Akron sees significant uptick in college football season tickets following lottery offer to script team's opening drive

In an effort to sell college football season tickets, Akron is offering football fans the chance of a lifetime — and it's working.

A promotion announced by the school earlier this week will provide one lucky winner a chance to be the "Offensive Coordinator of the Game." According to the release, the winner will get to plan Akron's opening drive in the Zips' home opener against Robert Morris on Sept. 12.

All Zips season ticket holders will be entered into the promotion, with the lottery drawing taking place on Aug. 19. Referring additional season ticket holders will boost your chances at getting the winning draw.

Full reign over the team's game plan in that drive seems very unlikely: Per the release, the winning fan "will work directly with Zips' football head coach Joe Moorhead" to craft plays for the drive.

But it hasn't stopped the unusual idea from receiving a significant amount of attention: The post announcing the promotion has more than 22 million views on X. And more importantly, ticket sales really have been going up.

In an interview with The Athletic published Friday, Akron director of athletics Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich said that Akron has seen its largest increase in season ticket sales since the school's InfoCision Stadium opened in 2009. Season tickets, which start at just $75, are also being bought by people across the country who are hoping to score the grand prize.

Goodrich told The Athletic that he brainstormed the idea during a flight back from Tampa. He pitched it to senior deputy athletic director Matt Pottorff, who was sitting next to him on the plane.

Pottorff “very appropriately said, 'No, that's a bad idea,'" Goodrich told The Athletic.

Moorhead echoed the sentiment, telling The Athletic that he initially though the proposal was "ridiculous" when Goodrich and Pottorff pitched it to him.

"Once the shock value wore away, and we discussed some benefits, now you see it spoke for itself. It's a really unique opportunity that's created a lot of positive publicity for our program," Moorhead said.

Following the drawing in a little under two weeks, the winner will meet with Moorhead ahead of the season opener to design the plays, per the school. The winning fan will get to script the opening 10-to-15 offensive plays of the game, per The Athletic.

Akron will travel to Winston-Salem to play Wake Forest to start the season on Sept. 3, before the suddenly must-see home opener against Robert Morris the following week.