A season-ticket raffle that lets one lucky Akron football fan help call plays during the Zips' home opener has done something no marketing campaign in program history has managed: it sold out all 17 luxury suites at InfoCision Stadium and blew past the athletic department's annual ticket sales targets, all before a single snap of the 2026 season.
Akron announced the promotion on X on August 4, inviting season-ticket holders into a drawing for the chance to co-script the opening 10 to 15 offensive plays for the September 12 home opener against Robert Morris. According to The Athletic, the winner will spend Thursday and Friday before the game inside Akron's football offices and practices, sit in on game-planning meetings, and take part in a pregame press conference before calling plays from the coaches' box or sideline on game day. Every ticket purchased or referred earns another entry, a mechanic that turned casual fans and out-of-towners alike into bulk buyers.
The response was immediate and, for a Group of Five program, unprecedented. Season-ticket packages ranging from $75 for general admission up to $15,000 for luxury suites moved briskly enough that Akron athletic director Andrew Goodrich told The Athletic the school saw its largest jump in season-ticket sales since InfoCision Stadium opened on campus in 2009. Digital analytics firm Zoomph found that Akron's announcement post generated more than 16 million views in its first 24 hours, according to Front Office Sports — though The Athletic put the figure at 22 million views, and it drew nearly 2,000 quote-tweets in a single day, making it the most-viewed X post by any FBS program that summer.
Barstool, Radio Hosts and Analysts Jump In
The raffle's viral reach pulled in national sports-media names who normally have no rooting interest in the Mid-American Conference. Barstool Sports host Dan “Big Cat” Katz spent $600 on eight tickets, radio host Bobby Bones bought in, and analyst Dan Dakich joined the pool as well, per Front Office Sports. Katz has said he'd want to attend a late-season midweek “MACtion” game if his number comes up.
Fans from across the country purchased Akron season tickets purely to chase the raffle, The Athletic reports, and Goodrich said he conceived the idea for an honorary offensive coordinator promotion during a flight from Tampa back to Akron. Senior deputy athletic director Matt Pottorff had originally floated a narrower version — letting a fan call a single play — before the concept grew into full co-scripting duties for the opening drive.
Coach Moorhead Keeps Final Say
Head coach Joe Moorhead, who has called plays for 19 years across a 29-year coaching career that included stints as Oregon's offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021, will oversee the entire play-selection process and retains the authority to approve or modify anything the raffle winner suggests. Moorhead reportedly considered the idea ridiculous at first before agreeing to it, according to The Athletic. The winner will collaborate with Akron's coaching staff to build viable offensive plans rather than freelancing calls on the fly, and Moorhead hopes the winner spends the first half on the sideline before moving to a luxury box after halftime.
The setup fits within NCAA governance rules updated in June 2024, which allow any institutional staff member to provide technical instruction and call plays but require that any non-staff participant — like a fan winner — operate under the strict oversight and final authorization of designated coaches, according to NCAA.org. Akron said it is still reviewing the specific rules governing the promotion, per The Athletic. The winner will be announced August 19.
A Program Chasing Its First Winning Season Since 2015
The stakes behind the stunt are real for a program that has not posted a winning season since 2015, when Akron finished 8-5 under then-coach Terry Bowden, and has not won more than five games in any season since. Moorhead has led Akron to 4-8 and 5-7 finishes over the past two seasons, the Zips finished 0-12 in 2019, and the program has endured five seasons with two wins or fewer. Akron has reached just three bowl games in 39 years since transitioning directly from Division I-AA to Division I-A in 1987.
Goodrich told The Athletic he hopes the promotion helps push Akron toward its first winning season and postseason appearance in nearly a decade, and that it energizes a fan base that hasn't had much to cheer for. He also hopes it becomes more than a one-off viral moment — a major company has already reached out about a potential jersey-patch sponsorship tied to the buzz, and Goodrich has called the promotion a possible new revenue stream for a department that reported roughly $30 million in total expenditures for fiscal year 2025, a fraction of the $320 million Ohio State spent the same year, per Front Office Sports.
On the field, Akron returns senior running back Jordan Gant, who rushed for 1,032 yards last season and ranked second in the MAC in rushing, along with three returning wide receivers. North Texas graduate transfer quarterback Reese Poffenbarger, ranked No. 112 in The Athletic's quarterback tiers, takes over under center.
Robert Morris Fans Buy In — to Sabotage It
Not everyone is charmed. Robert Morris, the FCS opponent hosting Akron's September 12 opener, finished the 2025 season 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the Northeast Conference under eighth-year head coach Bernard Clark, per Wikipedia. New Robert Morris athletic director Ron Moses, who took the job Tuesday, told The Athletic that Akron's promotion has given his program bulletin-board material. Some Robert Morris fans have reportedly bought Akron season tickets of their own, hoping to win the raffle themselves and sabotage the Zips' opening drive from the inside.
Robert Morris, located in Moon Township, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, is planning what The Athletic describes as a playful response of its own, and is reportedly considering involving ESPN personality Pat McAfee, a Pittsburgh native, in that counter-promotion. The idea of fans directing real plays isn't entirely new to sports — Fan Controlled Football, a 7-on-7 indoor league launched in 2017, let fans call plays through a mobile app, according to PR Newswire. Akron's version is the first attempt to bring that concept to the college level with a Group of Five program's season-ticket base on the line.
