Ohio State's $142K Luxury Suites Draw Backlash as Buckeye Fans Cry Foul
Ohio Stadium has stood since 1922, old enough to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and old enough that the tunnel Ryan Day's players sprint through on gameday is now being opened to a new class of paying fans. The price tag attached to that walkway is what has Buckeye Nation furious barely a week before kickoff.
Conner Smith, beat writer for the Buckeyehuddle, gave fans their first real look at Ohio State's new on-field suites this week, writing,
Here are Ohio State's brand-new on-field suites for this upcoming season. The total cost is $142,700 per suite, and each can hold 12 people, with eight standing-room spots.
What are the new on-field suites at Ohio Stadium?
The project itself dates back to June 2025, when Ohio State announced nine field-level suites going into the south end zone, stacked underneath 400 new chairback seats priced at $6,000 a season. They were billed as the widest chairback seats anywhere in the venue.
Suite and chairback holders alike get access to the new 1922 Club and enter through the same player tunnel used by the team, with athletic director Ross Bjork calling it a small key step in the ongoing modernization of Ohio Stadium.
Why are Buckeye fans angry about the $142,700 price tag?
The suites are still being finished ahead of the Sept. 5 home opener, timed to a Buckeyes team that enters the year ranked No. 1 in the AP poll with Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin back and a schedule that includes road trips to Texas, Indiana, USC and Iowa.
But the cost is more than anything Ohio State has charged for a suite before. Its existing suite tier previously topped out at $133,000 annually. And of course, the addition doesn't come without trade-offs.
The marching band is being displaced to the north end zone, the new structure sits between the Block O student section and the field, and there will be no more field-rushing after big wins now that the suites block that path. It's also arriving on top of existing complaints about noon kickoffs and a quieter Horseshoe.
What did Ohio State's fan survey reveal about premium seating?
Notably, Ohio State ran a fan survey this spring specifically gauging appetite for further premium-seating investment, with associate VP Kevin Griffin saying bluntly,
If our fans are telling us they're not interested, then why would we make that type of investment? We won't,suggesting the athletic department is already aware of pushback.
How are fans reacting to the luxury suites?
So, the internet didn't wait long to reiterate its verdict.
One commenter joked, So far they look like a cheap roadside motel. I wonder if they have vibrating seats you can put quarters into. A Michigan fan sarcastically tweeted, At least they got a huge screen to watch on...
One user said,
No college football fan would want those seats. But I'm sure status seekers love them. They can say they were on the field for the game. They definitely won't be able to say they saw the entire game, unless it was on TV in the suite. I wonder if they can even see the jumbotron from there.
Another fan echoed that sentiment, writing, That's a lot of money to pay to stare at the backs of all the gameday crew, cheerleaders, school officials, security, referees, and anyone else standing around. One simply wrote: Worst place to actually watch a game.
The $142,700 price tag is leaving a lot of average game-goers completely stunned and angry. $142,700 for a shi**y view of the field/game? How many idiots are buying into this dumb sh*t?
Understandably, for Buckeye Nation, the $142,700 price tag raises a bigger, far more important question than things like caring about things like upgrades or luxury.