NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, which is celebrating its 60th year of raising funds for ODU athletics, recently mailed its annual GamePlan to thousands of Monarch football season ticket holders.
If you're not a season-ticket holder – and if you care enough about ODU football to read this column, you probably should be – it's a 16-page pamphlet that lays out how to renew or purchase new season tickets and tells you all the virtues of contributing to ODU athletics.
So let me try to lay out the most important points in the Game Plan.
First, unless you purchase season tickets, you'll almost surely have to shell out a ton of moneyt to see ODU's biggest home game of the year on Sept. 14 against Virginia Tech. That wasn't mentioned in the GamePlan, but is reflects the reality of intense ticket demand for that game.
Tech's two previous game at ODU – in 2018 and 2022 – sold out solely to season ticket holders. And need I say that both games were ODU victories that were televised nationally and brought the Monarchs national acclaim.
Once again, season-ticket holders will purchase every ticket for the Tech game before we are able to put them on sale to the general public. If you're a season-ticket holder, you have the first option to purchase as many single-game tickets for other games as you would like.
That's because we take care of our season-ticket holders, who provide the vast majority of our football ticket revenue.
With 2,000 or so tickets set aside for Tech and more than 4,000 for ODU students, S.B. Ballard Stadium's 21,944 tickets will go quickly.
Your best option to finding a ticket to the Tech game if you're not a season-ticket holder is to go to one of several websites that re-sell tickets for premium prices. And by August, tickets for Virginia Tech-ODU likely will be twice or more the face value, as it was two years ago.
The smart choice is to purchase season tickets, which start at $200. You will get a good seat on the sidelines and also have tickets for ODU's five other home games.
And there's no better year to have season tickets because this is the best and most challenging most attractive football schedule ODU has ever played at home.
Take a quick look at the schedule:
East Carolina, Sept. 7
Virginia Tech, Sept. 14
Texas State, Oct. 19
Georgia Southern, Oct. 24
James Madison, Nov. 16
Marshall, Nov. 23
ODU has never beaten ECU, but every game with the Pirates has gone down to the wire. The JMU-ODU game last season in Harrisonburg was close, with the Dukes winning by three points.
JMU and ECU both brought a ton of fans to ODU their last time in Norfolk and surely will do so again. And that means both games could also sell out before tickets go on sale to the general public.
Marshall has been on ODU's schedule since 2014, when the Monarchs played their first season in Conference USA, and it is always a high-interest, hotly-contested game. And Marshall fans travel well.
There are additional reasons to purchase season tickets.
Doing so provides at least a 15 percent savings over single-game tickets, and if you're a season-ticket holder, you can reserve four tickets for your friends at Family Appreciation Night (on a date as yet to be named) for no charge.
As many of you have noticed, for the first time since before the pandemic, some ticket prices have increased. But they've increased only modestly, and there's good reason why.
ODU has not raised season-ticket prices since 2019. In fact, in spite of the rampant inflation that has raised prices for everything we purchase, ODU has reduced season ticket prices in recent years.
The requirement that many fans purchase seat memberships begun 2019 has been abolished, and while some ticket prices were increased at that time, the net result when seat memberships were factored in was reduced prices.
We lowered ticket prices for many sidelines seats to $150 a few years ago.
In essence, we're increasing most ticket prices back to where they were in 2019, when the most affordable season tickets ODU offered were $200 apiece. And that's the same price you will pay today.
Can you name anything else that you can purchase in 2024 for the same price you paid five years ago?
ODU athletics has seen massive price increases for everything from equipment to travel costs to scholarships.
We've made up for it in part with fundraising. But the reality of having to make ends meet forced us to increase prices modestly in two of the four season-ticket categories.
ODU football remains one of the best family entertainment values in Hampton Roads. And we're working to improve the experience at home games.
We surveyed our fans twice last season and are responding to the feedback we received.
We are working to improve our home-game atmosphere and the offerings on Kaufman Mall, where fans can experience a tailgating experience without the hassle of having to set up a grill and prepare your own food.
We already offer a giant-screened TV, beer garden, food, entertainment and the Monarch Walk, in which the football team marches from the Webb Student Center to S.B. Ballard Stadium.
We're hoping to bring beer and wine festivals, live entertainment for all six home games, bounce houses for the kids, more food trucks, some basketball hoops and, one of my favorites, a chicken wing eating contest.
We're looking at perhaps playing more night games, something fans indicated they preferred, and at how to improve our in-game entertainment.
ODU has payment plans that allow you to pay for your tickets over time. And if ever you can't make a home game, you can sell your tickets on Seat Geek or transfer them to your friends or family.
We're going to all mobile ticketing in 2024 and if you're not happy, I feel your pain. I love having tickets I can hold in my hand.
But change, while sometimes painful, is often necessary. The reality is that mobile ticketing has been adopted by the commonwealth's other four FBS programs. ODU held off on the transformation to mobile tickets here to give fans a chance to adjust to the change gradually.
Mobile ticketing greatly reduces the chances of losing your tickets or having them stolen. It will speed up stadium entry and will eliminate any waiting at will-call if someone has left tickets for you. It's a simple task to open your smart phone and transfer tickets to someone else via email or SMS text.
The GamePlan lays out the deadlines to renew tickets and the many benefits fans can receive for donating money. For just $500 per year, or about $42 per month, you can gain entry into the Big Blue Room for men's and women's basketball games, get reserved basketball parking and get a discounted price for The Deck premium seating for football games.
ODAF raised $12.1 million from 2,659 donors in 2023 and nearly half that amount went to fund scholarships for ODU's 475 student-athletes. Even without receiving benefits, you're donating to a good cause.
ODU's student athletes compete hard on the field and in the classroom. They had a composite 3.27 grade point average in the fall of 2023. They contribute thousands of hours of community service from feeding the homeless to mentoring young kids in the Norfolk school system.
If you didn't receive a GamePlan, CLICK HERE to see a copy.
And if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, we want to hear from you. Email me at hminium@odu.edu Your comments and suggestions will get to the right people and I'll make sure that all of your questions are answered.
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: If You Want to See ODU-Virginia Tech Football, You Should Purchase Season Tickets
