According to IU Vice President and Athletics Director Fred Glass, over 6,000 students have purchased season tickets for the Hoosiers' 2009 football season. This is the highest number sold since 2006.
"We are thrilled that over 6,000 students bought season football tickets this year," Glass said. "One of our primary goals was to enhance the game day atmosphere for the students to encourage them to come to our games, but their commitment and support for our football program has exceeded our most optimistic expectations".
Glass also said that the student section has averaged about 8,200 students through the first two games, and that he believes the $5 ticket deal is a large contributor to the attendance.
Still, despite the cheap prices and the 2-0 record the Hoosiers display, the student section looked less than half full in last Saturday's game against Western Michigan - the first game after freshmen received free tickets.
Glass also announced today that while the $5 ticket program applies to students of other universities, it will not apply to students of the school IU is playing that week.
"We want to be hospitable," Glass said, "but we don't want to be patsies. Our opponents are welcome, but we won't be subsidizing their ticket costs".
The announcement comes at an interesting time, as the next home game is against top-ranked Ohio State on Oct. 3.
That game also happens to be the game the athletics department has chosen to "unveil" the new North End Zone Facility. There was speculation that game was chosen to get a new aerial photo of the stadium, and a legion of Ohio State fans wearing red would make the stadium look more full than it normally is.
