Barnes sets a big goal for Pitt season ticket sales
Pitt's AD wants to do something that has never been done before
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Scott Barnes’ predecessor brought the catchphrase “Only Big Dreams” to Pitt, and that concept remains one of the few carryovers from that era to the one that started when Barnes was named Athletic Director last June.
In fact, Barnes is aiming for bigger things than Pitt has ever seen, as he set the target for this year’s season tickets sold at a lofty level.
Specifically, Barnes wants to sell 53,775 season-ticket packages for the seven home games in 2016.
That’s the specific number Barnes has in mind, but he has a high aspiration to go with that figure.
“Our goal is to set an all-time record for season tickets at Heinz Field,” Barnes said Monday. “That would be just under 54,000. To get there, we need, obviously, the Panther nation to step up and they have; they’ve been great so far…We’ve got to renew our season-ticket base at a 93% rate. Last year, that base was renewed at a 90% rate. So we’ve got to bring that up a little bit.
“And then the other factor in this - and we like where we’re tracking - is that, in order to meet that goal, and it’s a lofty goal, to meet it we’ve got to sell almost 10,000 new season tickets. Actually about 9,770 new season tickets.
“We’re pleased with where we’re at. As an example, in just our new season ticket piece, we’re at 3,000 right now. So when you compare that 3,000, compared to last year we’re way ahead of the game as it relates to new season tickets. But we’ve got to keep the pace and our folks are working hard on that.”
The pace that Barnes referenced is an encouraging one. Prior to season tickets being made available to the general public - Monday was the first day of public sales - Pitt had sold “right around 15,000,” Barnes said. For comparison, he added that “last year at this point we were about 4,500.”
If that pace holds, Pitt should have no problem reaching the target that Barnes set. In 2015, the final number of season tickets sold was in the range of 45,000; the year-to-date total prior to Monday of 15,000 is already one-third of the way to that mark, so the goal of 53,775 should be in reach.
“We’re really excited,” Barnes said Monday. “Today is our first on-sale day to the public, and what we’ve tried to do is really focus - and you’ve heard me say this - about two things: how do you increase attendance and make it a better fan experience? We’ve got some initiatives going on in both camps to do that.”
On the second front, Barnes said that the Panther Fans Experience Committee he formed last summer has done well in “observation and reacting” thus far, but he’s anxious for that group to get a full year under its belt. Additionally, Barnes said that 38,000 surveys were sent to season-ticket holders, mini-plan ticket holders, single-game purchasers and alumni within 100 miles of Pitt.
Roughly 2,850 survey responses have been returned, along with “over 1,700 open-ended suggestions and comments,” Barnes said.
“So we’re going to dive into that and really see what our fanbase is thinking, the next steps in that fan experience. That information has been processed and vetted, and out of that will come some new initiatives that we’ll announce in the spring.”