At 8 a.m. Sunday morning, Vince Messerly picked up the phone and dialed the Ohio Athletics ticket office. Within minutes, he placed his order for four season-long seats in Peden Stadium’s Tower Club — arguably the best section in the stadium.
Messerly, a 1991 Ohio graduate, attended several home games this past season with his son, a current sophomore, but has never held season tickets. Saturday’s win against Penn State, he said, signaled it was time to rededicate, as many others have, to the buzz that has surrounded the Bobcats of late.
“I’ve been contemplating season tickets all summer, and the win was a catalyst Sunday in making sure I did that,” Messerly said.
He isn’t the only one dialing up the Bobcats’ ticket office. If students fill out the O Zone as anticipated, Ohio’s Saturday game against New Mexico State could threaten for the most-attended in Peden Stadium history.
Drake Bolon, Ohio director of marketing, said if Mother Nature cooperates and the anticipated 7,000-plus students turn out, Ohio fans might make bigger waves than when Connecticut played in front of 24,617 at Peden in 2010.
“Certainly our goal is to target and defeat that number,” he said.
He is expecting more than 24,000 to be in attendance.
Dan Hauser, Ohio senior associate athletic director for external operations, said his staff received a flurry of ticket inquiries Sunday and Monday. The Bobcats netted more than 100 new season ticket holders over the weekend.
He explained that ticket sales typically jump the week before the home opener, but Sunday’s sales uptick was largely unprecedented.
Ohio Athletics has netted 60 percent more ticket revenue and a 45 percent increase in season ticket sales from this time last year, he said.
Ohio Athletics usually sells as many as 800 season tickets in the week before fans pack Peden Stadium for the first time.
Hauser said there are as few as 50 season seats remaining in each of the Champions, Phillips and Tower Clubs — Ohio’s most expensive seating areas.
Ohio’s Bobcat Family Package, which accounts for two children and as many adults, might sell out for the first time in program history as well. Less than 75 packages remained as of midday Monday.
On top of the early-week influx of interest, Hauser said it likely won’t quiet down soon.
“I don’t think the buzz is going to die down,” he said. “We’re preparing extra personnel in the ticket sales office to answer the volume of calls we’re expecting.”
The larger crowd can’t be completely attributed to an uptick in sales. A total of 22 ensembles will take to the turf Saturday for High School Band Day, and more than 15 local youth football teams and 500-plus Boy Scouts will be in attendance.
The promotions are expected to attract more than 4,000 people to Peden.
There’s no tangible way to tie Ohio’s season-opening win to ticket sales, but one thing is for sure: the Bobcat fan base is behind its team more than ever.
“We’ve been starving for this for a long time, and it feels good to finally get it,” Messerly said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
