Tag Archives: Money

OSU football ticket prices and attendance

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The high cost of tickets in 2015 was a factor in the low attendance last season.  Using single game ticket prices as a barometer of pricing strategy reveals that there have been very large increases in ticket prices over time.  Here’s the prices for single game, non-club tickets for the 2015 season:

Weber State $40
San Jose State $50
Stanford $80
Colorado $80
UCLA $80
UW $80

The past practice has been to price tickets so that D-1AA (FCS) schools were the lowest priced tickets and non-conference opponents slightly lower than most conference opponents (base conference price).  There was also 1 or possibly 2 premium priced tickets for the Civil War or for UW.  That strategy was changed in 2015 season with all conference opponent tickets priced at premium levels and that approach has been continued in 2016:

Idaho State $35
Boise State $80
California $80
Utah $80
WSU $80
Arizona $80
Oregon $100

The price of tickets and fan interest in a particular opponent are two factors that govern ticket sales.  Single game ticket prices have risen dramatically since 2007.  This period was marked by Reser Stadium reaching its current capacity.  Ticket prices can also influence attendance, particularly among the buyers of single game tickets (see figure below – click to enlarge).

Ticket prices and attendance

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OSU athletic department revenues have doubled

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Data from the US Department of Education indicate that total revenues of OSU’s athletic department have doubled since the expansion of Reser Stadium in 2005.  Athletic department revenues reported in fiscal year 2015 were a record $72.1 million.  This is up by about $12 million in just the last two years.   OSU trails conference leader Stanford ($109.7 million) and the Pac-12 average ($85.6 million) but has risen in the rankings within the conference.  OSU is ahead of Colorado ($67.9 million), Washington State University ($66.1 million) and Utah ($64.6 million).  Rival Oregon has revenues just above the conference average at $85.8 million.

While OSU’s athletic department has a number of long-term financial constraints, it is encouraging to know that revenues have doubled since the expansion of Reser Stadium capacity.  And even though the Pac-12 media contract has failed to deliver the target revenues, this contract has added significantly to this gain in revenue.

The expansion of Reser Stadium capacity in 2005 and further expansion in 2007 changed the trajectory of revenue production by OSU.  The Pac-12 media contract was signed in 2011 and increased revenues were observed starting in the 2012 fiscal year.

OSU athletic department revenues

A Financial Profile for OSU Wrestling

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This article profiles the financial health of OSU’s wrestling program in terms of revenue generation and expenses, and trends over time.

The graphic below shows the competition-related revenues and expenses for OSU wrestling from FY 2001 to FY 2013.  The revenues charted below include ticket sales, media revenue, etc., but not donations as they are a part of non-competition revenues.  Expenses shown below include meet costs, travel, staff salaries, etc., but not facility construction or construction debt costs.  As a reminder, OSU’s fiscal year begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th, thus FY 2001 started on July 1st 2000 and ended on June 30th 2001.

Wrestling

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A Financial Profile for OSU Women’s Sports

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We’ve learned that only football and men’s basketball at OSU consistently bring in more revenues than expenses, and therefore, the sports generate a “profit” and that baseball is consistently near the break-even point.  This article profiles the financial health of the top four women’s sports programs in terms of revenue generation and expenses, and trends in these programs over time.  Future articles will present similar profiles for other OSU sports programs.

The graphics below shows the competition-related revenues and expenses for the top four OSU’s women’s sports programs from FY 2001 to FY 2013.  The revenues charted below include ticket sales, media revenue, etc., but not donations as they are a part of non-competition revenues.  Expenses shown below include game costs, travel, staff salaries, etc., but not facility construction or construction debt costs.  As a reminder, OSU’s fiscal year begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th, thus FY 2001 started on July 1st 2000 and ended on June 30th 2001.

Gymnastics

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A Financial Profile for OSU Baseball

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We’ve learned that only football and men’s basketball at OSU consistently bring in more revenues than expenses, and therefore, the sports generate a “profit”.  Baseball currently supplies 3% of all department revenues and accounts for 3.5% of total expenses.  This article profiles the financial health of the baseball program and trends in the program over time.  Future articles will present similar profiles for other OSU sports programs. Continue reading →

Financial health of OSU Men’s Basketball in relation to Pac-12 peers

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The following table compares several aspects of the financial health of men’s basketball for OSU with Pac-12 peer programs in FY 2013 (source – US Dept. of Education).  Considered here are the program revenues and expenses, revenues and expenses as a percentage of total revenues and expenses, and the net revenue for the men’s basketball programs in the conference.  All values are $ millions except for % as noted. Continue reading →