Oklahoma is selling fan access to press conferences

It’s hard to overstate just how wild this is, but Oklahoma is now charging fans $692.11 to sit in on postgame press conferences.

Not to ask questions, mind you. Just to sit there and watch actual reporters ask Brent Venables why his defense couldn’t stop the run again. For nearly $700, you get the privilege of hearing the same coach-speak that’ll be available on YouTube 20 minutes later, except you paid the price of a nice vacation to listen to it in person.

Would you pay to sit in the Oklahoma postgame press conference following the Michigan game?

It will cost $692.11 per person.

“Hear OU coaches and players address reporters moments after the final whistle” pic.twitter.com/tS81I084FG

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) August 14, 2025

The fact that Oklahoma even thinks there’s a market for this tells you everything about where college football is right now. Programs are so confident in their fan bases’ desperation for “authentic access” that they’re willing to test whether people will pay luxury prices to watch someone else do their job.

And honestly? They might be right. Per ESPN, the cost for the Illinois State season opener on Aug. 30 is $461.61, and it’s sold out.

College football fans have proven time and again that there’s no experience too expensive, no access too limited, and no add-on too ridiculous if it makes them feel closer to their team. Oklahoma is just the first to realize it can monetize what used to be basic transparency.

If you’re a sports reporter, this should probably concern you. Programs already control access more than they used to, limiting interviews and dictating when reporters can speak with players. Now they’ve figured out press conferences are worth money. What happens when reporters have to compete with paying fans to get a seat in the room?

This is just the latest example of college athletics programs scrambling to find new revenue streams everywhere they can. TV deals are exploding, NIL money is flowing, conference realignment is upending the NCAA, and suddenly, every single fan touchpoint becomes a potential income source.

Oklahoma clearly believes there’s a subset of their fan base willing to pay serious money for what amounts to watching other people work.

For fans with deep pockets and shallow boundaries, maybe this scratches an itch they didn’t know they had.

Whether anyone actually ponies up the cash remains to be seen. But if Oklahoma sells out these press conference packages, why shouldn’t we expect other programs to follow suit? And if they don’t? Well, at least we’ll always have the screenshot above as evidence of how far college athletics were willing to go to squeeze every last dollar out of the fan experience.