San Diego State is continuing its push to boost attendance for its remaining two football game at Snapdragon Stadium, offering two complimentary tickets to season-ticket holders for games against New Mexico and Air Force.
The promotion parallels an early push to get season-ticket holders to renew for the 2025 season.
Prices for next season will remain the same as this season, ranging from $200 to $1,200 for the six-game schedule. New season-ticket holders wo;; also be on the hook for a “stadium enhancement gift that ranges from $100 to $1,500, depending on the season ticket package.
Both efforts are aimed at getting more fans into a stadium that has averaged 59% capacity for football games since it opened two-plus years ago.
SDSU (3-5, 1-2 Mountain West) comes into Friday nights game against New Mexico (3-6, 2-3) with an announced average attendance of 27,386 (19,345 turnstile average) through four home games.
SDSU recently contacted season-ticket holders for men’s basketball, as well as other sports, and offered them two free tickets for family or friends to attend the game against the Lobos.
A similar offer was made to football season ticket holders for the Aztecs’ Oct. 5 game against Hawaii. That boosted attendance by about 1,000 fans, to 31,307 announced (22,318 turnstile). The offer to football season-ticket holders will be extended for SDSU’s Nov. 30 season finale against Air Force.
SDSU began offering 2025 season-ticket packages on Oct. 30 for those interested in renewing. The Aztecs didn’t begin selling season tickets last season until the start of December, immediately after hiring of Sean Lewis as head coach, so this gives them a one-month head start.
“We moved up our renewal cycle to give us more time with renewals and new sales,” said Ayo Taylor-Dixon, SDSU’s deputy AD for strategic communications and brand advancement. “It seems new in the college space, but it’s really aligning with what some other college programs have done and what a lot of pro teams do. They renew in the season.”
SDSU season-ticket sales have decreased each year since Snapdragon opened, from 15,973 in 2022 to 10,718 in 2023 and 8,755 this year.
“This process of getting through our renewals will give us more time where our sales team can shift their focus to new sales,” Taylor-Dixon said. “By letting our renewal process go a little earlier, we can get through it quicker and then we’ll have more time (for new sales).”
Renewals are limited to current season-ticket holders until Dec. 4. The Aztecs are aiming to boost season-ticket sales to 1,000 more than renewals, roughly 9,000.
The prospect — and optics — of a stadium with several thousand empty seats remains for the Aztecs, though they did not feel compelled to adjust ticket prices.
“The days of coming up with a $10 ticket to just get people in the building may work for that one game,” Taylor-Dixon said, “but it’s going to piss off thousands of season ticket holders that you have. Eventually, it’s that slow burn.
“What’s the value you place on your product? You have to be disciplined throughout the year to maintain that value and keep prices where they are.”
SDSU’s game last week at Boise State provided quite a contrast in attendance. A sellout crowd of 36,838 attended the game at Albertsons Stadium. The Broncos, ranked No. 12 in the nation, are sold out for the entire season for the first time in school history. Boise State season-ticket prices range from $174 to $874 — similar to the low end ($200) of tickets for Aztecs games, but well below the high end ($1,200).
“You have to maybe try a little harder and scratch and claw a little bit more to get some other people involved,” Taylor-Dixon said. “We all feel good about the value we’ve established. Now we’ve got to continue to work harder to expose our product to more and more fans.”