For the Oklahoma State football ticket staff, the '14 season "presents a unique set of challenges for its initial push to sell more tickets" than '13, as many of the "factors that led to last year’s record mark are gone, replaced by variables that could potentially dampen sales," according to Kyle Frederickson of the OKLAHOMAN. OSU sold 50,223 season tickets last year, and selling more in '14 is an "ambitious goal." Associate AD/Ticket Manager Craig Bauman said, "There’s definitely a chance, but I hesitate to guarantee that it will happen. Even if we aren’t able to, my guess is that we’ll probably end with the second or third highest season-ticket sales ever for OSU.” In '13, OSU's regular season finale against Oklahoma was "the 'premium game' on the schedule" and available to only season-ticket holders. In contrast, the '14 "premium home game" is against Texas on Nov. 15. Bauman said that at the end of July his office was at about 82% of "where it was last year in terms of season-ticket sales." Bauman said that a "detailed social media promotion strategy from the ticket office will be rolled out right up until the opener." Its main intent will be to "drum up the excitement of attending live games at Boone Pickens Stadium, rather than just letting fans know where they can buy tickets." That plan, combined with the "overall growth Bauman has seen over the past 10 years, makes him optimistic that more records will be broken soon" (OKLAHOMAN, 8/5).
SEA OF RED: In Louisville, Jeff Greer notes the Univ. of Louisville today announced it has sold a “record number of football season tickets heading into the 2014 season,” the school’s first year as part of the ACC. UL sold 46,149 season tickets and sold out the “luxury suites at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium for the first time.” The season-ticket figure breaks the previous record "set last year when U of L sold 45,627 ahead of the 2013 season" (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 8/6).
