The University of Wisconsin at Madison athletics board is considering raising football season ticket prices for the second year in a row. The university's deputy athletic director says the department needs to come up with three-quarters of a million dollars.

One Badger fan says of the football games, "it's what you do in Madison. It's part of the Saturday experience, its' the place to be."

But being at a Badger football game could cost fans more.

Deputy Athletic Director Jamie Pollard says, "It's certainly not something we look forward to doing or want to do." But Pollard says UW needs to raise football season ticket prices to keep up with increasing costs.

"Our main revenue sources are ticket sales, donations and television," he says.

Season ticket holders could see a price hike between $2 and $4. The proposal comes after a $5 dollar increase this season, bringing the price for a single ticket to $33.

"An important part is knowing just where that falls in the Big Ten and we're still in lower third in both student price and general public price," Pollard says.

Season ticket holder Stan Heller says, "Given upgrades to stadium and the quality of upgrades it's not really surprising, they're going to have to do that."

But do teams have to make costly road trips?
Fans say yes.

"For program to be competitive you want to mix up your venues ... and to play different teams in different conferences," Heller says.

The football team is scheduled to go to Hawaii the week of Thanksgiving.

Pollard says, "It's all part of a strategic plan of keeping competitive. When you travel to Hawaii, you get an extra game."

Season ticket holder Patrick Timmerman says he knows people already preparing to make the trip to support the team.

Still, talk of a second price increase in two years poses another question. How much is too much?

"Our philosophy has always been not to charge what you can, charge what you need to get," Pollard says.

Timmerman adds, "It's not even close to be worried about yet."

The plan raises student ticket prices by about a dollar. UW's athletic board will vote on the issue in late February.