MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Just days after the deadline passed for renewals, WVU has processed around 26,000 requests for 2013 football season tickets.
That number sits within typical range of the previous seven years, though it’s behind last year’s pace when the Mountaineers were preparing for their Big 12 debut and receiving preseason top-25 billing.
“Our pace is pretty solid,” said Matt Wells, the school’s assistant athletics director of marketing and sales. “We’re seeing excitement over the schedule, with teams like Texas and Texas Tech making their first visit to Morgantown, but certainly we haven’t seen the level of hype that came from our first year in the Big 12.”
As WVU continues to process orders that were postmarked by the May 15 renewal deadline, Wells said it’s typical for the current range of sales to number between 25,000 and 29,000.
The school has up to 38,200 season tickets available and maxed out those sales in 2007 and 2008. Last year’s total eclipsed 37,500, up from 34,935 in 2011 and 34,754 in 2010. Wells said WVU expects to meet projections once requests from Mountaineer Athletic Club new donors and subsequent public sales open in June.
Aside from the MAC donations required for some season ticket packages, the per-game price of tickets has remained level with last season, Wells said. Texas replaces Oklahoma as the premium game ($80) with the other three Big 12 conference games priced at $60 each. West Virginia’s nonleague games against William & Mary and Georgia State are $55.
Because of the Big 12’s schedule rotation (four home dates, five on the road), and a return game against Maryland to be staged in Baltimore, WVU will have only six games at Milan Puskar Stadium this season, compared with seven in 2012.