It's full-steam ahead for Purdue when it comes to selling football season tickets. And business is good, even in these challenging economic times.
Despite a cloud hanging over the 2020 season--Will there be a season? If so, will fans be allowed to attend games?--the Purdue ticket office is about on pace with its 2019 sales numbers through mid-May, according to Purdue's associate athletics director for strategic initiatives Tom Moreland.
“We have renewed 13,250 season tickets for 2020 football,” said Moreland on Wednesday.
The season ticket count was “right around 14,000 this time last year,” according to Moreland.
“Renewing season tickets is our priority right now,” he said. “Numbers are looking good, pacing is looking good.
“Our fan base is obviously really excited, they believe in Coach (Jeff) Brohm, the administration and everything that is going on.”
In 2019, Purdue averaged 54,021 in attendance, drawing 378,147 fans for seven home games during a 4-8 season. In 2018, Purdue averaged 51,119, and 47,883 in 2017.
But unlike the three previous years, these are trying times for many people, as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic that has caused economic hardship for many. Money could be tight for consumers. To help make tickets more affordable, Purdue introduced flexible payment options earlier this month.
There are myriad options, ranging from an Extended Payment Plan that features four installments to a Two Payment Plan. Fans who have not renewed their season tickets have until Thursday, May 14, to commit.
“We provided all of our season ticket holders with an incredibly flexible payment plan,” said Moreland.
Premium seat sales also are going well for Purdue as Brohm embarks on his fourth season in West Lafayette. Moreland says Purdue sold out the Shively Club and its suites last year but did not sell out its indoor club seating.
“Renewals are going great,” said Moreland. “The few seats that we will have open in Shively, people are buying those. So, I would expect to see a full house in the Shively Club and expect to sell out our suites again. But we still are having conversations with people in case there are some small openings.”
Now, the big question: What if fans aren’t allowed to attend games because of the pandemic?
“I would just say whatever I tell you now would be just speculation,” said Moreland. “Obviously, we're doing a lot of internal planning on the Purdue side, working through what some different scenarios will be. But we just don't want to speculate.”
And Moreland didn’t want to speculate on if fans would be allowed to sit in premium seating even if fans weren’t allowed in the stands. Questions abound, and Purdue has a mechanism to keep its fanbase up to date.
“Here's where we're a little different at Purdue,” said Moreland. “All of our season ticket holders, and all of our John Purdue Club members, have a personal contact within the athletics department. That is there Boilermaker Athletic Rep.
“So they hear from them consistently throughout the year, just not when it's time to renew a ticket. So, they hear from them all the time. Those people are constantly having conversations. There's always conversations going on.”
According to the Purdue athletic website (PurdueSports.com): In the event a football season is cancelled or partially played, Purdue Athletics will be offering full/partial refunds based on the affected games.
Next up for the athletic department: basketball season ticket sales.
“We'll start the renewal process later this summer,” said Moreland. “And we fully expect to renew all those seats. Obviously, Boilermaker basketball sells out every game, so we expect that again. But, again, not to be redundant here, will continue to work through plans and see what the future is, but we don't want to speculate.”
For now, football tickets are the priority.
“We're moving forward,” said Moreland.
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