Fate hasn’t been kind to Syracuse football fans.

After going 10-14 in the last two seasons, failing to make a bowl game for the second straight year and losing two home games with the departure of Virginia Tech and Miami to the Atlantic Coast Conference, SU has increased ticket prices for the fourth straight season.

The average ticket price has been raised $6 per game to $32, a 21 percent increase from last year. A student season ticket now costs $70 compared to $81 last season because SU will host five home games, one less than usual.

‘It isn’t the loss of Virginia Tech and Miami,’ SU Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel said. ‘It’s the loss of that one home game.’

Increased costs in the athletic department, inflation and increased traveling costs for the 21 varsity teams at SU are also part of the need for change, Crouthamel said. SU would have to raise prices even if it had one more home game, he said.

‘Our costs go up, too, just like everyone else’s costs,’ he said.

Big East schools Pittsburgh and West Virginia, which have experienced similar conditions with the loss of Virginia Tech and Miami, did not have to increase ticket prices in 2004, administrative representatives from those schools said.

Crouthamel said he anticipates another increase next year, though it will not be as steep as this year’s.

Rob Edson, SU’s associate athletic director, agreed that the sixth game is the primary factor for the price increase. The athletic department relies on football and basketball for 98 percent of its revenue.

The jewel of this year’s home schedule will be Florida State. The Seminoles travel to the Carrier Dome on Oct. 9. Individual tickets for non-students for the matchup will be $50.

Traditionally, SU targeted one big non-conference home game during years when the Orangemen played at Miami.

‘We hope for a team similar to Florida State next year,’ Edson said. ‘Now it’s incumbent on us to do this every year. We try to schedule three to five years in advance to ensure a marquee game.’

In 2005, SU will play at Florida State and host Virginia in the Dome.

Pitt, which plays at Heinz field, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, set an attendance record last season. Pitt was forced to add Furman University, a small school in South Carolina, to its home schedule in 2004, though.

‘We have more support than ever,’ Pitt Athletic Director Jim Earl said. ‘(Maintaining ticket prices) will be a strain on our budget, but we felt we could win fans for life.’

Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who will likely be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, contributed to some of that extra support, Earl said. During the season, Pitt lowered ticket prices in the upper end zone sections to attract more fans.

‘Losing Larry will be a big hit because he was the most talked about player since Dan Marino,’ Earl said.

So far, though, season ticket renewals have been strong, he said. Pitt expects to make up some money during basketball season when Conference USA basketball powers Cincinnati, Louisville, DePaul and Marquette join the Big East.

Though West Virginia did not increase football ticket prices in 2004, Deputy Athletic Director Mike Parsons does anticipate an increase sometime in the next two seasons. The last time WVU increased prices was 2002. The increase was from an average of $28 to $30.

‘Our increases are more tied to performance,’ Parsons said. ‘If we thought we’d sell out every game, then we would increase prices.’

Earl maintains that Pitt’s ticket prices are pure economics.

‘They have to be driven by basic supply and demand,’ he said. ‘It’s possible to raise prices and still lose revenue.’

Published on April 21, 2004 at 12:00 pm