The Ohio State Board of Trustees will vote Friday on a ticket price increase affecting football, men’s basketball and golf course fees for 2010-2011.

Students would expect to pay $32 per football ticket in 2010, which is up 3.2 percent from last year.

The proposal would require students to pay $15 for single basketball tickets, which is up 3.4 percent from this season. The upper level end zone seats sold on the day of the game will remain $10.

The golf course annual dues for students would jump 2.7 percent to $575. Daily greens fees are not affected by the price increase.
Athletic Director Gene Smith said officials need to increase the prices to offset operating costs, utility increases, financial aid, travel and the debt service.

“The university has $200 million of debt service,” said Ben Jay, senior athletic director of Finance and Operations.

The debt service has accrued due to the depletion of the reserve funds, renovations to existing facilities, new scoreboards and the $2.75 million lawsuit settlement to ex-OSU basketball coach Jim O’Brien.

The athletic department pays $17 million each year to lower the debt service.

The ticket price increases will generate an estimated $8 million in the next two years. Four million dollars will go directly to the reserve fund and the rest will cover operating costs, Jay said.

The increase was calculated based on the assumption that in-state tuition will rise between 5 to 6 percent next year. Therefore, financial aid will have to increase 5 to 6 percent.

“Financial aid will be just south of $1 million more to our budget,” Smith said.

Smith says they are using conservative estimates because tuition is historically raised 5 to 6 percent.

The athletic department has looked for other outlets to raise money, but revenue from concessions, merchandising and donations to the Buckeye Club are all affected by the economy.

“We have put restrictions on budgets for each sport, such as limiting who travels with the team, setting maximum per diems at $45 per day, and not allowing surplus in budgets be spent elsewhere,” Jay said.

The athletic department has both long- and short-term expenses to account for outside of the debt service.

The department pays more than $2 million annually in rent to the Schottenstein Center and more than $2 million to Student Athlete Academic Services. The department also makes an annual donation of $1 million to University Libraries.

In total, 25 percent of the Athletic Department’s budget goes directly back to the university, $29 million annually.