By Harry Minium
Regardless of who you are, you're certainly feeling pain from the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be working remotely, teaching your children in your home or may have lost your job.
If you're a business owner you've almost certainly seen a reduction in revenue and may have had to shut your doors.
ODU athletic director Wood Selig knows many of our football season ticket holders are also hurting financially, so has made some changes that we hope will ease the burden a bit when you renew your tickets.
First, ODU pushed back the deadline to renew your seats from May 1 to June 1. That will give you an extra month to assess your finances and perhaps have a better idea of what the future holds.
ODU is also pushing back the deadline for you to make your contribution to the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation to June 1.
In addition, ODU is offering new payment options – you can opt for an interest-free, payment plan for both your season tickets and ODAF donations.
Tickets can be purchased with five equal payments. The first payment will be charged at the time of purchase. Additional payments will be charged equally on June 1, July 1, August 1 and September 1.
ODAF donations can be paid over seven months and not a dime of those donations go toward salaries or capital projects. It all goes to fund scholarships for ODU's athletic teams.
"We're extending our renewal deadline because it only makes sense given these challenging economic times for all. Our season ticket holders have been extremely loyal to our student athletes and staff and we want to return this support and loyalty to them," Selig said.
"We'll do everything we can to be flexible for ODU football fans as we know the excitement for ODU is cresting once again with the hiring of new head coach Ricky Rahne and his new staff."
ODU opened the newly renovated S.B. Ballard Stadium last season.
"We realize some fans may have interest in relocating their seats now that they have spent a season learning the stadium," Selig said. "Rest assured, existing season ticket holders will have the first choice to select new seats before we begin assigning seat locations to others.
"But even that process must have a deadline."
If you're not a season ticket holder, there's no need to wait. You can purchase season tickets now. Pick your section and a seat will be assigned to you in June.
If you haven't had season tickets for a while, you may want to give ODU another look. Selig did much before the coronavirus to make football tickets less expensive.
ODU has seven games in 2020 rather than the usual six and is not raising the prices. In other words, you essentially get that seventh game free.
Ticket prices have also been reduced for more than 2,500 sideline bench back seats. Those tickets, which cost $200 last season, have been slashed to $150. No seat membership fee is required. That means you can purchase tickets for $22 per game, which is a huge savings compared to buying individual game tickets.
That number includes nearly 650 seats on the East Side usually set aside for visiting teams, but have been made available for Monarch fans.
ODU's football program took a new direction in the offseason when the Monarchs hired Rahne as the new head coach. The former Penn State offensive coordinator has hired a young staff that will feature a more up-tempo offense and more aggressive defense.
Even though he had less than a month to recruit, Rahne signed 18 players and got commitments from three recruited walk-ons that if star ratings are any indication, is the best in ODU history.
Of the 21 players, 17 are 3-star recruits, including Indian River High School cornerback LaMareon James, who turned down offers from several ACC and SEC teams.
Rahne will face the most challenging home schedule ever. Virginia and Wake Forest from the ACC are coming to Norfolk as is traditional FCS rival Hampton University.
The Monarchs are scheduled to open at home on Friday, Sept. 4 against Wake Forest, which defeated Florida State, North Carolina and N.C. State before losing to Michigan State in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Deacons were 8-5.
U.Va. comes to ODU on Oct 24 and it will be the first time the Cavs have played football at ODU.
The Cavs were 9-5 last season after ending their long losing streak to Virginia Tech. U.Va. won the ACC Coastal Division before losing to perennial national power Clemson in the ACC championship game.
The Conference USA home schedule also features four very good programs.
Florida International, coached by former University of Miami coach Butch Davis, upset the Hurricanes last season at Marlins Park. UAB won the C-USA title in 2018 and lost in the championship game in 2019. The Blazers have never played at ODU.
There's also traditional C-USA East Division powerhouse Marshall and Middle Tennessee, whom ODU has never beaten. Five of ODU's six home FBS opponents went to bowl games last season.
If you can't afford the tickets you had last year, reach out to the ticket office. ODU has diverse price options, including $99 season tickets in the north end zone. That works out to $14 per game.
For information on donations, call ODAF at (757) 683-6963. For ticket information, email odutickets@odu.edu
Have other questions? Email me at hminium@odu.edu and I'll get you an answer.
ODU 2020 Football Schedule
Friday, Sept. 5, Wake Forest
Saturday, Sept. 12, Hampton
Saturday, Sept. 19, Florida International
Saturday, Sept. 26, Middle Tennessee
Saturday, Oct 3, at UConn
Saturday, Oct. 10, open date
Saturday, Oct. 17, at UTSA
Saturday, Oct. 24, Virginia
Saturday, Oct. 31, at Western Kentucky
Saturday, Nov. 7, UAB
Saturday, Nov. 14, at Charlotte
Saturday, Nov. 21, at Florida Atlantic
Saturday, Nov. 28, Marshall
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Minium: ODU Has Extended Deadline for Football Season Tickets to Give Fans More Time to Deal With Fallout From COVID-19
