As would be expected for such a production, Boston College’s 2015 football game against Notre Dame at Fenway Park has been in the works for years. As part of Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series, which has the Irish playing schools throughout the country at different stadiums, Boston College will be the visiting team, despite Fenway being a short jaunt from campus.
Because the game is part of an ACC conference schedule for both teams, ACC home and away ticketing regulations will apply. Under these regulations, the home team has access to the vast majority of an already-limited ticket supply. Fenway houses less than half the capacity of Notre Dame Stadium, further lowering supply for a game that will certainly have very high demand. Moreover, the smaller stadium and “visiting team” status leaves local BC with only about 5,000 tickets in total to distribute for the event.
Since announcing the arrangements for the 11/21 tilt, BC has maintained it will need to implement a unique format for ticket distribution, with Jim O’Neill, BC’s associate athletic director for ticket operations, saying in 2014 that “I feel pretty safe in saying that people are going to have to have some sort of affiliation with Boston College to be able to get a ticket from us. Now what does that affiliation mean? Is it a season ticket-holder? Is it a donor to the program? An alumnus? A student?”
That murky “affiliation” status gained some clarity recently, with BC indicating just what type of “affiliations” will be required to purchase tickets for the Fenway game. To have the privilege to pay the $400-per-ticket face price, BC fans must be willing to donate $5,000 to gain access to a pair of tickets. That number goes up with the quantity of tickets one wants to buy, with three ticket access coming in at $10,000. Want to buy four tickets? BC will require a $25,000 donation prior to buying the tickets themselves.
Now, if you’re returning to O’Neill’s original statement where he hypothetically wondered what types of affiliations would allow access and thinking those requirements might be a bit steep for a run-of-the-mill sophomore BC student, there will also be a lottery to serve those who cannot drop a semester’s worth of tuition to see the game with three buddies. Season ticket holders will also be able to enter the lottery, which will offer access to a small fraction of the 5,000 total tickets. For perspective, BC home games, which are played just a few miles from Fenway, attract over 30,000 spectators on average.
This move has understandably created controversy throughout the BC community, with detractors claiming it shows that BC cares more about a particular segment of its population than another. Others take what they claim to be a more pragmatic approach, recognizing that this is a unique opportunity to fundraise on a massive level—something all universities who hope to be viable in D-I athletics must do at every turn.
With the price of being competitive in the ever-evolving arms race that is the college football landscape, it is understandable why BC is taking this risk of alienating a portion of its fanbase, but is the university overreaching, perhaps taking a pound where an ounce would do? Or, is this simply the cost of doing business in the hyper-exclusive echelons of big-time college football? Regardless of whether BC’s actions are fair or foul, if you want to attend the game you’re going to have to pony up one way or another; the cheapest StubHub tickets right now are starting at about $900 and are rising.
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