SeatGeek, a ticketing website, has put together a chart of the ticket prices of all Top 25 college football teams. As expected, Pitt's average ticket price of $65.43 was lower than Penn State's ($134.88) or West Virginia's ($104.97). But that wasn't all -- Pitt had the lowest average price of any team in the Top 25. Next lowest on the list was Georgia Tech at just under $75.00.
↵The top two teams, Alabama and Ohio State, were also the two highest-priced teams at $321.23 and $315.67 respectively.
↵The disparity in prices shows just how far Pitt is behind some of the big-time programs in terms of fan interest. True, part of the problem is that Pitt is fighting for dollars of Pittsburghers already committing funds to the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates. But the fact that Pitt cannot even sell out most of its games when their tickets are the least expensive among college football's best teams is the bigger issue.
↵One factor that keeps the average price down is the fact that Pitt sells thousands of tickets at bottom-of-the-barrel prices (less than $20 per game with no seat donation required) in order to fill seats. That's a wise move on the part of the athletic department. Better to take a hit financially and have a stadium closer to being filled than to line your pockets for crowds of 25,000.
↵The Panthers are just now starting to show some signs of life as a program again and will need a few more good seasons before sellouts can become the norm instead of the exception.
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