Are FSU Football Season Ticket Prices Too High?
Posted by NoleCC
By Bill Kristoph
$43 per game. That’s the average price of a ticket in Tallahassee this season. Granted, some games are more and some games are less, thanks to the “tiered” structure of Seminole Football season tickets, but overall is that just too high? Less than 10 years ago, I could buy tickets for a Wake Forest game for $22. Those tickets put me in Row 15. And back then, FSU was a college football juggernaut, not the scratch-and-claw-to-the-top-25 team that is the current incarnation.
Today, the situation is different. Ticket prices have skyrocketed, along with the Booster Donation required to get the tickets. Is it really worth an average ticket price of $43 dollars to see the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium? Is it worth it to watch FSU play Duke? Is that even affordable for the average family? For a family of four, the average game costs $172, JUST TO SIT DOWN. Forget about the concession prices, where we now have the honor of a portion of our $4 bottles of watter going to the Jeff Bowden Relief Fund. After eating and drinking, a family of four is looking at $250-$300 dollars! For season tickets, that’s $1500+ this year for an AWFUL HOME SCHEDULE.
Did I mention that price doesn’t include the Booster Donation which for four tickets is likely in the $600 range?
Granted, there aren’t a lot of things that compare to actually seeing the Noles play at Doak Campbell Stadium. The only place I’ve ever seen with greener grass is Yankee Stadium when I was 5 years old. Doak is #2 behind that (unless the grass is being attacked by fungus). Even the best HDTV can’t quite show how bright the Garnet & Gold is on the field, nor can it give you the same camaraderie that having 80,000+ Seminole fans in the stands give you.
But how long will FSU and Seminole Boosters continue to suck the well dry? Especially when the product on the field has been so bad? Baseball tickets are very, very cheap. Basketball tickets are reasonable, and the other sports are free to attend. FSU Football is the money maker. It’s the best example of trickle down economics I’ve ever seen, but right now the prices are too high.
It’s as simple as this webpage at Seminoles.com. That’s right, season ticket packages are still available. Why? Because the home schedule is brutal, the Alabama game is in Jacksonville and the booming economy has slowed down. People are cutting back, and while I personally wouldn’t give up my season tickets yet, I can see how others would cut back to a game or two. Really, do the kids care if they see FSU blow out UAB (and frankly they’ve been good games lately), or if it’s a tight one against Maryland? Sure it’s not Miami or Florida, but eventually everyone gets to one of those games (or more) during their lifetime.
It’s simple supply and demand. Hopefully FSU and Seminole Boosters get the message, and at least hold prices where they are for a while. There are NFL games that have cheaper seats! Get the message Athletics Department and Seminole Boosters, you’re at a tipping point, don’t push it.
What do you think? Leave a comment, or find this article in The Sports Bar over at Igottarant.com. And stay tuned, it August, which means the articles will flow more often here. Thanks for staying tuned-in through the doldrums of the summer. College football is just around the corner!!! Coming soon: How To Fix The FSU Student Section.
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Nole4ever on 
Abe Fr0man on 
Agreed, It is unfortunate but all ticket prices are going up. At least FSU tiers their prices, most SEC schools charge a flat rate, UGA is $42 per ticket no matter who is being played, Western Carolina or Auburn. I go to UGA and FSU games every year and the FSU tickets are priced better in my opinion.
I’m not sure which is better, flat or tiered. Frankly, the Miami game is $55 and there is always a “premium” ACC game now. It probably doesn’t matter in the end. It just drives me nuts that for the price of two football games, I can get season tickets to FSU Baseball.
I think we’re still getting off easy relative to other schools. The cheapest tickets for FSU-Colorado at Folsom Field are $55 (they don’t have one price for the whole stadium). The ones I bought yesterday when they went on-sale through CU have a face value of $95. We didn’t make the cut for buying through Seminole Boosters.
Have you checked up on any other schools?
Kevin,
I hadn’t bothered to look through other schools, since I was just focused on the cost of things for going to a game a Doak. That said, you have a good point. FSU could be priced well in the middle of the pack, I honestly didn’t research that, however, that would just mean to me that ticket prices are out of control everywhere (and they probably are out of control).
I think THE FSU would best phrase their rebuttal to your claims in the words of Ol’ Dirty Bastard: ” Hey, dirty, baby I got your money.”
Dang I like it when EMU guys (not EMO) break out some rap on ScalpEm. Wooo!
I hear ya. But tix are still a bargain compared to places like UT where you gotta make outrageous booster contributions to sit in the upper deck of the end zone and watch ant-size shapes half a mile away.
Compare the FSU football experience to a big-name concert. You’re talking at least $100 a ticket.
Broadway seats that used to go for $80 are now triple that.
Bottom line: How much does it mean to you?
Now, playing the devil’s advocate: college sports have gotta get a handle on costs or they’ll price tickets out of the reach of the average fan, much like the NFL has become.
Did you guys really think that the Boosters Inc. was gonna pay for the next 5 years on Jeff’s “contract”?
Of course not…
Season ticket holders will pay it…
Through tickets, contributions, and concessions…
$5 says that Semiboosters raises the “donation level next year…
It’s happening everywhere…
My seats at BHG are going to see rate increases in booster “donation” each year over the next 3 years…
However, the per seat face value is still $35 as of last season…
Cheaper than other SEC tickets mostly…
GH,
I don’t think any of us really though that Seminole Boosters, Inc would flat out pay for it. The little guy always gets screwed in the end. He’s being paid directly from the concessions, which thrills many of us to no end, since a water or soda is likely to be $5+ thanks to Aramark, the Boosters and Jeff. It’s not like we can avoid buying it either, since Doak doesn’t see cool weather until November, if we’re lucky.
Hopefully though, Seminole fans will be sweating more from the heat than from the mediocre play on the field.
So how much did ticket prices go up this year as opposed to last? For loyal fans that want to see Seminole football, the season tix are a great deal. As for $$$ contributions, you’re way on the cheap side. There’s a school east of you that you need to make near a $12,000 “donation” just to have a chance to get tickets at high altitude. The truth of the matter is that if FSU was fielding a team that could contend for any kind of championship, you’d all be buying tix (yes, even if you’re playing Duke and UAB at home)…but they’re not, and you’re not. Vote with your wallet, that’s the most reasonable way to tell the University that you’re not pleased with the direction of the program. If the team rebounds to respectability, you’ll probably sell more tickets as the bandwagon refills. Good luck on that, but don’t expect ticket prices to go down while Bobby’s paying for his dream team of assistants and you’re paying for that little Jeffy mistake.
Hey DMD do you actually read the article, or just the headline and then point to Gator Country with a thread that is mildly funny, but generally just a bunch of Gator BS? How is the Tallahassee Democrat article “spin” when it fully admits to declining ticket sales? How are all the websites out there believing in a dream coaching staff, when there has been plenty of what-if’s along with a caution optimism?
Get the swamp water out of your eyes.
And FYI, I’m still getting my tickets, but you can’t tell me for a second that they’re the most affordable form of entertainment out there. It’s like NASCAR, years ago it was great, and then it got far too commercialized for its own good and tickets are ridiculous in price now.
Someday the average joe is just going to have to be happy watching the game on an HDTV, even though it’s 10 minutes down the road.
Yes, I read the article. And the GC thread is an entertaining poke at a rival that’s currently looking ahead at some tough rebuilding. In fact, I came over here (to Scalp’Em) fully expecting to see a bunch of garnet and gold mystified unrealistic chumps…I’m a bit disappointed to see that you’re actually pretty insightful, intelligent, and realistic about much of the current status of the program and the potential future of the program. However, with that in mind, it does actually make it easier to communicate and even argue certain points with you…so that’s great! The TD article’s positive spin is really stemming from the supposed “renewed enthusiasm,” which by most accounts is pretty much marginal, at best. But they do say that it hasn’t translated into significantly more ticket sales, and I would expect the FSU staff to try to put any kind of positive spin on it as possible, because that’s their job. I’d never imply that CFB tickets at a large state university are the most affordable form of entertainment out there, but when you compare FSU to other popular universities, there’s a comparative “value” to your ticket pricing and the ease of which you can obtain season tickets is just unreal (compared to UF)! My point is simply that the product price has exceeded “fan” demand, and that it wouldn’t be considered too expensive with a contender FSU team. Ticket prices really haven’t gone up that much in the last few years, but on the field success, and therefore interest in attending games, has gone down. If the product was better, there wouldn’t be any complaints. It’s just that all of those “diehard” fans are off the bandwagon, not that ticket prices are too much.
DMD,
Flattery will get you everywhere. lol.
As for the renewed enthusiasm, I can’t speak for the team since I’m not part of it, but I do agree that a lot of fans are cautious and rightfully so. Let’s be honest, if the downward spiral at FSU doesn’t end soon, there are going to be many lean years ahead for the Seminoles of Florida State.
I don’t disagree. I think it’s a shame that there aren’t enough true fans to fill the stadium, though. If the tickets aren’t sold out next year I might just try to buy season tickets just to see the UF game!
Obviously I’m not a Nole fan, by any stretch of the imagination, but I’d like the teams in the state of Florida to do well…
I guess it’s some sort of Florida pride. I used to like to see UF, FSU, and even Miami ranked in the top 10 every year. Miami actually seems a bit closer to regaining this status than FSU at the moment…but maybe the new coaches can take the decent talent you have and make them into winners.
So good luck with FSU getting better (just not good enough to beat UF!)…
Interestingly enough I’d disagree about Miami. I don’t think the Randy Shannon era is going to be any better than the Larry Coker era. They’ve been exposed for a lack of recruiting talent, and I doubt they’ll be upper echelon material for at least another 2-3 years.
But then again, I’ve been wrong before.
As for FSU and UF, I make no predictions yet, but I don’t think either team with be in the hunt for a MNC this season when they meet in Gainesville.