MORE: Purdue kicks off sales for new football season tickets | It's official: Purdue will play Northwestern at Wrigley Field in 2021 | Big Ten releases revised 2021 football schedules
Fans are ready to watch some football. Tom Moreland knows.
Purdue’s associate athletics director for strategic initiatives saw it first hand on Tuesday when new football season tickets went on sale.
“We sold 192 new season tickets yesterday,” said Moreland. “We went on sale at 9 a.m. Sold 192 new season tickets in the first few hours.”
One person couldn't wait for sunrise.
“We actually had one fan go on in the middle of the night, actually go onto the ticket webpage and actually buy them at about 1 a.m.
“People are excited. They want to get back to live events, they really do. But we will do this in a safe and thoughtful way. We will constantly communicate with our fans. We will over communicate. We're just excited to get the process rolling.”
It was a long 2020 for Boilermaker fans, who were unable to attend the four games played at Ross-Ade Stadium due to the pandemic. On the family of staff and players were permitted. But the hope is that fans will be in 57,282-seat Ross-Ade Stadium this fall as COVID vaccinations continue and immunity becomes more widespread. How many fans could be at games?
“We'll obviously monitor the situation, work with Purdue leadership, our Board of Trustees, local health department, the state and the Big Ten,” said Moreland. “I think one of the things we've learned through COVID is that it's not a race to the microphone. And it's not a race to make a guess. Our hope is to be 100 percent full.
“I think Major League Baseball is really going to be a guidepost for everybody involved with football, whether it's college or NFL. I think what they do in their stadiums and how successful that is will be a strong indicator of what happens in the fall.”
While new 2021 season ticket sales have begun, renewals will not commence until Feb. 23. There has been no increase in price in all seats in the Ross-Ade bowl.
“We did think it was really important to have flat prices,” said Moreland. “So, for every seat in the seating bowl, whatever the price was in 2020, that is the exact same price in 2021. Zero percent increase.”
One question many season tickets have: What needs to be done if you had your 2020 season ticket money held over and rolled into paying for your 2021 season tickets?
“We'll reach out to you to see if maybe you want to upgrade your seats to some type of suite move,” said Moreland. “And, also, you'll receive communication about setting up your parking. But as far as having to do anything financially or anything like that, you certainly don’t.”
Moreland estimates that 52 percent of those who purchased season tickets in 2020 opted to roll their money toward 2021 tickets. And about 15 percent chose to donate their 2020 season ticket money to the "More Than A Game" campaign by the John Purdue Club.
“We’ve all worked through this pandemic together,” said Moreland. “Obviously, a lot of Purdue fans have stepped up with John Purdue Club gifts, and then also just the really important support we need for the 'More Than A Game' campaign.”
Support also has been good for premium seating the last few years.
"All of our suites are sold out," Moreland said. "Shivley (Club), for the most part, is sold out. But there are a few opportunities in Buchanan, and we actually had a few people call in immediately and buy some Buchanan seats. So, our fans are definitely interested in them."
What’s new in Ross-Ade Stadium in 2021?
• All digital tickets
• Contact-less concessions
• Improved parking procedures and opportunities for parking
• Turnkey tailgating services
“And there are a few other things we're working on,” said Moreland, including improvement to the south end zone patio.
“All of our season ticket holders have access to the south end zone patio,” said Moreland. “Again, that's a part of that progression of always looking to improve our fan experience.”
Fans also no doubt will notice the mammoth new scoreboard installed in the south end zone prior to last season.
“The importance of getting fans back in our venues is absolutely critical for numerous reasons,” said Moreland.
The financial component is huge. And so is the atmosphere component that makes Saturday college football games unique.
“We have to have people back in our venues,” said Moreland. “It’s a key part of what we do here and I think people want to come back. They want to be on campus, they want to be in Ross-Ade, they want to be in Mackey Arena. And so we're going to do everything we can to bring them back.”
One game many Purdue fans want to attend: The Nov. 20 contest at Wrigley Field vs. Northwestern, which is a "home" game for the Wildcats.
"We've actually gotten a lot of calls on that already since we released that yesterday morning," said Moreland. "We’ll work through that process with our ticket office. We’ll have an on-sale (date) for that later this spring or early summer, but more detailed information is going to come out about getting tickets to the Wrigley Field game.
"Right now, our focus is season tickets. We’ll start communicating and talking more about single-game tickets, mini plans, flex plans, those types of things, late spring, early summer."
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