Michigan State officials are "expecting at or near record season ticket sales" for the upcoming football season following the '13 season that saw the Spartans win their first Rose Bowl since '88, according to Brian Calloway of the LANSING STATE JOURNAL. MSU AD Mark Hollis said, "Our ticket numbers are looking good. Those are the residual upside (from the Rose Bowl) from a revenue standpoint." Calloway noted MSU's "previous record for season ticket sales was 63,831" in '12. The "expected boost in the box office has been one of many positive gains for MSU from last year’s success." Although "not as impactful as the revenue gained from ticket sales, the school also saw a boost on the merchandise front by increasing their profit $390,000 in the last fiscal year." The royalty figures from "Rose-Bowl specific apparel" totaled $466,154, and MSU noted a "boost in profit last December and this January over those months in the previous year." Hollis added, "We saw a pretty good jump in retail sales through online and had a good return" (LANSING STATE JOURNAL, 8/10).
HIGH SCORE: In Seattle, Adam Jude reported the Univ. of Washington as of last week had "sold 43,398 season tickets for the 2014 football season," which is 92% of the '13 total of 46,978. Those figures "do not include student-ticket sales." The school had the "highest increase in home attendance of any FBS program" in '13, with an "average of 68,769 fans for seven games at the new $280 million Husky Stadium" (SEATTLETIMES.com, 8/11).
