A Tale Of Two Football Teams: Michigan ticket sales up 4.4%, Ohio St ticket sales down "about four or five percent"
"Michigan football season-ticket sales hit new high under Jim Harbaugh"
Michigan ticket sales:
2018: 87,843 (69,616 regular/ 18,227 students)
2019: 91,934 (71,578 regular/ 20,356 students)
"Ohio State football season ticket renewals down nearly five percent for post-Urban era"
Ohio St ticket sales:
“We were down by about four or five percent,” OSU athletic director Gene Smith said...... “So we usually renew at about 97 or 98 percent. This time, we renewed at 94 to 95 percent. So we had some extra inventory.”
August 24th, 2019 at 1:56 AM ^
May every Buckeye season ticket be a miserable investment in watching loss after loss after loss. Hoping for some Shock 'n Owls next week.
August 24th, 2019 at 7:31 AM ^
Isn't that lane Kiffin? I'll personally update the street signs to say "lane Kiffin ave" if they beat osu.
August 24th, 2019 at 2:11 AM ^
I see what you did there. +1 Insightful.
August 24th, 2019 at 2:47 AM ^
Next, you'll be telling me our jersey sales are up in Ohio.
Let's not do this.
August 24th, 2019 at 3:09 AM ^
This... really is not a big deal. And wasn't the first time it was posted, either.
August 24th, 2019 at 7:44 AM ^
The part about Ohio St was posted. But the part about Michigan sales was not. It was me that posted it.
This post is about the contrast.
It does denote confidence in fans. It does appear to have some significance: " In a perhaps related note, Ohio State’s remarkable 16-year streak of 100,000+ fans at Ohio Stadium ended last season in a Big Ten matchup against lowly Rutgers in early September."
August 24th, 2019 at 8:30 AM ^
It denotes that Michigan has a good home schedule and that osu loses Michigan of theirs and that’s about it.
we all know the big house will be 30% red
August 24th, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
Well said AK.
August 24th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
Not a big deal at all. Michgian has a historically good home schedule and osu has a new unproven coach.
August 24th, 2019 at 5:29 AM ^
Not really surprising since OSU lost Meyer and there’s uncertainty about what Day brings. They’ll still have plenty of crazy fans in Columbus every Saturday
August 24th, 2019 at 6:02 AM ^
Unfortunately, they're there every day of the week. That's why the place sucks. THE Worst State Ever.
(My new t shirt arrives today...)
August 24th, 2019 at 5:42 AM ^
And the obligatory MSU sales down 3-9 %.
I'll show myself out.
August 24th, 2019 at 6:57 AM ^
They are running a Groupon for the home opener
August 24th, 2019 at 7:06 AM ^
I thought it was a Buy a Coke Get a Ticket deal.
Oh, wait. That was...uh...us. Very little certainty in this world but this truth is eternal: Dave Brandon was the WORST AD EVER.
August 24th, 2019 at 6:11 AM ^
Michigan’s home schedule this year includes ND, MSU, and OSU (not to mention Army). The actual schedule might have something to do with it.
OSU also raised prices slightly - but that adds up when you work at THE McDonalds.
August 24th, 2019 at 7:11 AM ^
Ever been to Columbus? It's booming. Makes many places in MI look like they are stuck in 2008 - which they are.
August 24th, 2019 at 7:21 AM ^
Michigan has an excellent home schedule this season. Ohio St. does not. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ohio St. sells more season tickets with Michigan on the schedule. Also, I would almost guarantee that Michigan will not sell as many season tickets next season with a notable drop-off in home schedule quality. I don’t see any reason to read any more in to the season ticket sales situation than schedule quality.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
Yeah, this. One data point does not a trend make. Also in these days of people preferring to watch from home and maybe go to a couple games instead of all of them, I’m not sure season ticket sales correlate to attendance figures the same way they used to.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:47 AM ^
This is a big factor. Two years ago we were at 91,126, then saw a 4% drop last year with the less attractive home schedule.
August 24th, 2019 at 6:26 AM ^
Let’s win The Game, then tell me about ticket sales.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:03 AM ^
We cannot buy tickets until we beat OSU and MSU (in the same season).
August 24th, 2019 at 7:01 AM ^
Wonder what their numbers are looking like on 5?/High 4? recruit purchases?
August 24th, 2019 at 7:28 AM ^
Ohio state always has a ton of red in the big house. Beat osu, please.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
That's because front-running Michigan fans (and they exist) sell their tickets to the first request, rather than to a Michigan fan. You can't blame OSU fans for wanting to watch their team (you can, however, blame them for having exceedingly poor taste in teams).
Other than the obligatory 5000 tickets the AD is forced to give them, any red in the stadium is an indictment against the shit fans that should be wearing green instead of blue.
(I suppose there could be unsold tickets available to the general public, but it waters down my strong statement line!)
August 24th, 2019 at 7:44 AM ^
Big pig theory in practice. THE university got greedy, started having ticket holders re-bid for their seats every couple of years. Did not matter how long you had your seats, they scored you every couple years on whether you played on the team, were an alum, how long you had the seats, and most significantly how much money you gave the school in the past year or two. The better the score, the earlier in the process you got to select seats. A friend of mine got downgraded a couple straight times despite giving some money, and decided he was done.
August 24th, 2019 at 7:47 AM ^
If you talk to any Ohio State fan they will somehow convince you that this is a good thing for them because that’s just what they do.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:27 AM ^
Michigan’s flip from a shit home schedule to a good one every other year probably has more to do with this any kind of difference in excitement
August 24th, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
Hmmm. Now if we can just beat them in a category that matters...
August 24th, 2019 at 11:30 AM ^
How about the points category?
August 24th, 2019 at 8:47 AM ^
That's only good if Michigan ticket holders don't sell their tickets to OSU fans.
August 24th, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
I sort of feel bad for Day because he seems like he might be a decent guy. Either way, he is going the way of Luke Fickell after he loses to U of M this season. The Fuckeye fan base is so spoiled at this point, they will not tolerate even one loss to the good guys. That’s fine by me. It’s well passed time they have a few seasons of struggle for the first time since the late 40s?
August 24th, 2019 at 9:56 AM ^
i generally recommend hatching chickens before counting them. i agree with your post, but its time to put up or shut up.
August 24th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Yea cool I don’t care about that at all just beat them on the field
August 24th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
I don't give a damn about ohio
August 24th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
It's Happening!
August 24th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
Well duh. The Game is in Ann Arbor this year.
August 24th, 2019 at 10:50 AM ^
The rise in ticket prices didn’t help either. And AD’s wonder why attendance is down? Prices and a better experience at home
August 24th, 2019 at 11:35 AM ^
I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.
August 24th, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
This may not be as big a deal as it seems.
When Gene Smith says "This time, we renewed at 94 to 95 percent," does he mean 94-95% of total capacity? If that's what he means, then 95% of Ohio Stadium capacity is 96,977 season tickets sold.
Michigan says that they've sold 91,934 season tickets, which is 85.4% of the 107,601 capacity—a full 10 percentage points and 5,000 seats fewer than OSU.
August 24th, 2019 at 10:50 PM ^
We win the offseason championship again!
on to the September Heisman!
August 25th, 2019 at 8:20 AM ^
Must be what 7 September heismans in a row now? Sorta like Bama and recruiting.
August 25th, 2019 at 4:04 PM ^
Less truck drivers in Ohio this year?