By Sarah Bills
BYU''s Athletic Department began tearing out the benches in three sections on the east side of the LaVell Edwards stadium this month as part of a plan to increase revenues from ticket sales.
Removal of the benches will make room for more comfortable chair-back seats with additional width and legroom.
The new premium seating will be available to Cougar Club donors, who pay an annual membership fee in addition to the seat''s season ticket price.
Donors can choose two different areas of seating on the east side depending upon how much they''re willing to pay.
A season ticket for the Legacy Club Seating between the 35-to the 50-yard lines can be purchased for this next fall for $1,000. Cougar Club seating between the 25-to the 35-yard lines costs $500 per seat.
The seats include reserved parking and a game program. Legacy Club Seating also includes a catered pre-game meal and food during the game.
The club prioritizes seating within these sections by each donor''s membership level and total athletic gifting.
Because the chairs take up more room than benches, the stadium will lose about 900 seats. On average, 2,000 seats go unsold each football game.
'It will just increase the demand for tickets,' said Duff Tittle, associate athletic director for communications. 'It''s going to make a huge difference to the fiscal health of our program.'
Over the course of a season, these seats will generate money equivalent to having an extra home game.
The athletic department''s plan to increase income stems from a challenge given by members of the board of trustees a few years ago. Trustees challenged coaches and athletic administrators to be financially self-sufficient and to excel athletically while maintaining high character and academic competence.
'I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the athletic program is that we have lots of money because we are funded through tithing dollars from the church,' Tittle said. 'This is simply not the case. The athletic department receives no funding from tithing.'
The department relies on ticket sales, sponsorships, fundraising, advertisements and other means to generate income for the program.
BYU''s athletic success correlates with the department''s funds.
'When you''re successful, your boosters are more willing to donate money,' he said.
The department has been drawing off its savings because it has been slowly losing money over the past five years, Tittle said.
As other means of increasing revenue, the Athletic Department began charging different prices for different areas of seating on the west side of the stadium, similar to other colleges around the country.
Historically few chair seats have been available for fans to purchase because stadium donors own the rights to nearly all the west side chairs.
Because of this, the Cougar Club wasn''t able to offer new donors chair seating.
The new chair seats represent a permanent fixture on the east side of the stadium.
'For years cougar club members and perspective members have been asking for this type of seating,' said Michael Middleton, executive director of the Cougar Club. 'These new chairs will provide a powerful opportunity to attract and retain new athletic donors.'