I decided to interrupt my series on Virginia Tech’s PFF numbers to focus on attendance at ACC football games in 2020 and what that could mean for each team’s finances.  We know the Hokies didn’t sell tickets to any games this past season, but some other teams did.  How many did they sell, and how much money could they have possibly made?  We’ll take a look at that.

First I want to take a look at the Hokies vs. Florida State in terms of ticket sales.  The data for per-year revenue and ticket sales comes from this site, and you can get a more detailed view by clicking on each school’s name.

In the 2019 Fiscal Year (2018-19 academic year), Virginia Tech just barely squeaked by ahead of Florida State in ticket revenue, though that generally isn’t the case.  Over the last five seasons combined (2015-19), the Seminoles on average rake in about $4.6 million more per year than Virginia Tech in ticket revenue across all sports.  That makes sense, considering Doak Campbell Stadium (capacity 79,560) is bigger than Lane Stadium (66,233), and the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (11,675) is larger than Cassell Coliseum (9,275).  All else being equal, that’s the difference in the two averages.

That average gap of $4.6 million will most certainly be greater for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year.  The Seminoles sold tickets to games, while the Hokies did not.  FSU’s total attendance for the 2020 football season was 161,166.  Tech’s total attendance was 4,500, and the Hokies did not charge for admittance. 

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