Interest Spiking for Andersen Era
Cecil Hairston has never seen anything like the preseason demand for football season tickets in his 10 years at Oregon State.
The hiring of new coach Gary Andersen has sparked a revival of Beaver Nation’s interest in the program, which ushers in the Andersen era on Sept. 4 with a Friday night matchup with Weber State at Reser Stadium.
The Beavers’ veteran assistant athletic director for ticket operations said the renewal rate by current season-ticket holders, and their requests for additional seats, are the highest they’ve been since he came to OSU before the 2005 football season.
“They’re the best we’ve had in recent history,” Hairston said. “We are pacing at 197 percent of where we were last year.
“That’s how we benchmark where we are in the renewal process: A combination of renewals and people buying more tickets than they had last year. We’re seeing a definite increase as far as the excitement surrounding the program.
“We are much further along at this point than at any other point” in his tenure, Hairston added. “A close second would be during the height of the Rodgers brothers era, when we were one game away from going to the Rose Bowl.”
Hairston attributes the big jump to a sense of anticipation about Andersen, who arrived at OSU on Dec. 10 following successful tenures at Wisconsin and Utah State. The Badgers won 19 games and a Big Ten Conference West Division championship in his two seasons in Madison; he transformed a once-downtrodden Utah State program into a Western Athletic Conference champion that played in successive bowl games and went 11-2 in 2012, his final season in Logan.
“The Coach Andersen hire has been a huge deal and has created a remarkably different atmosphere around the program,” said former OSU basketball player and current football/basketball season ticket holder Dallas Cason. “The momentum in athletics really mirrors what is happening across campus overall; it’s very exciting.”
It’s not too late to join the party. Current season-ticket holders have until March 31 to renew, and deposits are being taken for new season-ticket holders, who can pick their 2015 seats sometime in mid-June.
The timing of Andersen's arrival in Corvallis also coincided with a streamlined season ticket and annual donation process under the UN1TE" umbrella.
"When one of our loyal donors and season ticket holders invests in our student-athletes we want them to know we appreciate their support,” OSU Deputy Athletic Director Mark Massari said. “Collaboration with Our Beaver Nation is an important part of our partnership to better serve our great fan base."
The "UN1TE" theme rolled out on the eve of the annual recruiting dinner and included a sleek book outlining the donation and season ticket renewal process, but even more importantly stories behind why investing in tickets and gifts to OSU Athletics is so important to the overall success of programs and student-athletes. The highlight of UN1TE campaign includes a one-stop shop approach where Beaver Nation can pay their annual donations in installments associated with their football tickets instead of a one lump sum plan as in years past.
“I love the idea of the UN1TE campaign,” Gold Beaver level donor Karen Oldfield (OSU ’83) said. “OSU brings us all back together. We are all into making OSU the best university in the nation. We are powerful in numbers and if we unite together, we can do great things!
“I really like the idea of feeling like we are part of something much bigger. I think OSU did a great job with this concept in terms of unifying the renewal process; I love having everything in one place. It just makes it so much easier to take care of renewing our tickets and making our donation to Our Beaver Nation.
“I’m excited for the upcoming football season. We have met Coach Andersen and his entire staff, and he did a wonderful job assembling a group of great coaches to lead our team. It sounds like things are very organized and that there is a lot of energy out on the practice field. We can’t wait for the home opener. Go BEAVS!”
The Beavers play six home games this season: Weber State (Sept. 4); San Jose State (Sept. 19); Stanford (Sept. 25); Colorado (Oct. 24); UCLA (Nov. 7) and longtime Northwest rival Washington (Nov. 21).
A number of season-ticket plans are available. For more information, go to http://beavertickets.com/season-tickets/seating-pricing/
