Freshman Sayo Sode was one of many students who skipped a majority of USC football’s three-game home opening series, citing price, the heat and relatively weak opposition.
Although Sode said he isn’t “much of a football guy,” he said one thing would get him to go to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for every game: free tickets.
“I’d go to every single one,” Sode said.
Having experienced similar attendance issues recently, UCLA Athletics announced this week that it will do just that: Give all students free access to home football and basketball games this year, while also providing cheap bus rides for the 26-mile drive to the Rose Bowl.
“We need our students to show up, be loud and make a difference,” UCLA’s new Athletic Director Tim Harris wrote in a news release.
While the Trojans’ home basketball games are already free for students, their crosstown rivals’ recent move begs the question: Could USC do the same to solve its own attendance woes?
Sode thinks so.
“It gets pricey, and we’re all college students, so not having money is kind of the thing,” said Sode, a freshman majoring in film and television. “I’d rather spend it on getting food that stops me from being hungry than going to a game and just watching it.”
Currently, student season tickets cost $275, plus a $25 processing fee, averaging out to about $50 per game. Individual game tickets can cost less than $30 but move well into the hundreds range depending on location and opponent.
With the Trojans’ three-game nonconference slate, USC has struggled with its attendance.
The team reported crowds of more than 50,000 at its first two games against San Jose State and Fresno State and about 60,000 for its matchup with Louisiana on Saturday, well below the 71,571 and 67,783 of the two years prior.
While the heat and opponents may have led to the limited crowd, the California Post reported that the true attendance was actually much lower.
The Post reported that only 35,585 people scanned through the gate at the Coliseum against San Jose State, the smallest home crowd for the Trojans since 2018, before Head Coach Lincoln Riley had joined the program for the team’s move to the Big Ten Conference. The small crowd also went viral on social media for its limited size and earned a roast from Texas Tech University Head Coach Joey McGuire.
The Post reported that more than 45,000 scanned into the Fresno State game, still well below the team’s typical average.
Elen Hovhannisyan, a freshman majoring in human biology, said she thinks student attendance would increase if tickets were free, but said USC’s bigger football name and more recent success may make it difficult for the Trojans to offer free tickets.
“Our football team is really good compared to [UCLA],” Hovhannisyan said. “It makes sense that [a ticket] has a price on it, but I feel like it’s so much more expensive compared to being free.”
Although Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s tenure at USC has received mixed reviews, he hasn’t produced a losing season in five seasons with the Trojans, while UCLA went a combined 8-16 over the last two seasons, though it hopes to turn it around under first-year Head Coach Bob Chesney this season.
On the other hand, UCLA men’s basketball is regarded as one of the most prestigious programs in the country, while USC and Head Coach Eric Musselman have had to work to promote the team despite the free tickets.
Even though the Trojans men’s basketball tickets have been free for students for years, the team ranked 17th out of the 18 teams in the Big Ten in attendance last year despite the free tickets, with an average of 5,538 fans per game — about 54% of Galen Center’s capacity.
Brit Burden, a junior studying philosophy, politics and economics who goes to most home games, said she hoped to see more school spirit and students at games moving forward.
“It is a little troubling not seeing as much school spirit as I’d like to see within our school,” Burden said. “Some people consider it a sacrifice to go to the games instead of really buying into the program and to the school, [which is] not great to see. I try to go to most games.”
Annenberg Media reached out to USC Athletics to see if providing free football tickets to students is something it would consider, but did not hear back before publication.
Edited by Sean Campbell.