With questions circling regarding the status of fall collegiate sports, the university athletics ticket office is continuing the sale and renewal of season tickets.
Like many businesses, the ticket office moved to remote operations for the time being and is still trying to move forward. The office is currently handling ticket purchases for football and volleyball in 2020. In a statement released Monday, Athletics Director Mark Coyle extended the deadline to renew season tickets for these sports to June 11.
With kickoff about five months away, football season tickets from last season have been renewed at a rate of about 48 percent. In totality, the university has sold more than 12,000 2020 football season tickets thus far, roughly 9,500 less than the number sold in 2019.Volleyball has had a higher success rate of renewing season tickets at about 69 percent. The university has not opened the sale of new season tickets and people can add themselves to a waiting list as the sport sold out of season tickets last year.
No decisions have been made about whether sports like football and volleyball will be played with or without fans or if these sports will be played at all, but several athletic directors in the country have been developing contingency plans if needed to hold different events. The university would see a loss in ticket revenue if fall sporting events are canceled or played without fans.
Lost ticket revenue is just one element that would contribute to any losses the athletic department might have in the future. In its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Board of Regents released estimates that athletics could lose between $10 million and $75 million. Representatives of the university are unsure how much lost ticket revenue will contribute to the overall figure.