Feb. 4, 2000
Purdue's football ticket prices are catching up with the rest of the nation.
The university's Board of Trustees today (Friday, 2/4) approved the Athletic Department's rate request, allowing Purdue to continue to close the gap in ticket pricing as compared to other Big Ten and national Top 25 programs. The six-game season ticket package for next fall will cost $180 for the public, up from $144 for the six-game package of 1999. Before last year's increase, Boilermaker football ticket prices had not changed significantly for eight years. "We had some catching up to do," said Athletic Director Morgan Burke. "As we indicated in last year's request to the trustees, national ticket pricing data suggests that top 25 programs had season ticket prices that average between $175 and $180. At that time, our season ticket prices were the lowest in the Big Ten at $120. We did not feel that we could close the gap in one adjustment. So we requested last year's increase with the understanding that at least one more above-inflationary increase would still be necessary. Last year we thought that an increase to $144 would get us to the median of the Big Ten. In fact, it only elevated us to ninth place in the Big Ten."
Single-game ticket prices for the public will be $34 for the first three games (Central Michigan, Kent State and Minnesota) and $38 for the last three (Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana). Last year, single-game public tickets were $28 for most games, but $32 for the Notre Dame game.
"If we intend to continue to compete among the nation's best programs and to keep our football staff intact and to improve our facilities," said Burke, "then we need to increase our resources. A large portion of the anticipated extra revenue will go toward the stadium renovation project, which starts next fall."
Tickets in the south end zone will cost $108 for the season, a $12 increase, and $17 for single-game tickets for the first three games only. Single-game group sales will be priced at $24 each (up from $20) for groups of 25 or more for the first three games. University staff will pay $144 for each season ticket this year (up from $116) while student tickets remain the same as last year ($60 each) because of a commitment last year to freeze student prices for at least two years.
Here's a complete list of football ticket prices as approved by the board, which also gave the Athletic Department authority to utilize promotional pricing strategies for certain games, which may result in discounts and/or premiums being charged for individual games:
* Season ticket, Buchanan Press Box -- $240 * Season ticket, public -- $180 * Season ticket, south end zone -- $108 * Season ticket, university staff -- $144 * Season ticket, students (including first-year graduates) -- $60 * Mini-package (three specified home games) -- $96 * Mini-package, south end zone -- $45 * Single game, public -- $34 * Single game, public, south end zone (Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana) -- $34 * Single game, public, south end zone (Central Michigan, Kent State and Minnesota) -- $17 * Premium single game (Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana) -- $38 * Single game, students (all games) -- $14 * Group sales for first three games -- $24 (advance sales of 25 or more)jav/BOT.tickets
Writer: Jim Vruggink, director, Purdue Athletic Public Relations, (765) 494-3196, jvruggink@purdue.edu
Related Web sites: Purdue University Sports, http://www.purdue.edu/Sports/ Official Purdue Athletics site, http://www.purduesports.com