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Notre Dame Tickets Become More Accessible; Bad Seasons or Economy the Cause?

Aug 18, 2009, 7:34 PM UTC

Any Irish fan will tell you—usually before he gets to his name—that â†µNotre Dame is unique among major college football programs. In at least â†µa few respects they’re right, and one of these respects is the annual â†µticket lottery they hold. A large chunk of the stadium isn’t given over â†µto season ticket holders but is randomly distributed to any alum who â†µcoughs up the application fee to apply.â†µâ†µAs you can imagine, this process usually consists of putting in for â†µeverything and hoping you get a few tickets. Win rates range from â†µgood-not-great at the low end to nigh-impossible for the USC end.â†µ

â†µâ†µUnless, that is, the economy has collapsed along with the general â†µpublic’s faith in Charlie Weis. Notre Dame blog The Blue-Gray Sky has â†µpublished the results of their annual survey of lottery applicants â†µand the results are great if you applied, but not so much if you’re the â†µhead coach:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥…win rates were way up this year, with only Southern Cal fallingâ†µâ‡¥below a 90% win rate for home games. In the three years we’ve doneâ†µâ‡¥the poll, these are the highest win rates we’ve ever seen, includingâ†µâ‡¥following the lackluster 2007 season. (Earlier polls available here:â†µâ‡¥2006,â†µâ‡¥2007,â†µâ‡¥2008.)â†µâ‡¥Last year, only one home game hit the 90% mark (Syracuse), whileâ†µâ‡¥even less star-studded games were a tough ticket (Stanford, justâ†µâ‡¥14%). This year, six of the seven home games were up over 90%, withâ†µâ‡¥Nevada, Washington, Navy, and Connecticut being damned nearâ†µâ‡¥guaranteed admission, just for asking. Two years ago, the Southernâ†µâ‡¥Cal win rate was a measly 4%; this year, it’s up to 60%.â†µâ†µâ†µDoing the math: assuming the number of seats available for the USC game â†µremained steady*, ticket applications for that game were over 15 â†µtimes higher in 2007 than they were this year. Notre Dame’s home â†µschedule isn’t great, but when even games against traditional rivals â†µlike Michigan State and (less traditional but equally likely to send ND â†µhome crying about Fredo) Boston College crack 90%, demand is way, way down.â†µ

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â†µI suppose the economy has a something to do with it, especially since â†µNotre Dame fans are more widely spread than your average college â†µfootball fanbase, but two straight years of indignity and the resulting â†µloss of faith in one Charlie Weis are probably bigger factors. Weis's â†µbuyout—rumored to be enormous—will complicate things, but even that â†µprobably won't save him if Notre Dame doesn't at least brush up against â†µa BCS bowl this year. Notre Dame fans might be saving their pennies to â†µchip in on his going-away present.â†µ

â†µâ†µ*(I believe this is accurate since Notre Dame converted some seats to permanent â†µseason tickets before the 2007 season, and this was a big deal.)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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