The University of Maine athletic department expects to earn more revenue from ticket sales this season, according to a school official.
Logan Desmond, the institution’s associate athletic director for revenue generation, said the department is on pace to earn $2 million or more from ticket sales. That’s up from $1.8 million raised last academic year.
The men’s hockey team’s rise to national prominence has been a catalyst for the increase.
The Black Bears, coming off their first appearance in the Hockey East semifinals and NCAA Tournament since the 2011-12 season, are currently ranked fifth in the country with a 10-2-2 record.
“We are projected to sell out every home game in men’s hockey the rest of the season,” Desmond said. “We did really well last year, and they are pushing the numbers up this year.”
The hockey team isn’t alone in attracting paying fans.
“There has been an increased interest in all of our programs,” said Desmond, referring to the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the football team and women’s hockey in addition to men’s hockey.
Those are the only five programs that charge admission, and this is the first season the women’s ice hockey program has done so.
Some of this year’s revenue spike is due to increases in ticket prices. Men’s hockey ticket prices went up approximately three percent this season, and there was also a 10 percent increase in courtside seats for basketball games, according to Desmond. Football prices remained the same.
The increased ticket revenue comes amid UMaine’s ongoing upgrades to its athletic facilities, including renovations to Alfond Arena and a new basketball arena scheduled to be ready sometime during the 2027-28 season. The facilities are being funded through a $170 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation and other multimillion-dollar donations.
Desmond said that interest in the men’s hockey team grew last season, and that has carried over into this season.
UMaine men’s hockey had a 37 percent increase in attendance a year ago from the 2022-23 campaign, with 1,358 more fans attending games at Alfond Arena.
The average attendance for the first seven games of the 2023-24 season was 4,822, while this year’s team has attracted an average of 4,909 through seven home contests.
Hockey season tickets range from $255 to $735 per person per season and individual game tickets range from $20 to $40.
The football team averaged 5,189 per game this fall, which is 51 more fans per game than the 2023 campaign.
Football season ticket prices range from $65 to $115, and single game tickets range from $15 to $40.
The revenue increase for football is in the vicinity of $25,000 according to Desmond.
The basketball programs have also seen a bump in ticket sales.
The week after Newport’s Ace Flagg, twin brother of Duke University freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, announced he was going to attend UMaine in the fall, the university sold 15 to 20 season tickets for the men’s basketball team, Desmond said.
Single-game tickets for a UMaine men’s or women’s basketball game range from $10 to $30 and season ticket prices vary from $100 to $240. Fans can buy a season ticket that will enable them to go to all the men’s and women’s games for $150.
Both have shown an increase in attendance over last season in the early going.
The women’s basketball team has averaged 1,252 per game through its first four home games compared to last year’s average of 1,178.
The men have averaged 765 per game through their first three home games after averaging 757 in the Memorial Gym last year. And two of this year’s opponents have been NCAA Division III institutions the University of Maine-Fort Kent and UMaine-Augusta.
Fans can buy tickets for the eight home America East basketball games for each team at $65 apiece.
And the women’s ice hockey team has also seen an attendance jump even though fans have to pay to watch for the first time.
An average of 405 fans have turned out for the 10 home games so far after last year’s team averaged 345 non-paying fans.
Women’s hockey single-game tickets go from $10 to $27 and season tickets range from $122 to $313 with a half-the-games package from $70 to $233.
Attendance figures for all sports are based on tickets sold, said Desmond.
UMaine director of athletics Jude Killy said the benefits of the projected revenue increase from ticket sales are two-fold.
“There is the monetary component. The finances always help. But the other part is the momentum piece,” said Killy. “Every sport we have is ahead in ticket sales, not just last year but this year as well. Two years in a row, our ticket sales are projecting ahead.”
Desmond said the marketing and ticket office staff at UMaine have done a good job generating more ticket revenue through group sales.
“It hasn’t just been because of the success of the hockey team,” he noted.
But demand for men’s hockey tickets continues to grow.
At the beginning of the summer, the waitlist for a hockey season ticket was 700, and more than half were able to be sold.
“At the end of the summer we had 300 names on the season ticket list and now we have 1,000,” Desmond said. “The demand has been crazy. It has been really busy.”
Despite the demand, fans who want to see a men’s UMaine hockey game might still be able to do so and that includes the series against defending national champion Denver on Jan. 3-4.
That’s because the students are on break during the Denver series so some of their 778 tickets will be available if they don’t decide to return to campus to attend the game. Desmond said they are working with the residential life department to gauge how many will return before they leave for the Christmas break.
He also noted that they allocate 65 tickets per game for the opposing team and their family and friends and 120 for UMaine’s team, family and friends.
But they may not know how many will be available until the day of the game so most of those leftover tickets are available during the walkup sales on game day.
