OSU’s policy spurs season-ticket sales but ticks off many fans.

In January, OSU’s athletic director announced that there would be no single-game ticket sales for Saturday’s Bedlam meeting with Oklahoma in Stillwater. Bedlam admittance would be exclusive to fans who purchased season tickets or secured tickets through the University of Oklahoma athletic department.

OU was given an allotment of 5,000 tickets, priced at $100 apiece.

Fans of both the Cowboys and Sooners have expressed contempt for the policy. Holder admits that he has been a magnet for criticism.

“We knew that if our team was successful, and if Oklahoma had their normal good season, and if the (Bedlam) game had some national significance, there would be even more rhetoric about the whole situation,” Holder said. “It’s a conversation (topic) every day.

“If we don’t bring it up, someone brings it up for us.”

Bedlam is a nationally anticipated clash of the Sooners and Cowboys, and there quite likely will be about 10,000 empty seats at 60,000-seat Boone Pickens Stadium.

Season tickets remain available

One game, four tickets, $3,276.

The breakdown: a $400 donation was required for each seat, and each ticket was $419.

Available through the OSU athletic department, remaining tickets are $294 (for a seat in the west end zone) and $419 (on both the north and south sides of the stadium).

Also available is a four ticket package, with seats in the west end zone, for $980 ($245 for each ticket).

Holder has been inundated with requests to change the policy — to release tickets on a single-game basis. He said months ago that he would not do it, and he says the same thing now.

“We decided that was a bad idea,” Holder said. “A lot of people have revisited that issue for us, and brought it to our attention repeatedly.

When the decision was made to adopt the policy, we looked at all of those options and decided that we wouldn’t o6er any alternatives. ... That was fundamental to the whole decision— there couldn’t be any options. There would be one way to attend the (Bedlam) game. You had to be a season ticket holder.

“We want to grow our season- ticket base. It’s not about Bedlam in 2008. Yes, that’s the game that we used because it’s the marquee game on our schedule, but we must grow our season-ticket base if we want to be to be successful over the long haul in the Big 12 Conference.”

Holder’s objectives were to cultivate increases in season ticket sales, attendance and home-game revenue.

As of last week, OSU’s school-record season-ticket sales total stood at 39,653.

Last year, the total was 33,400.

The old record of 38,674 was set in 2004.

Through six home dates, OSU’s attendance average is 48,133. The school record is 46,805, also set in 2004. For three games this season, the Cowboys attracted a crowd of • • more than 50,000. A school record crowd of 52,463 watched OSU triumph 55-24 over Troy.

Three years ago, when Holder became athletic director, the average revenue for a home game was about $1.5 million. This season, it ranges between $2 million and $2.5 million. Money from football ticket sales is a major source of funds for the athletic department’s operating budget.

“To be honest, we knew we would get some negative feedback,” said OSU marketing director Kyle Wray, referring to the Bedlam ticket policy. “We talked about this • a long time before we went public with it. We knew there would be some challenges.

It’s an educational process.

Our fans have to learn that buying a season ticket is the best option — both for them and for our football program.

We were confident that we would see positive results.

“When something might be unpopular, someone has to step forward and take the calls and the e-mails. Mike Holder agreed to be that person, and I was in complete support of him.”

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione declined when given an opportunity to comment on the Oklahoma State policy.

It seems certain that OSU will have the same policy next year — with one game being designated a premium game, and fans being admitted only if they are season-ticket holders. OSU’s 2009 home schedule includes dates with Georgia, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech.

“In my mind, when we did it for the ’08 football season, we committed to doing multiple seasons,” Holder said.

For OSU’s home games with Houston,Missouri State and Troy, a single-game ticket was priced at $60. For Big 12 home games with Texas A&M, Baylor and Iowa State, the single-game ticket was $85.

When Iowa State played at Oklahoma State in 2004, the single-game ticket was $40.

“We’ve had significant increases in ticket prices and donor seating. Everyone that complains about that, I tell them that I feel their pain,” Holder said. “Raising ticket prices is not a very popular thing for an AD to do. If there were an election, you wouldn’t do that.

“But it’s necessary. It’s unrealistic to expect us to achieve at the highest level with our sports programs, in this very competitive conference, if your budget ranks 10th. There’s a reason that the University of Texas wins more conference championships than everyone else.”

OSU’s 2008-09 athletic budget is, Holder said, “around $45 million. Texas’ is $127 million.”

BEDLAM TICKETS: WHAT THEY COST, HOW TO GET THEM

OSU will continue to sell season tickets next week: $294 for a seat in the west end zone.

$980 for a four-ticket package ($245 apiece). Seating is in the west end zone.

$419, with seats available on the south and north sides of Boone Pickens Stadium.

On Web sites such as stubhub.com, Bedlam ticket prices range from $135 to $1,200.

Tom Johnson, OSU’s ticket manager, says purchasing “from a secondary market” can be risky.

“There is no guarantee that it’s a legitimate ticket,” he said.

“People pay a lot of money and find themselves with (counterfeit tickets). It happens every year, and we’ve seen it happen with past Bedlam games.”

Johnson predicts that the Bedlam showdown will attract a crowd of “about 50,000.”

OSU ticket office: east lobby, Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater.

Phone: (877) 255-4678 E-mail: tickets@okstate.edu.

Web site: tulsaworld.com/osusports