Hockey student ticket sales plummet

Students link high ticket prices with low sales

Students trying to cram into the Big House for Michigan-Michigan State the game this weekend may find more open seats if they wait until the two rivals suit up for hockey at Yost Ice Arena.

Athletic ticket office officials said yesterday this year's numbers reveal a significant drop in student season ticket purchases - down from 2,276 last year to about 1,500 this fall - despite the icers' 1998 National Championship title.

This year, in an attempt to match the prices of other universities with comparable hockey programs, the Athletic Department raised the season ticket price nearly $60 to a record-high $155.

"You're coming off a national championship season," said Bruce Madej, director of media relations for the Athletic Department. "I think it is safe to assume the lower numbers are because of the increased (ticket) price."

Last year, student hockey season tickets sold out in only a few days, with some students still receiving split-season tickets due to the high demand.

Ticket office officials have extended the application deadline this year even though the ticket office has been accepting season ticket applications for more than a week.

If student season tickets don't sell out, Madej said, the department will sell the remaining tickets on a per-game basis. That could put non-students in the infamously raucous students section.

But LSA first-year student Chris Joob said the decrease in ticket sales may be because of the sport's lack of popularity.

"More people are fans of sports other than hockey," Joob said. "I don't think people know enough about this year's team to even have any expectations."

"We sell tickets on an individual basis because (ticket sales) can fluctuate so much," Madej said, citing as an example the 7,000 individual game requests for football tickets that fans made this year.

But the hockey team, also riding in the wake of a national title, isn't receiving as much attention.

"When I went to buy tickets, the line was not long at all," Joob said. "There were at most 20 people waiting."

Madej said the general public who get the leftovers from student season tickets would be placed "off to the side" and not in the heart of cheering students.

"It wouldn't be like we have the general public in the middle of the student section," Madej said.

Joob said he is worried that the wild atmosphere inside Yost would deteriorate if fewer students showed up or were replaced by alumni or the Ann Arbor public.

"It would be a lot less fun," Joob said. "It's more fun to go with other students. Older people just sit on their hands. It is important to have a sell-out crowd."

Although the final ticket sale numbers are not yet known, Madej said, the atmosphere inside Yost will most likely never become tame.

"I think the atmosphere will still be good," Madej said. "I don't think it will even change."

Pharmacy graduate student Joe Musleh said he, too, has faith that the student section will remain colorful.

"If you love hockey, you love hockey," Musleh said. "The cheers may go down a little in the student section because there are fewer people there, but it won't ruin the atmosphere."

09-24-98