It's Going to be a "Tough Ticket"

March 31, 2006

• Read about Iowa’s 2006 recruiting class
• Follow the renovation of Kinnick!
• The Schedule: 2006 and beyond
• Listen to the Hawkeyes on XM Radio
• Watch and listen to Kirk, the Hawkeyes
• Travel with the UI Alumni Association to Syracuse

The UI Athletic Ticket Office recently passed the midway point in the process of re-seating general public and UI faculty and staff football season ticket customers of a season ago and all signs point to the seven home football games of the nationally ranked 2006 Iowa football team being a “tough ticket.”

Last season, the UI sold approximately 40,300 general public season tickets to about 13,000 customers. It was the fourth straight year of double-digit percentage increases in the sales of general public season tickets for the UI.

The UI sold another 3,800 season tickets to current and former University faculty and staff prior to the 2005 season, and sold out its student section with sales of season tickets to current UI students just about touching 10,000.

As of Mar. 30, the UI had visited with roughly half of last year’s season ticket customers. Those 6,500 customers have placed orders for slightly more than 21,000 tickets. And, while the average number of season tickets being purchased by each customer is declining slightly as the re-seating process continues, David Sandstrum, the UI’s director of ticket operations, believes another increase in total season ticket sales to the general public is likely.

“We expect to end the process of visiting with our season ticket customers from a year ago basically flat in the number of season tickets sold this year compared to last,” explained Sandstrum.

“However, we then will begin the process of filling season ticket requests from fans of the Hawkeyes who were not season ticket holders a year ago and the list of those fans is rather significant.”

The UI Athletic Ticket Office has a big red “X” on June 8. That’s the day it will take its last order from a fan of the Hawkeyes who was a season ticket customer a year ago.

Sandstrum’s staff will begin accepting orders for season tickets from new contributors to the National I-Club and members of the general public on the following schedule:

June 13 – New contributors, Kinnick Society level
June 13 – New contributors, Champions level
June 14 – New contributors, Golden Hawk level
June 15 – New contributors, Silver Hawk level
June 16 – New contributors, all other levels
June 21 – Non-contributors (general public and current and former UI faculty and staff making their first season ticket purchase)

Fans of the Hawkeyes in these categories will be able to make their purchase online at hawkeyesports.com, over the telephone by calling 1-800 IA-HAWKS, or in person at the UI Athletic Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

For information about membership in the National I-Club, fans can visit hawkeyesports.com or call the UI Foundation at (319) 335-3305.

Single-game sales will begin in July if tickets are available.

Current UI students can place their 2006 season ticket order online by visiting hawkeyesports.com and clicking on the “Tickets” link. Current students are encouraged to place their order prior to the end of the current semester of classes. Students new to the UI next fall will receive information about 2006 student football season tickets during their summer orientation session.

UI Athletic Department officials expect that demand for student tickets will surpass supply and are currently exploring the best options to provide all students who are interested in attending the home games of the Hawkeyes an opportunity to have access to at least a portion of the seven-game home schedule.

All season ticket purchases made beginning on June 13 will provide new season ticket customers with the same option provided for the first time to last year’s season ticket customers: They will pick the seats inside Kinnick Stadium they want to sit in from what is available at the time of their purchase.

The re-seating process for last year’s season ticket customers was a by-product of the decision to increase the space each season ticket holder is provided on each bleacher in each section in the east and west grandstands of Kinnick Stadium. That width – 18 inches – will match the width that was provided to season ticket holders who had seat locations in the north and south grandstands a year ago.

In addition to providing each fan of the Hawkeyes a little more space, the widening of the seats in the original grandstands of the facility built 76 years ago also meant that capacity in each grandstand would be reduced by a little more than 1,400 seats. The loss of approximately 2,800 seats in the grandstands reduced game-day capacity in the grandstand, but not in the entire facility – about the same number of new seats will exist in the new press box inside the private suites, and the indoor and outdoor club seat areas when those spaces become operational beginning this season.

The loss of seats in the grandstand will, however, significantly impact the number of tickets available for fans to purchase on a single-game basis once requests for season tickets have been filled.

“We will have that many fewer tickets to sell on a game-by-game basis this year compared to last. That’s a fact,” said Sandstrum.

“We’re not expecting to reach a total sellout of all seven games on a season ticket basis this year. That would be a surprise, frankly,” he continued.

“However, we do know that if you pair the loss of seats in the grandstand with another successful season, interest in the program will continue to grow and we will likely see another increase in season ticket sales and, perhaps, a situation where we are, in fact, sold out on a season ticket basis.”

A limited number of seats in the outdoor club seat section of the new press box at Kinnick Stadium are available for purchase. These seat locations arguably offer the best view of the playing field and the best of the experience of watching college football “out in the elements” while, at the same time, enjoying all the amenities available to fans of the Hawkeyes who elect to spend their game days in the new press box at Kinnick.

Fans interested in learning more about the outdoor club seating option at Kinnick can contact Scott Brown at (319) 353-5325.

The UI has sold all of the suites and indoor club seats that are to be a part of the new press box at Kinnick Stadium when the $89 million renovation of the UI’s football facility is completed in August.