As the arms race of money in college sports continues, Utah State is looking to raise funds in any way possible for its athletics department. On Tuesday morning, the university announced it is raising prices on season and single-game tickets for all sports that require paid admission. Additionally, courtside seats will be added to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for men’s and women’s basketball games.
The university cited a need to “(help) Utah State, its coaches and student-athletes succeed in the new era of intercollegiate athletics” as the reason for the increase in pricing. Furthermore, the press release states that the increase is meant to “attract top talent to Logan and ensure the sustainability of its athletics department.” The release also stated that the university will “continue to modernize its programs and explore opportunities for revenue generation.”
Among these modern methods of revenue generation is the inclusion of a “recruitment and retention fee” that will be part of the price increase. This kind of fee is an increasingly common add-on to tickets by many institutions, the first known example coming from the University of Tennessee last September when it implemented a “talent fee” on its tickets.
There were not many details released about exactly where or how the new courtside seats in the Spectrum will be implemented. According to an information request form, there will be “two rows of extra-wide chairs located just steps away from Stew Morrill Court.” The ability to purchase this premium seating will be based upon one’s Big Blue Club membership level and priority points, with the highest priority will be given to Champions level Blue A Society.
According to data from Knight Commission On Intercollegiate Athletics, USU ranked 10th out of 11 full-member schools in ticket revenue for 2023-24, earning $2,741,487 during the school year. The Mountain West average for that year was just over $6 million with San Diego State at the top with nearly $10 million in ticket revenue. For that same academic year, Utah State ranked eighth in combined total attendance for football and men’s basketball.
Ticket sales has been the one area of revenue generation in which Utah State has not seen a notable increase in the last few years. Since 2022, ticket sales revenue has grown by only 0.83%, with other areas, such as corporate sponsorships and advertisements, seeing growth as high as 111.58% (technically, USU has seen north of 300% growth from competition guarantees, or “buy games” since 2022, as shown in the following chart, but that’s due to outlier low totals in 2021 and 2022. USU has seen a 12.05% growth since pre-COVID-19 pandemic amounts of revenue for buy games).
Utah State Revenue Growth by Type (since 2022)
| Revenue Source | USU Growth | FBS Median Growth | MW Median Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Sponsorship, Advertising, Licensing | 111.58% | 41.25% | 24.28% |
| Donor Contributions | 22.55% | 56.82% | 10.64% |
| Competition Guarantees | 307.56% | -15.45% | 48.55% |
| Conference/NCAA Distributions, Media Rights | 14.93% | 257.12% | 12.43% |
| Ticket Sales | 0.83% | 70.78% | 13.51% |
| Institutional Support and Student Fees | 30.81% | 6.57% | 20.68% |
| Other Revenue | 34.13% | 57.85% | 11.47% |
According to Utah State, prices will start at $168 per season ticket. Individuals that renewed their season tickets prior to June 16 will not have to pay the increased prices as they will have been locked in to the previous pricing structure.
