Memphis AD Laird Veatch addresses conference realignment, football season ticket sales

Memphis starts preseason practice in less than two weeks, but the chatter around conference realignment has almost overshadowed the buzz before a new season.

The Tigers remain in a wait-and-see position as college football deals with the fallout from USC and UCLA jumping from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. The latest news this week came from multiple reports saying that the Pac-12 and Big 12 won’t explore a partnership.

Memphis athletics director Laird Veatch said Thursday the program has made progress to stay in the minds of conference decision-makers. It might not soothe anxious fans, but it's staying the course as things remain fluid.

“I think Memphis stands where it really has stood, which is right on the bubble. That next school or two or three that are right there,” Veatch said at the Mid-South Food Bank. “I tell people all the time: we keep the focus on us, keep doing the things we’re doing. We’re doing the right things.

“We have real high-quality football, men’s basketball, a lot of other sports are doing well. We’re investing in our program. The school is doing its part with the Carnegie R1 status. So for us, it’s a matter of, of course, networking on my part, the president’s part and others.”

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Veatch, several athletics department officials and athletes were volunteering to promote Memphis’ partnership with Kroger to help fight hunger. The program is selling $10 tickets at Kroger for the home opener on Sept. 17, and each ticket sold will provide three meals for the food bank.

Realignment talk has added another layer to football coach Ryan Silverfield’s third season. The AAC will lose Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston to the Big 12 after this season, and Memphis – after going 6-6 last year – has more pressure to remain among the conference’s elite teams.

Veatch threw his support behind Silverfield, complimenting how sound the program is through its culture and attention to detail. But he also acknowledged this season is critical with realignment and announcing plans to renovate Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

“I think in our world, you live year-to-year so much that every year feel as big as the next,” Veatch said. “But there’s certainly a lot of reasons why this (year) is really important, and we get that trajectory back in the direction everybody wants. He’s doing the right things to get there.”

Season ticket sales are also up after lagging the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the athletics director said. While Veatch didn’t know exact numbers, he said they’re trending upward compared to most years but not yet to where it was in 2019.

That year, the Tigers sold “at or over” 20,000 football tickets ahead of the season opener according to then-interim athletic director Allie Prescott. Veatch said ticket sales are down nationally since 2020, but it hasn’t stopped the program from trying to find ways to entice people to games.

It's just another way realignment has affected Memphis. While discussions continue in private, Veatch reminded that attendance is one of the ways the Tigers can keep themselves in the conversation.

“It’s a process that goes on, unfortunately, in other boardrooms and other places that you got to see how that pans out before you know, can we fit a need for a conference that’s out there that makes sense for us,” Veatch said. “I’m very appreciative to the American and we are well-positioned in this conference, but we’re always looking to better ourselves so I feel good about what we’re doing.”

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis AD Laird Veatch on conference realignment, football ticket sales