Provo • BYU’s second season in the Big 12 is coming with a steeper price tag and more discomfort for fans.
The athletic department raised ticket prices once again heading into 2024. BYU also reseated many season-ticket holders — some of whom have sat in the same section at LaVell Edwards Stadium for decades — throughout the stadium. After a 5-7 season last year, those changes have added to the frustration of the fan base.
Athletics director Tom Holmoe says he understands.
But he also believes the price point won’t improve for fans anytime soon — and that more changes to season tickets are inevitable.
“I’m not going to say it will continue to go up,” Holmoe said this week. “But they aren’t going to go down unless, for some reason, our programs slip.”
The cheapest tickets in the stadium, economy end-zone seats, cost around $150; that price did not change from last season. The most expensive tickets run up to $3,000 — a price that has jumped $1,000 since the Cougars joined the Big 12.
Holmoe told fans this week that the program needs to make more money in the Big 12, and this is one way to do it.
“I just think the answer is: We’re progressing,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of conversations with people face to face. Some people feel it is not progress if [you get away from] loyalty. So there is a loyal part of that. People have been [in seats] for 20 years. Really 40 or 50 years for some people that have had that. And I think you look at the season ticket prices that people have of being in their seats here, and the amount of money that gives to our department for the future, compared to what we can get with elevated tickets. And it’s not just prices, but it’s the donations we can get with it.”
Holmoe said he is preparing for increased expenses as the program raises coaches’ salaries in the Big 12 ands adds revenue sharing with athletes in 2025.
“Make no mistake about it, we are looking at ways to increase our revenue,” he said. “And people say, ‘Oh you are just looking to make money.’ There is not one team in the Big 12 right now, I know that for a fact, that is making money year, after year, after year. They aren’t making money. The best they can do is break even.
“And so if you are breaking even every year, you are not going to be able to grow. And make that program [better], the salaries, now with revenue share. All those things, it has to grow. So it changes.”
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