Stanford’s football ticket incentive goes viral amid attendance woes

Stanford football is doing whatever it takes to get fans into Stanford Stadium for the final two home games of the regular season. 

The Cardinal, who sit at 3-4 on the season, tried out a new promotion in order to fill their stadium, which has been sparsely populated so far this season. 

“Starting today, you can test drive for the 2023 season, for FREE,” Stanford said in press release. “That’s right … get free tickets to our final two home games of the season, and lock in those same seats for the entire 2023 home schedule, which features games against Cal, Notre Dame, Oregon and more. 

MICHIGAN’S JIM HARBAUGH HAS BEEF WITH PENN STATE’S JAMES FRANKLIN: ‘I HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY’

“Join us for the games against Washington State and BYU this November, with zero obligation. Want to change your seats for 2023? You’ll have the flexibility and priority over the general public to choose other options. Decide that next year’s plan isn’t right for you. No sweat; you can cancel anytime this year. It’s truly a free trial for the 2022 season.” 

As of Tuesday morning, the link for the promotion was no longer up on the Stanford website. 

Against Arizona State in Week 8, reported attendance was 25,061 at the 50,424-seat stadium.

The Cardinal have struggled over the past several seasons under head coach David Shaw – going 4-8 in 2019 and 3-9 in 2021 – but have won two games in a row over Notre Dame and ASU. 

“We’re finding our groove,” Shaw said after beating ASU. “This is how hard we play and how hard we push to finish in those games. The ball bounced our way a couple times, which is great — the ball bounced against us a couple times too throughout the season.” 

Stanford plays No. 12 UCLA in Week 9.

The Associated Press contributed to this report