Eye on Oswego

Photo courtesy of SUNY Oswego Sports Information

By Ken Sturtz
Editor-in-Chief

SUNY Oswego raised more than $140,000 in ticket sales from men’s ice hockey games during the 2010-2011 season, athletic revenue records show. 
 
Combined ticket sales for all other regular season athletic events where admission was charged totaled around $6,000 during the same period. 
 
Gross ticket revenue from SUNY Oswego athletic events in 2010 and 2011 added up to about $150,000. After a ticket fee, the net total was around $135,000. However, it was not immediately apparent for what purpose the money was used.

Students are admitted to college athletic events free of charge. 

Men's and women's basketball and ice hockey are the only programs for which admission is charged.
 
Ticket sales from men’s hockey games dwarf the other 21 athletic teams at SUNY Oswego, but the popularity of the men’s hockey team is well known. 
 
The program has earned scores of accolades including a national championship in 2007. It has also remained competitive over the last three decades, while the competitiveness of many of the college’s other athletic programs has ebbed and flowed. 

The college’s fiercely loyal hockey following is evident from the expansive student section in the Campus Center Ice Arena. The facility can seat 2,500 people, with standing room for 500 more. Before the opening of the Campus Center in 2007 the men’s team played home games at Romney Field House, which seats roughly 2,000 people.

Three home men’s hockey games brought in more than $10,000 each in ticket sales. Oswego’s Oct. 16, 2010 game against Bradford at the beginning of the season made $14,036, the most of any single regular season athletic event. The team’s Nov. 11, 2010 game against SUNY Plattsburgh raised $11,483 and
the Feb. 19, 2011 game against SUNY Geneseo near the season’s end took in $11,088. 

The men’s team won each of the three home games that made more than $10,000. The Campus Center Ice Arena was sold out for each game.  

The women’s hockey team, a relatively new program at SUNY Oswego, also plays in the ice arena, but draws much smaller crowds. Ticket sales to women’s hockey games during the 2010-2011 season amounted to about $2,000. 
 
The men’s and women’s basketball teams play home games in Max Ziel Gymnasium at Laker Hall. The teams play all home games in the form of double headers. Tickets allow entrance to both games. The gymnasium’s bleacher seating holds 3,500 people, however, it rarely experiences the influx of fans the men’s hockey team does.