Sources said Memphis is conservatively projecting it will sell at least 7,000-7,500 season tickets for this seasonUNIV. OF MEMPHIS
Univ. of Memphis men's basketball ticket donations have "skyrocketed in the wake of the hiring of Penny Hardaway as head coach," according to Calkins & Giannotto of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. A source said that season-ticket buyers have "donated a total" of $4.86M so far this year, up from $2M at the "same time last year." The source said that Memphis "will not have a precise number of season tickets sold until June 30." But fans "donate in order to have the right to buy season tickets." Donations listed on the school's athletics online ticket portal "range from $100 to $3,150 each year." The Tigers sold 4,115 season tickets in '17-18, a figure Memphis President David Rudd called "the lowest in modern history for Tiger basketball." The source also said that Memphis is "conservatively projecting it will sell at least 7,000-7,500 season tickets for the upcoming season." Donations to the athletic department "were down" almost $1.1M during FY '16-17, "largely because of a drop in men's basketball season ticket sales ahead of this past season." Announced attendance during the '17-18 season "fell to a 48-year-low." Memphis is "due $800,000 from the Grizzlies if its average turnstile count is more than 10,000 fans" at FedExForum. If it "averages between 6,000 and 10,000 fans, the school receives a reduced payment in proportion to the shortfall." If the average is "below 6,000, Memphis gets no money from the Grizzlies." If the turnstile count is "below 6,000 in two consecutive seasons, the Grizzlies have the option to terminate the school’s lease" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 5/3).
