Record-Shattering Student Demand Prompts Opening of Upper Deck for USF Football’s Clash With Miami
Over 13,000 students claimed tickets in the first 24 hours of ticket availability; Total stands at 14,535 Sunday morning
TAMPA, SEPT. 15, 2024 – Record-shattering student demand to cheer on the resurgent University of South Florida football program has prompted the opening of the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium for the Bulls’ clash with No. 10-ranked Miami Saturday.
Student tickets, which are provided free to the 50,000 students enrolled at the University’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, were first made available Friday morning and saw a record of 13,179 claimed in the first 24 hours. That shattered the old mark of 8,409 claimed in 24 hours for South Florida’s battle with No. 10 Alabama last year, a game that saw more than 10,000 total student ticket claims.
As of Sunday morning, the student tickets claimed for the Miami game stood at 14,535, far surpassing the previous record for total student ticket claims, which had stood at 12,549 for the Bulls clash with No. 13 Florida in 2021.
“We are thrilled to see all the excitement surrounding Saturday’s game against Miami and are grateful for the high demand, particularly with the record level of requests we've seen so far from our students," said Vice President for Athletics, Michael Kelly. “It's a great time to run with the Bulls and we are excited to offer additional inventory for our fans to attend this Sunshine State showdown!"
South Florida had previously planned to open only the 45,000-seat lower bowl at Raymond James Stadium for the game, a configuration that can accommodate 8,700 student seats in the north endzone. The publicly available seats in the lower bowl for the Miami game also sold out before South Florida’s game Saturday at Southern Miss.
The west deck of Raymond James Stadium will be open, increasing capacity to 55,000 seats and accommodating a total student ticket capacity of more than 15,000 seats while increasing the inventory of publicly available tickets for purchase.
Over 13,000 students claimed tickets in the first 24 hours of ticket availability; Total stands at 14,535 Sunday morning
TAMPA, SEPT. 15, 2024 – Record-shattering student demand to cheer on the resurgent University of South Florida football program has prompted the opening of the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium for the Bulls’ clash with No. 10-ranked Miami Saturday.
Student tickets, which are provided free to the 50,000 students enrolled at the University’s campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, were first made available Friday morning and saw a record of 13,179 claimed in the first 24 hours. That shattered the old mark of 8,409 claimed in 24 hours for South Florida’s battle with No. 10 Alabama last year, a game that saw more than 10,000 total student ticket claims.
As of Sunday morning, the student tickets claimed for the Miami game stood at 14,535, far surpassing the previous record for total student ticket claims, which had stood at 12,549 for the Bulls clash with No. 13 Florida in 2021.
“We are thrilled to see all the excitement surrounding Saturday’s game against Miami and are grateful for the high demand, particularly with the record level of requests we've seen so far from our students," said Vice President for Athletics, Michael Kelly. “It's a great time to run with the Bulls and we are excited to offer additional inventory for our fans to attend this Sunshine State showdown!"
South Florida had previously planned to open only the 45,000-seat lower bowl at Raymond James Stadium for the game, a configuration that can accommodate 8,700 student seats in the north endzone. The publicly available seats in the lower bowl for the Miami game also sold out before South Florida’s game Saturday at Southern Miss.
The west deck of Raymond James Stadium will be open, increasing capacity to 55,000 seats and accommodating a total student ticket capacity of more than 15,000 seats while increasing the inventory of publicly available tickets for purchase.
