No, Florida Isn't Charging $600 a Ticket

Not the most expensive seat on the planet.

Another in our "mathematics, journalists who don't know what that word means, and you" series: there is an article in an Alabama newspaper detailing skyrocketing ticket prices in the SEC. It contains this shocking paragraph:

For instance, Florida charges only $224 for season tickets because purchasing them requires a $4,200 minimum donation. That means Florida fans are paying at least $632 per game, tops in the SEC and a 183 percent increase from 1998.

632 dollars for a game against Lousiana-Monroe? Great googly moogly!

Except, of course, this is total bunk. Please note this WSJ article that states UF's total revenue for 2007 as $82.4 million dollars. Capacity at the Swamp is around 88,000. Set aside 30% of the tickets for students and visiting fans, pretend those tickets are totally free, and multiply "at least $632" by seven home games and 62,000 fans and you get...

272 million dollars.

So, no. Florida is not raking in 600 bucks a ticket. A brief interrogation of Orson Swindle reveals that the 4k you shell out entitles you to purchase up to four season tickets, and a quick calculation that guesses Florida is taking in 60 million from the football stadium comes up with an average ticket price of $95.23.

It's pricey. It is not sell-your-grandma pricey.

(Original link via Get The Picture)