OT: Illini Season tickets for $99

Submitted by Charlestown Chiefs on

I once bought tickets for a UM game in Champaign so I always get their emails.  We aren't the only ones with a terrible home slate.

LS And Play

May 7th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^

Worst home schedule? You dont have to look outside Ann Arbor to find the worst home schedule in the nation, or at the very least the B1G. Penn State is the top game on both schedules, but at least they have another team (Iowa) who figures to be alright next year. The competitors for second best game on the Michigan home schedule is a raging dumpster fire of teams.

Huma

May 7th, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^

I would happily keep playing Indiana and Maryland at home over Purdue and Iowa.  And while our non-conference home schedule is weak, it is nowhere near as bad as Illinois.  Western Kentucky and Texas State!!! Come on

LS And Play

May 7th, 2014 at 8:09 PM ^

Either way they are both atrocious. But Miami (OH) and Appalachian State? That is just as bad, if not worse than WKU and Texas State. App State has fallen off a cliff. Ditto Miami (OH). At least WKU has a track record of recent success the last couple of years.

Canadian

May 7th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^

Was it the Purdue game that stubhub had Tix for $0.02?? I remember watching the price and considered a cheap road trip just to check out the stadium. I would've sat through the game and been happy with the price of admission.

LSAClassOf2000

May 7th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^

Not sure how up-to-date it is, but just for the first few Illinois games (their OOC games), Stubhub shows ticket prices as low as about $7 or so per ticket for those as well. If that held for all seven games for some reason, you could still take yourself and one other person and almost match the price of the package before any applicable taxes or fees. 

Then again, $99 still seems high for a slate that includes Western Kentucky, Texas State and Purdue. 

Actually, I think Illinois-Purdue is one of those games you take your family to because you never want to talk to them again.

Bando Calrissian

May 7th, 2014 at 4:10 PM ^

I'll never forget the scene outside the game in Champaign in 2004. There were scalpers walking around with wads of tickets two inches thick, and they were still asking like 40-50 bucks apiece. The whole thing was hilarious.

Naked Bootlegger

May 7th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^

Sure, they try to lure you with a $14/ticket plan.   But read the fine print.  I'm sure the PSL fee is somewhere in the $50 per year range.   Nothing but price gougers down there in Urbana-Champaign.  

MGoFoam

May 7th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^

Illinois sold season tickets for $99 last year, too. They advertised it on billboards all over town. They draw 40-45,000. Stadium capacity is about 60,000.

Ben v2

May 7th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^

Does it make sense to play non-conference games anymore?  Especially when everyone schedules FCS teams from their backyard.

The Big 10 teams should play 12 conference games every year and keep more of the revenue within the conference. 

MGoFoam

May 8th, 2014 at 9:00 AM ^

Had that talk with a friend of mine in Champaign a couple years ago. He provided a lengthy explanation of why Illinois is just as much a BB school as Michigan (I always ask, "How many NCs do you have?). When he finished I said, "But we don't consider ourselves a BB school."

Ihatebux

May 7th, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^

Since the B1G's decision to add crappy teams like the Scarlett Nots and the Fighting Turtles, I think all Eastern conf teams will be facing similar issues with terrible home schedules.   I think it would be helpful for the the conf to add a scheduling rule like the $EC to force teams to schedule decent non-conf teams.

Canada loves S…

May 7th, 2014 at 9:15 PM ^

If we are, I'll go. It's actually a great stadium to watch a game. Sit  in the upper deck at the 50 yd line. A hell of a lot more comfortable than the end zone of the Big House.

 

Wolverine Devotee

May 8th, 2014 at 8:06 AM ^

Has anyone seen that stupid Illinois season ticket commericial yet on BTN? It gives me the douche chills.