UVA Athletics is aiming to do something for the UVA Football season opener that hasn’t been done since George W. Bush was president.
The department rolled out the launch of the “Sell Out Scott” campaign, an effort to have a sellout for the 2029 season opener with NC State on Saturday, Aug. 29.
The last sellout for a UVA Football home game: Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, when Southern Cal, at the height of its powers, preseason #3, on its way to a 12-1 finish behind Pete Carroll and Mark Sanchez, came to town and beat the bejeezus out of an obviously dramatically overmatched Virginia team, 52-7.
I was there; the score doesn’t tell the story of how thoroughly USC dominated that one.
But hey, they brought the Song Girls.
Capacity at Scott Stadium is officially 61,500; they somehow packed 64,947 inside on that late summer Saturday.
A 2011 game with Virginia Tech, the home finale of that season, came thisclose to a sellout – drawing 61,124 to watch the Hokies beat the good guys, 38-0, in a game that had kicked off as a play-in for a spot in the 2011 ACC Championship Game.
UVA Athletics is getting this opportunity with the NC State opener because everybody blew it with an effort to have the game played in Brazil.
ICYMI
Ticket sales down there must have been dismal, because the plug got pulled last month, in favor of moving the game back to Charlottesville, returning what was to have been a Virginia home game all along to Grounds.
On one level, you’d think it wouldn’t be a hard sell to try to get the stadium packed for a season opener for a program coming off a school-record 11-win season, but this is UVA Football.
The athletics department ran a generation of fans off ahead of that 2008 season with a push to raise ticket prices – the timing there was awful; the 2008 team finished with a 5-7 record, the 2009 team went 3-9 and got Al Groh fired, and the guy who replaced him, Mike London, had one winning season in six years before he was fired.
Things got so bad that it was big news that we averaged 48,776 per home game last season, with a high of 58,832 for the finale with Virginia Tech – that one was disappointing, that we couldn’t get a sellout, or at least 60,000, given the stakes, that a win would put the program into the ACC Championship Game for the second time ever.
We’ll have more on the outlook for the 2026 season in the next few weeks, but generally speaking, I like what Tony Elliott has to work with.
ICYMI: UVA Football heading into the 2026 season
- UVA Football: A look at the roster, needs heading into the spring game
- UVA Football: The details on Tony Elliott’s contract extension
- UVA Football: Details on fresh extensions for Kitchings, Rudzinski, Gaither
- UVA Football: Elliott names protege Justin Speros to be program’s general manager
- UVA Football: Battles shaping up for QB1, QB3 spots heading into summer
- UVA Football: Elliott stocked up on tailbacks, which will be a position of strength in 2026
- UVA Football: In-depth look at the wideout room, which is a work in progress
Details: Sell Out Scott
Fan-First Four-Pack
For the first three games of the 2026 season, secure a discounted rate on single-game orders of 4-10 seats in select seating areas – upper and lower-level options are included.
Season Tickets
Season ticket renewals are now available for the 2026 season. Season tickets secure your seats for all seven home games starting at just $180 per seat.
Family Four-Pack
Bring the whole family to Scott Stadium all season long with the Family Four Pack – starting at $560 for four season tickets, bring up to 10 family and friends and secure our greatest discounted rate.
UVA faculty/staff and alum discounts
Current full-time UVA Faculty and Staff, Young Alumni (within 5 years of graduation) and Contributing Members of the Alumni Association are eligible for a 20% discount – call the UVA Ticket Office at 434-924-8821 and provide your computing ID.
Support AFP
Share
Chris Graham
