Lehigh-Lafayette sees high ticket sales

The Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry game remains historically sold out, being a major draw from students and alumni to return to campus. 

The game is almost always played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and will be hosted at Lehigh’s Goodman Stadium this year, said Rich Haas, assistant athletic director for sales and marketing. 

He said Goodman Stadium can hold around 1,000 more patrons than Lafayette’s Fisher Stadium, so there are usually more fans in years when Lehigh hosts. 

“Years ago, the tickets would sell out by Labor Day,” Haas said. “I think now with technology and how easy it is to click a button and purchase tickets, we have more tickets available closer to kickoff, but they usually all get bought in the last few days leading up to the game.” 

The tickets are separated by groups, reserving a certain amount of seats for students, alumni, community members and families. 

Haas said they hold tickets for students to make sure they can have access to the game because they are the primary audience and only have four years. 

“Alumni have had a lifetime to keep coming back in and cheering on behind the rivalry,” he said

This year’s game will be the first time many underclassmen can attend because COVID-19 postponed last year’s rivalry. 

“We always hear so much about the rivalry, and I was so upset to have missed out on the experience last year,” said Matthew Silverman, ‘24.

Silverman said he has been looking forward to this game since he applied to Lehigh. 

However, not all Lehigh students are planning on attending the game. 

“I bought tickets to the game over the summer, but as we get closer to it, I have started to consider not attending,” said Elen Karagulian, ‘24. “We hear a lot from upperclassmen that only freshmen attend the game, but due to COVID my class missed our opportunity to go last year.”

Karagulian also expressed her disappointment in the price of the game. 

“I understand why we have to pay for this game because it is in such high demand, but I was expecting some sort of student discount, not just a ‘free’ T-shirt,” she said. 

Alumni make up another large percentage of fans at the game. 

Jennifer Cunningham, assistant vice president of Alumni Relations, said there are more than 600 alumni, parents and friends registered for the All-Alumni tailgate. All of the tailgate spaces in the parking lot by Stabler Arena are full of alumni, including Greek organizations, classmates, friend groups and former teammates, she said

“Lehigh-Lafayette is one of the university’s signature alumni engagement events,” Cunningham said. “We see young alumni (defined as 10 or fewer years out) coming back to town, as it’s often the first chance brand new graduates have to come back on campus.”

Following previous trends of ticket sales, this year’s game is expected to sell out per usual, Haas said. In the final week leading up to the game, there are still tickets up for grabs for anyone who wants to attend. 

“Lehigh-Lafayette is certainly the game with the highest demand, just given the history of the rivalry,” Haas said. “With the nature of it being college football’s most-played rivalry and the passion between the two schools, it becomes a reunion for alumni to come back and spend time with classmates that they can count on every November.”