Clemson poised to ask students to pay for football tickets

Clemson University next week will reveal a revamped football ticket pricing plan that would move the free student section seating to the upper levels of Memorial Stadium.

Clemson, in a statement, described the pending change as “an improved student ticketing plan” that will include more seats for students and a consolidated seating arrangement.

Any students wanting to sit in the lower levels of Memorial Stadium will have to purchase seats through an IPTAY contribution. Clemson declined to label the charge as a “fee” and said it would not be mandatory.

Julian Taylor, the Chairman of Athletics with Clemson’s student government, created a petition on change.org that says the university is pushing to charge students $225 for tickets to sit in the lower deck of Memorial Stadium starting this season. The petition had almost 7,500 signatures from students and alumni late Tuesday.

Athletic Director Dan Radakovich told TigerNet he expects the fee to raise about $1.8 million, which equates to 8,000 Clemson students opting to pay for tickets.

According to the university, Clemson is the only school in either the Atlantic Conference, Big 12 or the SEC to not have a student fee or charge for football season tickets, according to Galbraith. The proposed ticket prices would be less than what season ticket holders pay, Clemson spokesman Joe Galbraith told the Greenville News.

Galbraith also said the plan is still just a proposal.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Clemson poised to ask students to pay for football tickets."