Prices going up for premium seating at UNT football and basketball

“This will provide UNT athletics administration the opportunity to make donation and ticket price decisions in order to help us budget and retain successful coaches,” UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said in a video announcing the change.

UNT previously required fans to make one donation to its fund that covers scholarship costs in order to purchase premium seating in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. The school will now require fans to donate to the fund on a per-seat and per-sport basis.

Those changes will affect a few hundred of UNT’s highest-level supporters as well as those who purchase tickets for all three of the school’s high-profile teams.

UNT officials emphasize that while prices are going up for premium seats, plenty of affordable options remain, including end zone options at Apogee Stadium for as low as $80.

“The way that I look at it is we’re trying to maximize our revenue streams so that we can be competitive and win championships in our new conference,” said Ryan Peck, the UNT athletic department’s associate vice president and chief revenue officer. “Our mission hasn’t changed. We’re still trying to build champions and prepare leaders. We can’t do that without support, donations and season ticket growth. Sometimes that requires change.”

UNT has not adjusted its pricing structure for the HUB Club, Apogee’s premium seating, since 2018 and is increasing prices in just three premium sections of the venue’s 10 seating tiers.

Evan Frantum, who graduated from UNT in 2020, is among a host of fans who support the change. He has purchased two tickets in the lower level of Apogee Stadium since he graduated and plans to return as a season-ticket holder this year.

“I’m willing to spend the money because I think in the long run it will elevate the team,” Frantum said. “The non-fair-weather fans are going to be there, are willing to pay and are happy to do it as long as there is a plan and a vision for where that money goes.”

Other UNT fans are not pleased with the new price structure, particularly in football. The Mean Green have not posted a winning season since 2018 or won a bowl game since the end of the 2013 campaign. The school fired coach Seth Littrell and replaced him with Eric Morris in December.

Shawn Howard, a 2019 graduate, had two season tickets for basketball and three for football. He said he is willing to pay more for basketball tickets. UNT will face Wisconsin in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament next week and beat Purdue in the NCAA Tournament in the spring of 2021.

Howard is less enthusiastic about paying for his football tickets and may drop to one seat.

“I’ve been a little disappointed in them upping the prices without seeing much on-field change,” Howard said. “They have been making the stadium nicer, but I would be willing to drop more money to see a better team.”

Chris Janvier, a 1992 graduate, also plans to renew his football tickets, which are set to jump by less than $50 to $410 for two seats.

“It’s premature,” Janvier said. “I expect to not pay based on what I paid last year but on how the team performed. We were 6-7 and 7-7 the last two years and got rid of the coach, and now you’re asking for more money? You have no resume to support what you’re asking for.

“Will I buy tickets? Yeah, I will. I bleed green.”

UNT’s prices will compare favorably to its peers even after the increase for premium seats.

UNT’s HUB Club ticket prices will rank 12th out of 14 programs in the American when compared to similar seating sections, ahead of South Florida and Temple. The school’s new premium seat prices will also rank 11th out of 12 among Football Bowl Subdivision teams in Texas, ahead of only the University of Texas at El Paso.

UNT’s ticket prices for premium seats in men’s basketball also are low compared to its peer schools. UNT will rank ahead of only Rice University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the new American.

Texas State University, Rice and UTSA are the only schools that will have lower prices for premium seats in Texas for men’s basketball at schools with FBS football programs.

Garnering support has been a challenge for UNT through the years, despite affordable seating. The school averaged 19,205 fans for six home football games last season, and its men’s basketball team averaged 3,749 fans through the regular season.

Those totals lag behind most of its peers. UNT ranked fourth out of the six teams jumping from C-USA to the American in football attendance, a group led by UTSA, which averaged 26,835 fans per home game.

UNT ranks ninth in the state in men’s basketball attendance among Division I programs, according to a survey by Texas Sports Life.

School officials were quick to point out that they are thankful for the fans who have supported the program as it has grown over the years while moving up from what was then Division I-AA to the Big West, the Sun Belt and C-USA.

Mosley pointed to the need for UNT to add to its fan base and the financial support it provides when he was introduced as the school’s athletic director late last year.

“We need more Mean Green faithful to participate in the Mean Green Scholarship Fund, purchase season tickets and contribute to ongoing projects,” Mosley said. “We lag behind many of our peer institutions with smaller alumni bases and much smaller campuses in rural parts of the country. We are behind in the volume of fans and donors who provide us broad-based support.”

Morris is getting his team involved in the community to help build support. UNT recently packed lunches for local children to eat while they are on spring break.

“We need more buy-in from the university and the students, but it goes two ways,” Morris said. “We have to get involved in this community and on this campus. That is something we are trying to attack right now.”

UNT is hoping its new ticketing plan will play a key role in raising attendance while also boosting athletic department revenue.

“Everything we’re doing now is looking forward to where we need to be. We’ve been trying to make it work for 11 years,” Peck said in reference to when Apogee opened in 2011. “We’re revamping the system so that we can get it packed and rocking on a consistent basis.”