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86% of college football fans and 91% of college basketball fans who have attended a collegiate game in a premium or hospitality area have also sat in premium seating at a pro event within the past two years.
They are not comparing your club level to the school down the road. They are comparing it to the NFL.
That is the starting point of Playfly Sports FanScore: The Premium Opportunity in College Sports, a new report built on a custom Vision Insights survey of collegiate premium attendees, paired with pricing and capacity research across the FBS, the NFL, and the NBA.
INSIDE THE REPORT …
➤ The premium buyer is not who you think. Premium college attendees are six years younger on average than non-premium attendees, and purchase rates barely move across income brackets. The older, high-income donor stereotype does not hold up.
➤ Demand runs well past current buyers. 92% of non-premium fans expressed interest in premium season tickets, and majorities of both premium and non-premium attendees report frustration with how little premium inventory is actually available.
➤ The pricing cliff. The jump from the best standard seat to the cheapest premium seat runs a median of +93% across the G6 and +19% across the P4. In the NFL it is -6%. Where the ladder has no middle rungs, fans do not climb.
➤ The haves and have-nots keep separating. Top-quartile FBS programs grew all-sport ticket revenue 33.8% between 2016 and 2025. The bottom quartile grew 8.2%.
➤ Non-gameday is still mostly untapped. Big Ten and SEC football venues draw about 5,000 visitors a week in the offseason, roughly 11% of their in-season traffic. NFL venues hold about 60%.
READ THE FULL REPORT
The full report covers venue age and capacity benchmarks against the pros, the shift from big corporate suites toward loge boxes and add-on clubs, and where the revenue opportunity sits for programs at every level. Read it here.
Playfly Sports works with athletic departments of all sizes across pricing studies, premium planning, capital investment, and fan-engagement strategy, helping schools build premium experiences that increase revenue and deepen fan relationships.
Reach out to [email protected] to learn more and make it happen.