MORGANTOWN — With the first WVU football home game about six weeks away, a realistic view of tickets sales is beginning to become clear.
According to Matt Wells, WVU’s executive senior associate athletic director for external affairs, it’s been a mixed bag for the Mountaineers.
Last season, the first two home games against Eastern Kentucky and Baylor didn’t have any fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the final three games against Kansas, Kansas State and TCU were limited to 25% capacity, with each game bringing in about 10,000 fans.
Now, the athletic department is expecting 100% capacity for every home game, beginning Sept. 11 against Long Island. Season ticket sales have fallen “a little flat,” Wells said, though he said it is comparable to the last four or five years.
“We still have a month or so to go before the season begins, but season tickets are a bit flat,” Wells said. “We’re sitting at about 24,000-25,000 right now.”
Of those purchased, about half include those who purchased season tickets for 2020 and decided to roll them over when the department allowed them to, after it was decided games would either have no fans or limited capacity.
Wells described a variety of factors for the lower numbers, including the continued impact of COVID-19 from a financial aspect.
With the lower end affecting season tickets sales, Wells said the mini-package deals are actually up this season. The Gold package includes the Virginia Tech, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State games, while the Blue package includes Texas Tech, Iowa State and Texas.
“These have become popular across all sports at the college and pro levels where fans want to support their team but aren’t able to do it for six games,” Wells said. “It gives them more flexibility, so we’ve seen about a 10% increase in those sales for this year.”
With the Virginia Tech rivalry being renewed at Milan Puskar Stadium for the first time since 2005, that game helped boost sales for the Gold package, as well as Iowa State’s rise as a Big 12 contender and Texas’ brand for the Blue.
Right now, between 5,500 and 6,000 mini-packages have been sold.
Single-game tickets went on sale Tuesday, and sales for the Virginia Tech game were suspended Thursday, while the Iowa State (Oct. 30) and Texas (Nov. 20) games are the next two popular games.
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