OSU ticket sales: 2012 a test for Cowboy fan base
Published: 2/16/2012 7:43 AM
Last Modified: 2/16/2012 7:43 AM
A major-college football program is defined not only by coaching, recruiting, facilities and the Saturday success rate.
Season-ticket sales are a reflection of a program’s legitimacy. In that regard, 2012 should be quite interesting for Oklahoma State. In spite of the departure of Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon, will Cowboy fans respond this year as they did in 2011?
The 2012 OSU schedule includes seven home dates (the opponents being Savannah State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech). University officials have not yet announced whether the Texas contest will be this year’s “premium game.”
In each season since 2008, one home game has been designated the “premium game.” A certain number of single-game tickets are allotted to the premium opponent's fans. For OSU fans, admittance is reserved only for those who purchase a season ticket. In 2008, 2010 and 2011, the premium opponent was Oklahoma. In 2009, it was Georgia.
OSU athletic director Mike Holder adopted the “premium game” policy in an effort to generate more revenue for the athletic department. He succeeded. In 2005, average revenue for a home football game was $1.2 million. In 2011, it was $3.2 million.
In each of the last four seasons, OSU achieved a national top-10 ranking. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Cowboys are 41-11. They captured the 2011 Big 12 championship. Mike Gundy needs only four more wins to supplant Pat Jones as OSU’s all-time leader in coaching victories.
In 2011, while the Cowboys reached the 12-win mark for the first time, the university savored unprecedented success in ticket sales and attendance. What happens with ticket sales and attendance in 2012?
During the 2009 preseason, OSU was No. 9 in the AP poll. Quarterback Zac Robinson and center Andrew Lewis were on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Dez Bryant was considered a possible Heisman Trophy guy. For the season-opening game – the first game played at completely renovated Boone Pickens Stadium – Georgia would be the opponent. Motivated OSU fans purchased a school-record total of 45,952 season tickets. By season’s end, OSU had a new school-record attendance average of 53,719.
Before the 2010 season, the Cowboys were unranked. In most preseason polls, they were fifth or sixth in the Big 12 South. The season-ticket sales total dipped to 43,375 and the attendance average to 50,812.
But the 2010 Cowboys did record 10 victories and set numerous school records for total offense and passing, and when Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon announced that they would stay at OSU for the 2011 season, the university was positioned for a fantastic business year. OSU obliterated the school records for season-ticket sales (48,710) and attendance (a 57,229 average).
What happens this year? OSU certainly won’t be in the preseason top 10. But because the Cowboys have been nationally ranked in 44 of their last 48 games, voters are accustomed to having Oklahoma State in the polls. The Cowboys might be anywhere from 18th to 25th during the preseason.
A preseason ranking won’t be as interesting as what occurs during the months before preseason camp begins. Will there be a drop in ticket sales, as was the case in 2010? Or are OSU fans now firmly of the belief that their school and Gundy can sustain a nationally relevant program?
If Oklahoma State indeed has become a legitimate football school, will the fans respond accordingly? If so, the result would be a 2012 season-ticket sales total of at least 48,711.
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
