UTRGV head football coach Travis Bush stands on the grounds of the H-E-B Park Dec. 15. UTRGV Athletics announced it reached 1,000 season ticket deposits for the university football team’s inaugural season in 2025, less than six weeks after accepting deposits. PHOTOS COURTESY KRISTELLA CRUZ
Ticket deposits for the inaugural season of the UTRGV football program have reached 1,300, Intercollegiate Athletics officials say.
The deposits are $25 per seat and will be applied toward the cost of the ticket once they are available, with a deposit limit of 3o seats per person.
In an interview with The Rider Jan. 30, Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said he knew there would be good support for football in the Rio Grande Valley.
Conque said the department did not have a set goal for ticket deposits. However, he was pleasantly surprised and said his expectations were surpassed.
“As we sit here today, we’ve actually surpassed the 1,3oo mark,” Conque said. “So, just in the last week or so we’ve sold an additional 300 season tickets, which is phenomenal.”
He said they are a bit ahead of schedule.
“We announced it about five weeks after the announcement of coach [Travis Bush’s hiring],” Conque said.
In an interview with The Rider the same day, Bush said the ticket deposits show the excitement and support in the Valley for the football program, which is scheduled to begin in 2025.
“It’s exciting seeing the Valley rally behind this program already,” he said.
Bush said the support has been phenomenal everywhere they have been and that there are still more people who want to get involved.
Asked about the significance of reaching 1,000 deposits within six weeks, Vince Volpe, deputy director of Athletics and chief revenue officer, replied, “It speaks to the Rio Grande Valley, really.”
Volpe said the Valley is excited about UTRGV Athletics as a whole, but notably ready for a university football program.
He noted that a significant block of seats will be held for students.
“We want to thank the student body,” Volpe said in an interview last Tuesday. “We wouldn’t be at this point that we’re talking about selling 1,300 season tickets in six weeks without the student approval and the process that we went through about 15 months ago.”
UTRGV Athletics is committed to having a season ticket option for as low as $99. Conque said the department wants to ensure there is something for everybody.
“We want to make sure it’s affordable entertainment for families and people throughout the Valley,” he said.
Conque said that as 2025 approaches, fans will be able to select their seat and will receive their physical ticket.
“So, as we go into the first football season, they’ll have their tickets as we prepare for kickoff,” he said.
Asked how the ticket sales will help the football program, Conque replied it will help take care of student athletes as well as cover early purchases for the football program.
He said there is a laundry list of things that need to be purchased for the first time, such as “helmets and shoulder pads.”
Conque referred to ticket sales as the lifeblood of the program.
“The revenue that we can get from ticket sales and corporate partnerships will directly go back to support our student athletes,” Conque said. “Help the team travel, nutrition, scholarships.”
UTRGV Athletics is also committed to playing games in the Upper and Lower Valley.
Conque said the department will continue to strengthen its relationship with H-E-B Park in Edinburg and Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville, which will serve as venues.
For more information on how to place a deposit for tickets, visit utrgvtickets.universitytickets.com.
