Ticket prices are stunning

A friend called today to express amazement about the price of Syracuse University football tickets.

 

He wanted to take some kids to the Penn State game Saturday. He could, for $57 a head, and that’s what they call patron seating, which means look out if you are afraid of heights.

 

My friend is taking the group to Colgate-Furman instead. Tickets are $15 for reserved, $10 general admission, $5 for children 12 and under and, get this, $5 per ticket for groups of 25 or more. No, it isn’t the big time, but it’s pretty good football, and Andy Kerr Stadium is a beautiful setting.

 

I know SU needs that money to pay all those big salaries, but, wow!

 

To be honest, until today I didn’t know the price of SU tickets. I’ve covered Syracuse football off and on since 1972, so I’ve never had to pay and never looked at the prices. I’m glad I didn’t, because they are bewildering and depend on the supposed quality of the opponent, your age, and, of course, the location of the seats. There are six or more price categories, not including season tickets.

 

The top SU ticket for Penn State is $127, for which 25 people could attend the Colgate game. The cheapest, for children under 12, is $30.

 

For the Akron game, the top ticket was $106, the cheapest $18, with patron seating going to $36. It will be the same for Pittsburgh, a Big East Conference team. For Northeastern, a I-AA team, the top ticket will be $106, and kids tickets will be $13, as will senior citizen tickets (60 and over, purchased on-line, and, I do believe, so far up in the sky most senior citizens would have a coronary getting to their seats.)     

 

Hey, I’m getting a little dizzy just writing this!

 

Well, it turns out the “general public” price for Penn State home games is $61. I think that is the equivalent of the $57 and $36 patron seats in the Carrier Dome. It’s $62 at Ohio State, but just $46 at Purdue and Iowa. Remember, though. These are not the best seats. And just think how big a loan you will have to secure if you do want bring some kids or a date.

 

Hey, I wouldn’t miss SU-Penn State for the world, even if the Orange are in bad shape, but, boy, I’m glad I’m a sportswriter.