No, Florida Isn't Charging $600 a Ticket

Posted Jul 17, 2008 7:59PM By Brian Cook (RSS feed)

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Not the most expensive seat on the planet.

Another in our "mathematics, journalists who don't know what that word means, and you" series: there is an article in an Alabama newspaper detailing skyrocketing ticket prices in the SEC. It contains this shocking paragraph:

For instance, Florida charges only $224 for season tickets because purchasing them requires a $4,200 minimum donation. That means Florida fans are paying at least $632 per game, tops in the SEC and a 183 percent increase from 1998.

632 dollars for a game against Lousiana-Monroe? Great googly moogly!

Except, of course, this is total bunk. Please note this WSJ article that states UF's total revenue for 2007 as $82.4 million dollars. Capacity at the Swamp is around 88,000. Set aside 30% of the tickets for students and visiting fans, pretend those tickets are totally free, and multiply "at least $632" by seven home games and 62,000 fans and you get...

272 million dollars.

So, no. Florida is not raking in 600 bucks a ticket. A brief interrogation of Orson Swindle reveals that the 4k you shell out entitles you to purchase up to four season tickets, and a quick calculation that guesses Florida is taking in 60 million from the football stadium comes up with an average ticket price of $95.23.

It's pricey. It is not sell-your-grandma pricey.

(Original link via Get The Picture)

Tags: lolmsm

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-17-2008 @ 9:50PM

Ted said...

Okay so math is not your subject. But your calculations are what I would expect from a someone without benefit of higher education. Remember, the $4,200 donation is unrelated to (and not included in) the revenue calculations for football tickets. Your premise of $632 per ticket as the revenue for your calculations is not a valid logical argument. Please consult with a math student before posting another article with finances in it.

7-17-2008 @ 11:36PM

Josh said...

Actually, his using the $632 figure is perfectly valid. The WSJ article used that as the price they assume Florida is essentially charging per ticket due to the donation that is required to become eligible to purchase the season ticket. The problem with their (and your) reasoning is that they assume, with absolutely no basis (preconceived notions of Florida fans not counting as a basis for a logical argument), that the sole reason these fans are making those donations is to become eligible to purchase season tickets. Apparently, you must have missed the reason why those donations aren't included in the revenue calculations for football tickets. It's that they don't assume that the only reason people donate any money to Florida is so that they can get season tickets to football games.

7-17-2008 @ 10:05PM

kgh10 said...

Ted, did Brian screw your girlfriend? Relax internet tough guy.

7-17-2008 @ 11:18PM

chris said...

kgh10, do you want sniff Brian's jock? Suck up.

7-18-2008 @ 12:23AM

Brian Cook said...

I assume the donations here are not made directly to the U but to some fund that the AD controls. This is common practice most places: your "donation" is goes right to the AD and is just a way of getting the federal government to subsidize ticket prices. These are AD funds and are included as part of AD revenue.

Ted: the 632 figure isn't mine. I spent the post debunking it. The assumptions you decry were made by the journalist quoted, and your objections have no relation to my argument.

7-18-2008 @ 1:52AM

Colin said...

So what everyone is saying is that Chris is both unintelligent and a douche? I see.

7-18-2008 @ 1:13PM

Randall Le Blanc said...

Chris let me help with you math skills.
1). Booster fees are charged according to your seating plan.
That said, they can average from $0.00 for students to $1million depending how much you want to give.
2). Please look up the theory of supply and demand.
3). Year in year out, Gator tickets are the best entertainment dollar spent. You get to see a premier college football program from what is the best conference in the nation. Please see value.
4). The UAA (University Athletic Association)is an independent organization and raises the booster fees.
5). YOU sir are an idiot. please see IQ.

7-18-2008 @ 2:56PM

k bizzle said...

Wow some people are even passionate about ticket prices?

Good post Brian. Your logic is sound and I would trust your understanding of an athletic department over what the others on here are saying.

Randall Le Blanc-

None of your five great points help your argument at all. You don't even show how it makes the tickets any closer to $632.

Why to get mad about a post and then write a stupid list that goes off as if Brian was saying something bad about your precious Gators.

7-18-2008 @ 4:57PM

Football Dude said...

I'm not sure how you came up with $95.23. But here's the real math connected with the news article.......

Donation: $4,200
Price of tix (x4): $896
Total: $5,096

Divide the total by 28 (7 games x 4 tix) = $182 per ticket

Now, that is using the numbers from the article. What the article doesn't state is that there are donation levels as low as $75 per seat. This lowers the cost of tickets to $42.71 each.

7-18-2008 @ 11:06PM

cfb expert said...

lol i have to laugh at #7 comments. sec best conference and florida a premier football program? what are you smokin? lets get to the real facts. alabama is 14-16-2,tenn is 9-8-1, auburn 11-15-1, florida 5-6-1 all time against the current big 12 members.when comparing the top 6 sec programs against the top 6 big 12 programs head to head its pretty sad and pathetic for the sec top teams. i compare top 1/2 conference teams against other top 1/2 conference teams from other conferences. i figure the top sec teams should be able to whip up on the big 12 cupcakes like the big 12 top teams whip up on the sec cupcakes so the question is then what do top conference teams do against each other and here are the documented facts. alabama against big 12 top 6 (ou,tex,neb,colorado,texas am, and mizzou) is 10-15-2, tennessee is 4-5-1, uga is 4-7, lsu is 39-37-5, auburn is 5-12, and florida is 1-6-1. now for the big 12 top 6 against the sec top 6 (bama, tenn, uga, lsu, aub, and florida) oklahoma is 5-3-1, texas is 28-12-3, neb is 15-4-1, colorado is 2-9-1, texas am is 27-33-3, and mizzou is 5-2. if you notice only lsu has a win record against the big 12 top 6 mostly due to its 26-20-3 lead over texas am. lsu is 7-9-1 against texas and 0-5-1 against nebraska all time. no sec top 6 program has a win record against ou. lsu and tenn are tied with ou and ou leads bama and aub. ou hasnt played uga or florida. texas has a win record against all top 6 sec programs. texas is 7-0-1 against bama all time. nebraska has a win record against 5 of the top 6 sec programs only bama at 3-2 has a win record against neb. as stated neb is 5-0-1 against lsu all time (most games at the sugar bowl). mizzou has a win record against 4 top 6 sec teams and only uga at 1-0 leads mizzou. with these documented historical facts it appears if you formed one super 12 conference with the top 6 sec programs and the top 6 big 12 programs that bama, tenn, uga, aub, and florida would be fighting it out with colorado and texas am for 6th place in such a conference. the sec is all hype. its sad some people wont do research and learn the true facts. theyll listen to some homerish biased media outlet like espn for their so called facts lol. what i suggest is when you want the true facts go to a programs website and check out the universities official record. some people like chris stassen lists texas at 823-333-33 when texas university lists the football programs record at 820-336-33. i dont know maybe chris stassen knows more about the universities football records than the universities themselves lol. he is also incorrect about oklahoma and alabama all time records as well.

now as far as florida being a premier program not hardly. florida has 0 earned (unbeaten,untied) national titles. florida longest win streak is something like 13 games all time. 6th traditional team in its conference. low number of conference titles, not even top program in its own state. i dont see where florida is premier.

now when comparing the sec to the big 12 in earned ap,upi,bcs titles since 1936 (anything before is a joke since some colleges were still playing high school teams in the early 30s). unbeaten, untied, earned national titles (where no team can claim they were better than you by beating you) the big 12 has 12 while the sec is 3rd with 7. the big 10 has 9 earned national titles for those wondering. nebraska, oklahoma, and notre dame lead with 4 each. texas,ALABAMA,southern cal,ohio st, and miami all have 3 each. hopefully alabama fans will finally realize no you dont have 12 national titles lol. at least not 12 since 1936. im sure bama claims titles from 1899 when 24 teams claimed national titles each season lol.

now with all this being said dont fret sec fans. the sec does lead the nation in one catagory and that would be the number of 1aa teams they schedule. lets look at the facts here as well. of the top 10 programs (minus boise st who has been a 1a member since 1996) historically here are the number of 1a teams each has played in the modern era. modern era=1945 to present after the invention of the jet engine (ww2) when teams could actually fly from the east coast and line it up with teams from the west coast. notre dame 0, michigan 1, ohio st 1, oklahoma 4 (will be playing 5th this year due to mtsu backout) southern cal 5, texas 6, penn st 6, nebraska 16, alabama 27, and tenn 31. as we see the sec programs load up on 1aa teams. only 2 big 12 teams have played more than 21 1aa teams in the modern era (iowa st and k st 35 each) while the sec has 8 programs that have played more than 21 since ww2. its so bad that 3 teams mississippi, auburn, and miss st have played over 40 each. talk about a joke. jesus christ. try scheduling some 1a teams and backing your mouths for once. anyone with an i.q. over that of a 5 year old can comprehend that reality is the big 12 top programs are dominant over the top 6 sec programs. in case you are wondering head to head of the top 6 the big 12 leads 82-63-9 with about 80% of those games played at sec venues. anyone that thinks the sec is better has no clue and needs to get educated to the facts.