UVA Athletics hires outside contractor to handle ticket sales, gameday experience

UVA Athletics is taking steps to address lagging football ticket sales and the overall lackluster gameday experience at Scott Stadium.

The program announced on Thursday that it has signed REVEL^XP to serve as the full-service ticket sales provider for all ticketed sports, and to work with UVA to overhaul the experience for fans at Scott Stadium and other athletics venues.

“We are thrilled to welcome REVEL^XP to the Virginia athletics family. The launch of this integrated partnership with an industry leader such as REVEL^XP will grow our marketing and sales capabilities while establishing a contemporary infrastructure for enhanced revenue generation optimization,” said deputy athletics director Tyler Jones, whose purview in the athletics department is external operations, which, translated, means, a focus on revenues.

UVA ranked seventh among the eight public universities in the ACC in the 2022-2023 fiscal year in overall ticket sales, at $14.1 million – for reference, Clemson led the conference in ticket sales that year, at $31.0 million.

Football ticket sales have been on the struggle bus for several years, in large part because of the product on the field – UVA has had just eight winning seasons since 2000, and five of those eight came in a six-year stretch of the Al Groh era from 2002-2007.

The high-water mark for season-ticket sales was at the height of this run, way back in 2004, with 39,123 season tickets sold that year.

We reported back on May 16 that, as of that point, UVA was reporting just 14,915 season tickets sold to date for the 2024 season.

So, a big part of the assignment for REVEL^XP will be boosting those numbers. REVEL^XP, according to a news release from UVA Athletics, will sell full-season ticket packages, mini-ticket packages and single-game tickets, in addition to assisting with donations and select donor campaigns.

A director of sales and service and several account executives will make up the new sales team, which will operate inside the athletic department on Grounds, providing direct support for UVA teams and service to their fans.

“We are honored to be selected as UVA Athletics’ ticketing partner,” said Tracy White, REVEL^XP president. “Our team is committed to driving impactful sales growth, while providing the highest level of customer service to their fans and partners.”

The partnership will also include REVEL^XP’s full-service tailgating services for home football games. From what I can tell, this tailgating services thing, already in place at a number of schools across the country, includes packages that provide tent, tables and chairs, as well as premium add-ons, such as catering, TVs and more, with set-up by REVEL^XP staff.

Details regarding the specifics of tailgating services to be offered at UVA games will be announced this summer.

Jones said UVA Athletics has invested times over the past several months “studying strategies to enhance the fan experience at Scott Stadium and several of our athletics venues.”

“We are confident that REVEL^XP will help us elevate gameday at Virginia while further engaging UVA fans and the greater Charlottesville community,” Jones said.