Published: Tuesday, 7/21/2015 But UM advantage is bigger stadium BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER A national championship is not the only title the Ohio State football program looks to defend this fall. A year after wresting the attendance crown from Michigan for the first time in 17 years, the Buckeyes hope their house will remain the biggest in the country. “To take that from up north last year, it was certainly a point of pride,” Ohio State assistant athletic director for ticketing Brett Scarbrough said. “Obviously, we’re looking to stay there. We’ll have to see how it plays out over the next couple of months, but we’re confident we’re going to maintain that title this year, too.” There is just one problem: Michigan is swinging back. And hard. Even as the market for Ohio State tickets remains bullish, Michigan is in position to recapture its attendance perch as interest in a program left on its knees a year ago returns to past levels. With the Wolverines’ hire of coach Jim Harbaugh — and a home schedule that includes rivals Ohio State and Michigan State — Michigan Stadium will again burst at its 89-year-old seams this fall. Michigan confirmed it has fired up its wait list for the first time in seven years after selling 89,975 season tickets this season. That’s the most season packages sold since 2012, and includes a steep rise in sales from the school’s previously disenchanted undergraduates. A year after only 11,597 students paid a Big Ten-high $295 for eight games — down from 21,000 in 2012 — 17,899 paid the reduced rate of $185 for seven games this season. The excitement is also like manna for Michigan scalpers. Chris Leyden, an analyst for the online ticket search engine, SeatGeek, said the Wolverines are the hottest program on the secondary market, with fans so far spending $1.8 million on UM tickets. (Ohio State has the seventh-most active market with $600,000 in ticket resales.) Already Michigan Stadium is sold out for the Ohio State and Michigan State games while only limited single tickets remain for visits from Oregon State, Rutgers, and Northwestern. In other words, all signs point to a season of overflow crowds and Michigan reigning as the attendance king once more. It’s simple math. Michigan can cram more people into the Big House (official capacity: 109,901) than the Buckeyes can into Ohio Stadium (104,944). Recall how things always were. In 2013, Michigan averaged 111,592 fans per game to lead the nation in attendance for the 16th straight year. Ohio State was second with an average crowd of 104,933, and that seemed as high as it could get short of a perfect storm. Yet that’s just what happened last year. At the same time Ohio State set off on a national title run in a stadium newly expanded by 2,522 seats in the south stands, Michigan fans stayed away amid jacked-up prices and little to show for it on Saturdays in a 5-7 season. OSU captured the attendance title with an average crowd of 106,296. Michigan’s average draw of 104,909 — a figure padded by giveaways and promotions — ranked third. Now, the excitement surrounding Harbaugh may restore the old script — though Ohio State is not going down easy. The reigning national champions have already sold out their four Big Ten games, including a home finale against Michigan State that promises to be one of the biggest games of the college season. According to SeatGeek, tickets for the Nov. 22 showdown are selling for an average of $350 — $42 more than the going rate for passes to Ohio State-Michigan in Ann Arbor the following week. Ohio State reported a season-ticket renewal rate of more than 98 percent — a shade better than last year — and brisk student sales. The school sold ticket packages to 26,967 students — 15,720 who paid $252 for all seven home dates, 11,247 who will attend only the Big Ten games. …
Continue Reading: OSU looks to defend title … for attendance – Toledo Blade
