Season Tickets In The Time Of Covid
Getting actual season ticket sales numbers is hard.
The only time you really get any sense of numbers is when a school sells out of season tickets. Your Power Five major programs typically have waiting lists for season tickets.
However, when you get down to the Group of Five, they don’t typically have sell outs of season tickets.
Old Dominion had a great run that ended in 2018. For nine seasons they sold out their season tickets and had sell out games at S.B. Ballard Stadium. A streak of 60 sell outs for a mid major is quite the accomplishment even for a 20,118 seat stadium.
The 2020 season was supposed to be something huge for South Alabama football.
After 11 seasons of playing their home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, roughly a seven mile drive from campus, the Jaguars were poised to open their brand new, $74 million on-campus stadium.
When it was announced, Jaguar fans were elated to finally get on campus. Many had gripped against the lack luster condition of Lad-Peebles Stadium, a 72 year old facility.
But after a poor season on the field, 2-10 with only one win against an FBS opponent, did that dampen the spirits of even some of the most die hard fans? That was the second seasons under head coach Steve Campbell’s leadership and a total record of 5-19 over that time period. Two of those wins against FCS opponents by the way.
Recently Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann and other staff hosted a meeting with season ticket holders via Zoom. In that meeting it was mentioned that with social distancing measures in place at Hancock Whitney Stadium, the capacity would be limited to 6,200. But that number would be able to accommodate all of the season ticket holders.
That got my attention.
Later in the meeting, it was mentioned that they had only sold 4,439 season tickets. Granted, they stopped selling season ticket midway through March when social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders were put in place in the state of Alabama.
But with the push after the 2019 season ended and the 2020 season being the first on-campus, and season ticket renewals having already been emailed and mailed out, one would think that more than 4,439 season tickets would have been sold.
As of the Zoom meeting, 10% or less of the season ticket holders had decided to opt-out of the 2020 season and either roll their payments over to the 2021 season tickets or gift the money to the University.
It’s unknown how many student tickets would have been kept in reserve and not sold. But it seems that, without the pandemic striking, student were going to have plenty of opportunities to take in a game.
Attempts to get season ticket sales numbers from peer Group of Five schools in the area were unsuccessful.
UAB, a peer school in a G5 conference within the state of Alabama, was one of those schools that did not respond. The 2020 season will be their last at the ageing Legion Field before they move into the currently under construction Protective Stadium. The $179 million, 45,000 seat multi-use stadium that will be operated by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. While it is not an on-campus stadium (those plans were nixed by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees) it will be in closer proximity to the University in downtown Birmingham.
While South Alabama is a year ahead of occupying their stadium, USA ticket sales prioritized season ticket holders who purchased tickets for 2019 when it was time to get 2020 season tickets.
It was last summer when the 2020 season ticket holders went through the process of choosing their seat locations in ‘The Cock’ as well.
Am I completely off on the season ticket numbers here?
Is 4,439 a respectable number?
Is my expectations for season ticket sales too high for a mid major G5 school with a brand new $74 million on-campus stadium?
Or does this have more to say about the current state of the program rather than the current state of the playing venue? Did Covid hamper what would have been their big season ticket sales months?
I think Covid or not, if the 2020 season is played in the fall, it will be a make or break season for Coach Campbell. Another two or three win season and more apathy in the fans may force Erdmann’s hand.