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Abstract

This study aims to investigate how ticket prices are set in Division I (DI) college athletics, how the individuals making pricing decisions perceive the purpose of athletics, what objectives pricing managers are trying to achieve with both revenue and non-revenue sports, and the factors that influence how the final price is set. Structured interviews were conducted with 12 athletic department external operations staff from 12 non-FBS DI institutions, representing seven different conferences. Results showed that price is determined through either a bottom-up hierarchical model or a committee-based model. Patronage-Oriented objectives were shown to dominate the pricing strategy in non-FBS programs, which appeared to be associated with these programs’ focus on engaging local communities and serving student-athletes. Notably, objectives often change based on the type of sport being ticketed (revenue vs. non-revenue). In addition to external factors (e.g., competitive comparisons), internal factors (e.g., budget, coaches’ feedback) were also found to be uncontrollable factors influencing the final ticket price in non-FBS programs. Findings from this study lead to three propositions that form a conceptual model for understanding ticket price determination in college athletics.

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