Wisconsin says football ticket renewal rate is 85%
The University of Wisconsin indicated that its renewal rate for football season tickets is 85%, an encouraging number given the significant uncertainty over fan attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program has had a renewal rate of 93% or better since the late 1990s.
It’s unclear if fans will be allowed inside stadiums for the college football season, or if stadiums will operate at reduced capacity. The 85% renewal rate equates to approximately 39,000 tickets, almost half of Camp Randall’s 80,321 capacity. Student-ticket allotment is not included.
The Badgers alerted fans that single-game ticket sales for home games, including the clash against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Oct. 3, have been put on hold until a course of action is more clear.
UW moved its renewal deadline from April 20 to May 11 and built several payment options for Badgers fans to try and account for the uncertainty of the pandemic.
The options included a threethere, part payment plan, with three equal payments on June 1, July 1 and August 1 after a $30 deposit. Another option was to pay the $30 and pay in full July 10.
Yet another plan called for a “gap year,” where a $50 deposit would reserve seats for 2021. UW said approximately 500 fans took advantage of that offer, and including those numbers would up the overall renewal rate to 88%.
If Camp Randall does not host games in 2020, tickets will be refunded in full. Payments will be prorated if a partial season is played.
UW honors Rettke, Taylor: One led the Badgers to the NCAA championship game and another racked up unprecedented statistics for the University of Wisconsin football team. Dana Rettke and Jonathan Taylor have been named the school’s athletes of the year.
The duo will also serve as Wisconsin’s nominees for the Big Ten Conference athlete of the year honors, awarded Thursday.
Rettke, a 6-8 junior middle blocker from Riverside, Illinois, helped a young Wisconsin team reach the Final Four and stun No. 1-ranked Baylor in the national semifinals once the Badgers got three sets to one. UW lost to Stanford in the championship match but will be among the favorites to capture the 2020 title.
Rettke is now a three-time firstteam All American and was named Big Ten player of the year in 2019 before earning spots on the 2019 NCAA Championship all-tournament team and NCAA Regional alltournament team.
Taylor, meanwhile, finished his outstanding three-year career in a Badgers uniform. His 6,174 yards rushing are the most of any player in NCAA Division I (FBS) history through three seasons, and he ranks No. 6 among FBS career rushing leaders. Only Badgers legend Ron Dayne (7,125 yards) has more yards in Big Ten history.
Taylor, a native of Salem, New Jersey, reached 2,003 yards rushing in 2019 and won the Doak Walker Award recognizing the nation’s best running back for a second straight year and twice merited first-team All-American status.
He scored a nation-leading 26 touchdowns (21 rushing) in leading the Badgers to the Big Ten Championship Game and an appearance in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, where the Badgers lost a 28-27 heartbreaker to Oregon.