By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Judging by the first few days of ticket sales, Old Dominion football fans are clearly excited about the 2022 schedule, the most difficult and attractive in school history, and the direction of the program under coach Ricky Rahne.
ODU sold more than 1,000 season tickets in just three days after the University released its schedule late Tuesday morning. More than two thirds were purchased by new season ticket holders.
Those sales generated nearly $200,000 in revenue, all in less than 72 hours.
That's by far the fastest rate the University has sold tickets in its first week since 2009, ODU's first year of football.
The improved schedule is a huge reason cited by fans and ODU officials. The Monarchs open at home against Virginia Tech, host James Madison for the first time since 2011 and also play long-time rival Marshall. ODU also hosts Liberty, Arkansas State and former FCS powerhouse Georgia Southern.
Five of the six home games come against well-known regional programs that fans consider rivals.
There is also a sense of optimism after Rahne's first season as coach. The Monarchs lost six of their first seven games, but then won five in a row to finish the regular-season 6-6 and earn their first bowl bid since 2016.
In the four seasons following 2016, ODU went 5-7, 4-8 and 1-11 and in 2021, did not play because of the pandemic.
And while losing helped dampen ticket demand, season ticket sales have been on a steep and steady decline since ODU accepted in membership in Conference USA in 2014. Sales have dropped from 14,500 to 7,200 during that time.
Fan interest has been buoyed by ODU's new focus on regional rivalries.
ODU lost to Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, but more than 5,000 fans made the trip to South Carolina. Rahne returns most of his starters and has his third outstanding recruiting class in tow.
Athletic Director Wood Selig said the numbers are remarkable given that ODU's announcement of the new schedule drew scant media attention and hasn't been communicated directly to season ticket holders.
Athletic Director Wood Selig said he hopes ODU sells out the 2022 season.
"We didn't get a lot of coverage in the local media," Dr. Selig said. "Basically, we've relied on our website, social media and word of mouth.
"There's a real sense of excitement among our fans. In three days, we've sold almost as many new season tickets as we did in five months last year, and that was after months of promotions, including a series of TV advertisements featuring Taylor Heinicke."
The existing 7,200 season ticket holders also have yet to receive their annual Game Plan, a glossy package that includes a stadium seat map and information on how to renew tickets and on ODU's new ticketing policies.
They will be mailed later this month.
One of those new ticket policies will reduce what most fans pay for tickets and ODU officials say that likely will lead to a surge in the number of tickets purchased by existing ticket holders.
In 2019, ODU instituted seat memberships, essentially an annual fee charged for the right to purchase seats. Selig and Old Dominion Athletic Foundation Executive Director Jena Virga decided during the offseason to do away the memberships.
That means more than 80 percent of ODU's season ticket holders will see a reduction in how much they pay for tickets, said Dr. Jason Chandler, ODU's senior associate athletic director for external operations and revenue generation.
"With the seat memberships going away, for some people it will be a reduction of $185 per seat," he said.
Chandler said the seat memberships might have encouraged existing season ticket holders to reduce the number of tickets they purchased.
"A lot of our season ticket holders who renewed their memberships last year reduced the number of tickets they purchased," he said.
Chandler calls the fans who purchased those 7,200 tickets, "our core fans. And we want to take care of them."
5,000 fans followed ODU to the Myrtle Beach Bowl
ODU is not seating new ticket holders in the available 5,000 chair back seats until later in the spring as a way of taking care of existing season ticket holders. ODU expects that some will want to move, upgrade or increase their number of chair back seats and those requests will be accommodated before new season ticket holders get to select their seats.
"We're holding those for our valued season ticket holders because we know many of them are going to want more tickets," Chandler said.
Justin Ross, ODU's director of ticket sales, said fans are already increasing the number of tickets they're purchasing.
"Last year I was getting calls from people saying, 'Hey I want to renew my seats but I want four as opposed to eight. This year they're saying 'I have four, let's go to eight,'" he said.
"Everyone I talked to is just pumped. Those diehard fans, our season ticket holders, if they were with us last year, I don't see them leaving us this year.
"They see this as the best schedule we've ever played. And people are really feeling positive about the direction of our program."
That includes first-time season-ticket holder Quadre Eaton, an ODU graduate student who could rely on student tickets, but decided he wanted to guarantee his seats.
He's been an ODU fan since enrolling at the University in 2013.
"I saw the schedule for next season, and I just wanted to be a part of it," he said. "I've been following the team very closely. I saw what they did this past season.
"When they won five straight, it really made me proud. They made so much progress in recruiting. We have momentum going into next season."
Existing season ticket members have until May 1 to renew their tickets.
The least expensive tickets in the stadium will cost $150, and that includes more than 1,000 sideline seats. Those tickets will cost fans $25 per game.
"That's such a bargain when you look at our schedule," Chandler said. For fans who commit to purchasing tickets by April 1, payment plans are available that allow you to spread the cost over five months.
ODU's football program has made great progress under Ricky Rahne.
Selig said he does not expect single-game tickets will be available for the Virginia Tech game and said there's also a strong likelihood that single-game tickets for the JMU game will not become available, either.
"If you want tickets to the Virginia Tech game, you're going to have to buy season tickets," Selig said. "And I think our fans are going to want season tickets. They're going to want to see our other games."
Selig said he hopes the stadium will sell out through season-ticket sales. ODU had 60 consecutive sellouts that lasted from 2009 until early 2018.
"I'd really be disappointed if we don't sell it out on a season-ticket basis this season," Selig said. "With Virginia Tech, James Madison and Marshall, that's a hell of a schedule."
Nationally, college football attendance has fallen over the last decade, especially student attendance.
"But I'm not concerned by national trends," Selig said. "We've got our best schedule ever and our program is on the upswing. People are excited about what Ricky Rahne has done."
"We've got the optimal sized stadium," he added, speaking of S.B. Ballard Stadium, which seats 21,949. "We're in a metropolitan area of 1.8 million people.
"We should be able to sell out our stadium on a regular basis. And given this schedule, I feel like we will."
NOTE: All suites and Priority Club memberships at S.B. Ballard Stadium are sold out. ODAF officials ask anyone interested to sign up for a wait list in case any become available.
Some loge seats are available on the first floor of the south end zone. They sell for $5,500 for a set of four seats.
Call ODAF with any questions: 757-683-6963.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS
2022 ODU Football Schedule
Friday, Sept. 2, Virginia Tech
Sept. 10, at East Carolina
Sept. 17, at Virginia
Sept. 24, Arkansas State
Oct. 1, Liberty
Oct. 8, open date
Oct. 15, at Coastal Carolina
Oct. 22, Georgia Southern
Oct. 29, at Georgia State
Nov. 5, Marshall
Nov. 12, James Madison
Nov. 19, at Appalachian State
Nov. 26, at South Alabama
Minium: ODU Sold More Than 1,000 Football Season Tickets in Just Three Days
