By Richard Evans
BYU football ticket prices are going up across the board for next season, in part to help pay for renovations to 43-year-old LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Athletics Director Tom Holmoe announced the changes Thursday, explaining that the majority portion of the increase will allow the university to make much-needed structural repairs and enhancements to the stadium.
Season tickets will increase between 6.6 percent and 28 percent, depending on location. End-zone seats, for instance, will increase from $90 to $96, while the highest-priced tickets, for the East Legacy seats, will rise from $1,000 to $1,100. The highest-percentage increase will be for the Loge (donor) seats, which are increasing from $390 to $500.
The new ticket prices also include a general increase that will help pay for increased athletics department costs.
The last stadium-wide ticket increase was in 2001.
Holmoe said the move was made with the realization that some fans would be upset, but he pointed out that BYU?s prices are still lower than most Mountain West Conference teams and virtually all top-25 football programs.
?Will this price some people out?? Holmoe said. ?It could. But the reality is we can?t lose money on our operation.?
What it boils down to, Holmoe said, is if fans want to have a consistently superior program, ticket prices have to rise.
?We have tried to keep prices reasonable for our fans, while maintaining a nationally ranked program,? he said. ?This increase is necessary for BYU to properly recruit and provide a high-quality education for our student-athletes, maintain superior coaches and staff, and maintain the day-to-day operations of the athletics department.?
According to data collected by BYU Athletic Communications, Cougar football prices compare favorably to other programs. The typical BCS-caliber program charges not only a ticket price much higher than BYU?s, but also requires an unspecified donation as well.
BYU?s average price for ?public? season tickets ? not including loges and other specialty seats ? was $117 last season and will be $132 next season, according to BYU?s data.
By comparison, the average price of public tickets at Ohio State is $413 plus donation. Louisville charges an average of $216 plus donation, Rutgers? average is $240 plus donation, and Texas is $365 plus donation.
The only non-BCS program surveyed by BYU was Boise State, which has an average public ticket price of $185.
Originally built in 1964, Edwards Stadium was remodeled in 1982. Since then, Holmoe said, it has undergone only a few significant structural modifications.
According to facility manager Larry Duffin, the five-year plan for upgrading the stadium will address eroding concrete; repair ramps, stairs and walkways; and rid steel of rust. New field lighting will be installed, the visiting team?s locker room will be refurbished, and west-side hosting areas will be remodeled.
