NORFOLK, Va. – Inflation has caused prices to skyrocket on virtually everything. The average family in America spends $709 more per month than two years ago.
And costs have also risen exponentially for Old Dominion athletics. But not for ODU football season tickets.
Most ODU football season tickets are still frozen at 2019 levels, when ODU played its first season at S. B. Ballard Stadium. Four years ago, you could purchase a season ticket for good sideline seats for just $150. And you can still do so today.
Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics, said the University has tapped the brake on ticket prices because he knows many Monarch fans are struggling financially.
If you recall, ODU did away with a ticket license fee last season that reduced the cost of 80 percent of all season tickets.
Season ticket sales are going well, especially considering last season's 3-9 record. ODU has more than 10,000 season ticket holders so far, only slightly less than last season, and expects to have 11,000 or more when the Monarchs open at home against Louisiana on Sept. 9.
So, the No. 1 reason for buying ODU season tickets? The Monarchs have among the least expensive season-tickets prices in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Click here to purchase ODU tickets
2. The football team surely will be better than predicted.
Virtually every preseason poll I've seen pick the Monarchs to finish last in the Sun Belt East. CBSports.com ranks ODU 118th among 133 FBS schools.
True, ODU lost a ton of starters and has 58 newcomers. But preseason polls are very much an inexact science – they are in fact more guesswork than science – especially in the era of the transfer portal.
Fall camp hasn't yet concluded and I've missed more practices than I've seen, but my gut, and what I've seen on the field, tell me that this team can and likely will compete for a bowl bid.
National sports writer Brett McMurphy also thinks ODU will prove the oddsmakers wrong.
McMurphy accurately predicted 78 of 82 bowl teams in his 2022 preseason bowl rankings. He predicts ODU will win at least six games and meet Toledo in the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida on Dec. 16.
3. Regardless of the record, the offense is going to be more exciting.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Decker brought the high-octane offense that scored nearly 50 points per game last season with him from Fordham. Grant Wilson, the backup at Fordham the last two seasons, will start at ODU, and he knows the offense almost as well as Decker.
Wilson is a good passer and a smart play-caller but most importantly of all, will tuck the ball and run when he needs to.
Wide receiver Javon Harvey
The offensive line has been solid, the Monarchs have good running backs and receivers and the offense has moved the ball pretty well in scrimmages against a good ODU defense. Defensive coordinator Blake Seiler says "it's been a much more difficult challenge than it was last year."
The Monarchs won't score 50 points a game, but the offense will be wide open and fun to watch.
4. The home schedule is very attractive.
ODU plays in the best conference outside of the Group of Five and that means the Monarchs will always have a challenging home schedule.
After opening at Virginia Tech on Sept. 2, ODU has consecutive home games with Louisiana (Sept. 9), Wake Forest (Sept. 16) and Texas A&M University-Commerce (Sept. 23).
Wake coach Dave Clawson has guided the Deacs to seven winning seasons in a row in the ACC. Louisiana is a traditional Sun Belt power. A&M Commerce is ODU's homecoming opponent.
Then come games against traditional Sun Belt powers App State (Oct. 21) and Coastal Carolina (Nov. 4, Oyster Bowl). ODU then closes out the season, perhaps with a bowl bid on the line, on Nov. 25 against Georgia State.
5. Linebacker Jason Henderson is worth the price
Jason Henderson is a fan favorite and with good reason. I've never seen a football player who works harder or strives to be better and has done so with such dignity. He'll knock a quarterback to the ground, then offer him a hand up. He hates to lose and almost never comes off the field.
He's a special player and a special young man who is a joy to watch. No. 42 is always moving, always around the ball and always making tons of bone-jarring tackles.
He may be the most consequential player for ODU since Taylor Heinicke. He led the nation in tackling last season and was ODU's first FBS All-American as a sophomore.
In the era of the transfer portal, where players glide from one university to the next, Henderson is a throwback. Any number of schools would have offered him had he entered the transfer portal but he said he loves ODU and the thought never crossed his mind.
His parents, Bill and Melissa Henderson, raised their son the right way. And ODU is so lucky to have him.
6. S.B. Ballard Stadium is a comfortable place to watch a football game.
When ODU renovated old Foreman Field into in Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium, it wasn't really a reno – it was a teardown and rebuild.
S.B. Ballard Construction tore down the East and West sides and built a new stadium from scratch in less than a year. Nearly 16,000 seats on the West and East side all offer chair back or bench back supports.
Restrooms and concessions stands are modern and the sight lines in the stadium are spectacular. There's not a bad seat in the stadium.
It's the perfect place to drink in the atmosphere of a college football game.
7. Kaufman Mall, the best place to spend your pre-game, will be cooler than ever.
ODU will have a beer garden, bands, food trucks and a big-screen TV beginning four hours before game time on Kaufman Mall, located in front of the Webb Student Center and just steps away from S.B. Ballard Stadium.
If you don't have a tailgate spot, Kaufman Mall is the place to be.
The football team will march out of Webb Center into the stadium in their traditional Monarch March and the cheerleaders and band will entertain fans about 45 minutes before game time. Ted Alexander, voice of the Monarchs, and his radio crew will do their pregame show live in front of Webb Center.
And if you're interested in the new ODU Golden Ale beer, which New Realm Brewing Company recently began brewing, it will be offered in the beer garden (although not inside the stadium).
8. Fireworks, parachutes, promotions light show and flyovers.
Most games will be preceded by a flyover by a military jet or a team of parachute jumpers who land at midfield or both. Personally, I prefer the parachute jumpers, but regardless of your preference, both are really cool to watch.
There will also be fireworks as the ODU football team hits the field and then the traditional light show in the second half.
Each game will have a different sponsor and a different theme. I especially love the theme for homecoming, against Commerce, when the Monarchs will wear throw-back logos on their helmets, ODU's old Racetrack logo from the 1970s.
Many games will have giveaways, including homecoming, when ODU hands out 5,000 Hudson Blue t-shirts to fans with Racetrack logos.
CLICK HERE to see game promotions for ODU football
9. ODU fans are among the best tailgaters in the Group of Five.
Win or lose, Monarch fans party hard. The Silver lot adjacent to the football stadium is where the heavy hitters eat, drink and have a good time. But in lots near and distant to the stadium, you'll find ODU tailgaters to be among the friendliest and most generous in college football.
In their two trips to ODU, Virginia Tech fans I know gushed over how welcoming their ODU brethren have been.
So, if you don't have a tailgate spot, spend some time circulating through the lots to take in the atmosphere and enjoy the camaraderie. Then head out to Kaufman Mall and tailgate on your own.
General admission parking is free at ODU. My advice, if you're not tailgating, is to park in one of the parking decks adjacent to Chartway Arena.
10. Season tickets guarantee you seats to ODU's home game against Virginia Tech in 2024.
Buying season tickets is the only way to guarantee you will have seats next season when Virginia Tech returns to Norfolk next season. Tickets to that game sold out last season without going on sale to the general public, as was also the case in 2018, Tech's only previous appearance at ODU.
Bonus: some premium seating remains available.
All suites have been sold out since ODU's first game in 2009, but this is an unusual year in that there are a limited number of tickets available for the Priority Automotive Club and in the Cox Business Loge Lounge. There are also tickets available to The Deck, located on the stadium's West Side.
For information on premium seating, CLICK HERE
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: Ten Good Reasons why You Should Have ODU Football Season Tickets
