Towson Returns Tickets To Maryland, Tells Football Fans To Buy Them Online Instead

See something new every week. This week, the new thing is the Towson athletic department returning its allotment of seats for its upcoming game at Maryland, instead urging fans to buy cheaper tickets on the secondary market. From the release:

Fans wishing to purchase tickets to the game are encouraged to go online and purchase tickets at deeply discounted rates via the secondary ticket marketing, including www.StubHub.com, www.vividseats.com or www.TicketsNow.com or directly through the Maryland Athletics Ticket Office (301-314-7070) for face value.

“The allotment of consignment tickets that were presented as part of our game contract were priced at a face value of $38,” said Mike Harris, Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations at Towson University. “These seats were located in a corner of Byrd Stadium.

“Since we have received this allotment from UMCP, the secondary ticket market has been flooded with deeply discounted tickets starting as low as $4 per seat,” he added. “Like last season with Morgan State, Maryland included additional complimentary tickets to its season ticket holders as part of their package. The result is that there is a high concentration of tickets available at a significantly lower price than what TU Athletics is able to offer. As such, we have returned our consignment tickets to UMCP and we are encouraging our fans to seek tickets directly from UMCP Athletics or via the secondary market. Tickets on the secondary market are more affordable and they are located in better viewing locations.”

Can’t imagine this release made the “UMCP Athletics” department thrilled, but it’s pretty cheeky. Oh, and when I just checked StubHub, the get-in price for this game had dropped to $3. (Although, in fairness, there were only 18 tickets for under $10.)

Anyhow, I came across this item via the wise Patrick Stevens, who had a typically wise take on the matter.

“If Maryland could sell out Byrd Stadium on a consistent basis — even for nonconference games that don’t move the needle for many fans — a visiting team wouldn’t be able to point its fans toward the secondary market,” he wrote. “Until that happens, it’s tough to blame a smaller school for trying to save its fans some money.”