University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Season Ticket Sales Are Strong
8/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Football Season Ticket Sales Are Strong
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Football season ticket sales at The University of Southern Mississippi are on pace to set a record for the second-straight year, according to numbers released today by Athletic Director Richard Giannini.
As of Aug. 14, some 8,880 season tickets had been sold and sales continued this week at a brisk pace. The Golden Eagle ticket office sold almost 1,000 season tickets last week, and just over two weeks remain before Southern Miss opens the season with a Sept. 1 home game against Oklahoma State.
The continued success of Head Coach Jeff Bower's team is one of the major reasons ticket sales continue to climb. His team has been to a Southern Miss record four-straight bowl games, continues to post impressive win-loss records and those, combined with a great game-day experience at M. M. Roberts Stadium, are major reasons Giannini expects this year to be even better than last year. "We are pleased that our ticket sales continue to rise," he said. "We feel confident that we'll surpass last year's record numbers before the season starts. I will continue to be disappointed until we get to the point, where we sell out our season tickets, but we have made great strides in recent years. There's no question that our game-day atmosphere is as good as anywhere in the country.
"With the projects we have either under way or in the planning stages, I just see things getting better and better. I also know our fans are concerned about the heat at early-season games, especially the 11 a.m., Oklahoma State game Sept. 1. We're taking a number of special precautions in that regard. We'll have extra water and ice available, along with additional medical personnel and first aid stations, and it really should be more comfortable at 11 a.m., than it would be at mid- or late-afternoon.
"We also will distribute 'hand fans' at the game. Those are being provided as part of Forrest General Hospital's sponsorship through ISP Sports, and should help combat the heat, in addition to providing a meaningful souvenir from our first game of the 2001 season."
Last season, the Golden Eagles sold 10,441 season tickets but final ticket office numbers showed that ticket allocations and obligations surpassed the 18,000 mark. This year's total should meet or exceed that level.
Giannini also pointed out that "a number of ticket options, including the Family Plan, Kid's Corner, Eagle Value Pack and the East Rock Option continue to give fans a wide selection of affordable seating in a stadium that doesn't have a bad seat. We try to improve our game-day experience each year, and Coach Bower continues to put an exciting college football product on the field. This year will be no different."
Recent season ticket sales history includes:
Year Season Tickets Sold
1995 6,541
1996 6,953
1997 8,286
1998 9,999
1999 9,306
2000 10,441
2001 8,880, and increasing
