams jersey. Add to that the cost of gas to and from the stadium, hotdogs and drinks inside the stadium, its easy to see how a football game could easily turn into a $500 trip for a family of 4. FWIW, we bought our tickets off stubhub for $20 a piece, thankfully!

I usually buy tickets off stubhub or craigslist and find them for good prices. I refuse to pay more than $150 for a ticket and that better be in a decent location. Paying that much to sit in C or D deck is asinine.

Likewise, it gives me a chance to tailgate and watch it on TV and when the stadium crowd begins to get a little smaller some heads will roll. Don't think for one second that it won't eventually happen because thousands of the fans right now buy from scalpers and internet sites and with the rising prices these sites will begin to hurt also.

silverbullet71 wrote: Why do you think NFL attendance is down? 

Why do you think NFL revenue is up?

silverbullet71 wrote: 

I usually buy tickets off stubhub or craigslist and find them for good prices. I refuse to pay more than $150 for a ticket and that better be in a decent location. Paying that much to sit in C or D deck is asinine.

The whole reason that there's a massive difference between the face value of tickets and the scalped prices of tickets is that Ohio State is charging TOO LITTLE!!

Why should Ohio State not receive the extra revenue from the ticket sales?  For you, real street ticket prices aren't going to go up.  It's simply going to shift the share of revenue away from the scalpers and towards Ohio State.  If it means an extra $10-20M a year to invest in better coaches and academic support and facilities and more scholarships, more power to them!!

dirk1171 wrote: There is a limit and I think we will meet it soon.  

I'm not sure we are, 2013 season tickets are going for like $1000 on StubHub.  That like averages out to $142 / home game ticket.  My guess is they could easily go to $100-125 and not suffer any negative consequences.

While you might have a psychological price barrier that's about to be met, you're forgetting about the hundreds of thousands of people (like me) that would buy tickets but can't AND the thousands of alumni who would buy more tickets if the lottery allowed.

It takes a lot of money to pay for Rutgers and Iowa's football program -- let's get those prices up to ensure our own financial security!!  The future dominance of the Ohio State football program depends on it!!

TheStoicPaisano wrote: I'm not trying to be inclusive, I'm just saying its not a diverse cheerleading crew. There's usually one black male, one black female and a Mexican- or asian-American (the preferred nomenclature).

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--- jdukep wrote:

Pretty sure someone of Puerto Rican or Columbian heritage wouldn't like to be referred to as "Mexican-American".

@11w is crying because nobody is crediting them with breaking the news.

sstein55 wrote: You can believe what you want. I did not go to the Nebraska or Michigan game though. Maybe I was just lucky this year, who knows. I was given a ticken in A deck this year for the Purdue game. Thats surely has never happened before. Tickets for the non-premium games this year was just very cheap from scalpers.

Okay. Now it's a little easier to believe. Your first post implied that you saw Nebby and Purdue for <$30.

So you saw a 9-0 OSU team play U of I in Columbus, a sold out game, and multiple people paid <$30 for a good seat?

cgorange wrote:

silverbullet71 wrote: 

I usually buy tickets off stubhub or craigslist and find them for good prices. I refuse to pay more than $150 for a ticket and that better be in a decent location. Paying that much to sit in C or D deck is asinine.

The whole reason that there's a massive difference between the face value of tickets and the scalped prices of tickets is that Ohio State is charging TOO LITTLE!!

Why should Ohio State not receive the extra revenue from the ticket sales?  For you, real street ticket prices aren't going to go up.  It's simply going to shift the share of revenue away from the scalpers and towards Ohio State.  If it means an extra $10-20M a year to invest in better coaches and academic support and facilities and more scholarships, more power to them!!

Thank you.

It is what it is. We live in a capitalistic system as of now which I like. We may not be living in that type of system too much longer. Getting back to the topic, I have season tickets and I will keep them until I feel the price is unrealistic. There are a lot of people waiting to get season tickets and as long as the public will pay the price they will charge that price. You must also remember that OSU also supports I believe 37 sports which is costly. If you do not like the rise in prices don't go. It is that simple.

TheStoicPaisano wrote: If our cheerleaders were more diverse than suburban WASPs, that could happen.

Ever seen the cheerleaders at diverse campuses? Stanford, Miami and Hawaii are like United Colors of Benetton ads and most of them are beautiful.

DaveyBoy wrote:
Perhaps our cheerleaders can develop breasts by then
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--- lowiq wrote:

its just a matter of time before you see the gmc/michigan wolverines playing the victorias secret/ohio state buckeyes at the dr pepper horseshoe on historic minolta field.

or the coca cola/uga bulldogs playing the gatorade/florida gators playing on john deere field.

its coming.

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Whatever. tOSU's cutest cheerleaders are the black ones, I will grant you that, but Stanford is is only diverse b/c of Asian students and Miami(Fla) is a very upper class, snobby university-it isn't like Little Havana. Know of what you speak.