JUST IN:Indiana Announces Changes in Football Season Tickets,See Reasons…….

 

In a pretty detailed announcement via email on Thursday, Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson laid out numerous changes to the structure of IUFB season tickets and processes moving forward, and said more announcements are forthcoming.

Coming off of a season in which Indiana finished 8-0 at home under new Head Coach Curt Cignetti that included wins on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff and ESPN’s College Gameday, Indiana ended the season with four straight sellouts (Nebraska, Washington, Michigan, Purdue) en route to the highest attendance mark at home in program history.

Before detailing changes, Dolson said, “We have already witnessed an unprecedented upswing of interest in IU Football season tickets following our 2024 College Football Playoff appearance, which suggests we will have electric atmospheres for all seven home games this fall.”

We’ve seen IU be complacent in the past when they have found momentum on the football side of things, but it seems like this time around, the department is ready to capitalize on some positive momentum and make changes to benefit the program.

What’s Changing?

Dolson detailed a few changes, most notably prices and seat locations.

Prices for season tickets will increase across the board, but still remain one of the best values in the country, especially if IU carries some of the play on the field from this past year into 2025. New season tickets for adults start at $280, or just $40 per game and go up to $476 per seat ($68 per game). Parking passes will continue to be a benefit reserved only for full season ticket holders, which did make a positive impact on people actually attending the games and being in their seats before kickoff. One could argue that prices could have increased by a much larger amount relative to get demand IU has been seeing and the schedule including seven home games on Saturdays this fall.

For the first time since 2022, Memorial Stadium will undergo a full re-seat, meaning all season ticket holders, both returning and new, will be able to select their seats for this fall beginning in May. Priority will be given based on the IU Athletics Priority Points system, and this serves as a good opportunity for people to move to more desirable seats or move their seats around to get to a price similar to what they paid in 2024. You must renew your plan or become a season ticket holder by March 31 to participate in this process, which IU says will launch in May after getting more information out to season ticket holders.

What’s New?

IU will be introducing a personal seat donation program, which is a mandatory donation per seat to the IU Varsity Club required as part of being a season ticket holder. Dolson said IU is following a very similar model to 14 other Big Ten programs, adding “this change is not only part of our efforts to drive revenue in the rapidly-changing world of intercollegiate athletics, but also is consistent with what a large majority of Big Ten (and other Power-4 conference) institutions utilize for their football tickets.”

Donations prices per seat will range from $0 – $250 depending on the location you’re looking to sit in, and donations will be required before selecting seats during that process in May.

Why add this now? Success breeds demand, and demand breeds opportunities to increase revenue. That’s what healthy businesses do, and this is a sign that Indiana is confident in the interest and demand in Indiana Football tickets for 2025. Besides adding money to the department’s bottom line, Dolson added that “the revenue generated from Personal Seat Donations will support the Student-Athlete Scholarship fund. While these donations will not count toward your annual giving level for the IU Varsity Club, you will receive priority points for this donation if you are a current Varsity Club member. If you do not wish to participate in the program to secure premium seat locations, a portion of the stadium does not require a donation.”

Lastly, a new seating area was announced as a result of IU saying that they have been “inundated with requests for new premium seating options in Memorial Stadium” which will debut this fall. The new “East Side Club” will be located in rows 7-20 in sections 25-28 (between the 35-yard lines) and feature enhanced seats and the opportunity to purchase passes for a dedicated indoor lounge. Tickets for the East Side Club start at $1,000 for the season which depending on what it comes with and will look like, could be a great deal for those looking to take their IUFB experience up a notch.

What’s it Mean?

Look – raising prices is always a tough thing for customers, and for a program like Indiana that has never stringed success together, can seem like it’s out of left field. However, Indiana simply has to keep up with its peers in this new age of college athletics and most importantly, college football. The department and the city itself saw the economic lift that a healthy, thriving football program can have on the bottom line and it’s a good sign that Indiana appears ready to continue supporting the program while making necessary improvements to their pricing structure for football. It makes sense that some people that have had their seats for a long time would be upset at price increases, but there are options available to move seats in May to get the cost down and not even have to take part in the seat donation program.

Indiana is a Big Ten football program that is coming off of an 11-2 season and a berth in the College Football Playoff, ending the season ranked 10th in the AP Poll. People wanted to see the University invest in and care about the football program and look what happened. Indiana operated like a major program this past season, and small prices increases across the board to ensure the program’s financial picture remains healthy is the cost of doing business. Indiana is confident it can capitalize on increased demand in season tickets despite price increases, and they should be! It’s an exciting time to be around the program, and it will be hard to convince me that having season ticket plans starting at $40 per game for next season is out of bounds.

Overall, I think the changes are positive. Many people were used to buying single game tickets on the secondary market for less than $10, sitting wherever they wanted because the attendance was so poor, and just hoping we played well enough to stay in the game. I always wanted better for this program, and the changes announced on Thursday show there is effort and attention being given to ensuring the long-term health of a program that is now being treated like an asset. I understand not everyone will see it the same way, but the shift in thinking that these changes signal makes me feel good. 220 days until Indiana opens at home against Old Dominion. See you there.