Wednesday December 6, 2023

Colorado Football’s $14M Ticket Revenue Surge Amid Revival

  • The additional revenue is flowing in with tickets completely sold out for the season.
  • Colorado will look to offer even more season tickets in 2024 when they join the Big 12.
Syndication: The Coloradoan
Linkedin
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

BOULDER, Colorado — Colorado suffered a second straight loss to a Pac-12 opponent, falling 48-41 to USC on Saturday — but five games into the Coach Prime era, the football program has already achieved monumental financial success.

Ticket revenue for football games is up $14 million from last season, the school tells Front Office Sports — that’s about half the cost of Deion Sanders’ five-year, $29.5 million contract that Colorado athletic director Rick George said they didn’t have the money for at the time of his signing last December.

In April, the Buffaloes sold out of season tickets for the first time since 1996, and after their 3-0 start, tickets for the entire season sold out for the first time. 

Single-game ticket revenue is up threefold this season, thanks partly to Colorado’s strategic dynamic pricing techniques since 2016. But, the athletic department carefully kept things in perspective while capitalizing on the demand. 

“We made decisions to stop at some points,” Colorado senior associate athletic director for external operations Alexis Williams told FOS. “We didn’t want to totally out-price, for instance, what fans were paying for tickets on the secondary market.” So far, get-in prices for several of Colorado’s games have reached hundreds of dollars.

Bigger Is Better

Colorado created a rooftop lounge area this season to add more ticket options at the 53,000-seat Folsom Field. The space has limited field views but still drew strong interest from fans looking to be in the building for a game.

Colorado sold close to 20,000 season tickets and plans to add to that number for 2024 when the Buffs join the Big 12. Those will likely go on sale before this season ends to capitalize on the current momentum.

Linkedin
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Baseball Extends Celebration of Negro Leagues With HOF Tribute Game

New event dovetails with planned MLB game at historic Rickwood Field.

NHL Plans To Stage 2024 Draft At $2.3B Vegas Sphere

League becomes first sports entity to stage an event entire at venue.
Tokyo-Olympics

Two Years After Tokyo’s $13B Olympics: Criminal Charges

Trial begins in bid-rigging scandal further marring already troubled Games.

Diamond Baseball Holdings Flexes Further With WooSox Deal

MiLB team holding company extends acquisition push with Boston's top affiliate.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

NCAA Opens Door to Athlete Compensation

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

The College Football Playoff is considering rotating TV networks for the national championship game.

CFP Considers Super Bowl-Like Rotation For National Championship Game

Multiple networks could share rights to the championship game, sources told FOS.
Brett Favre
November 27, 2023

Favre Welfare Case Hold-Up? "AG’s Office Has Not Expressed Interest In Pursuing"

The DOJ interviewed Brett Favre in early 2020.
The future of the Pac-12 rests on a court decision.
November 24, 2023

The Pac-12 Plays Its Final Regular-Season Game. Then A Court Decides Its Fate.

The conference's future rests with a court decision.
Lane Kiffin
November 9, 2023

Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin Lawyers Argue for Dismissal of Player Lawsuit

FOS obtained audio of Lane Kiffin's interaction with the player behind lawsuit.

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Wasserman
Multiple - USA Careers
Live Nation
Multiple - USA Careers
Saco Bay PT
Multiple - USA Careers
JMU football has been spending like a Group of 5 team for years. Now it will play its first bowl game.
December 4, 2023

James Madison, the FCS Team That Spent Like an FBS Team To Become One

The Dukes have been spending like a Sun Belt program for years.
NCAA President Charlie Baker has proposed new rules that would allow athletes to receive more compensation.
December 5, 2023

New NCAA Proposal Takes Step Toward Compensating Athletes

It does not allow athletes to become employees, however.
Sponsored

NHL’s Chris Foster on Amplifying Content Distribution With Automation

Learn how the NHL is using WSC Sports to increase fan engagement.
December 3, 2023

After Unbeaten FSU’s Snub, Financial and Legal Fallout

FSU, ACC to take sizable revenue hit despite Seminoles' undefeated season.
Florida lawmakers already have an appetite to propose state legislation to protest Florida State not making the College Football Playoff.
December 3, 2023

Florida Lawmakers Consider Protesting Florida State CFP Omission

It's unclear what form a bill would take.
December 1, 2023

TV Networks Are Programming College Football’s Future: What’s Next

Conference championship weekends will have a different feel in the future.
A lawsuit against the university of Oregon could dictate the future of Title IX and NIL.
December 1, 2023

New Lawsuit Could Decide Whether NIL Is Subject To Title IX

It's one of the biggest unanswered questions of the NIL era.