Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:40 p.m. on June 8 to include a statement from OU.
New information regarding the student-organized Fill the Stadium event in April revealed the concert was not allowed to host more than 35,000 attendees.
Fill the Stadium took place on April 29 after two OU students planned the event to fill the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for an evening of singers and sermons, backed by Pulse Ministries.
The contract dictated the amount of attendees must not exceed 35,000, while advertising for the event claimed Fill the Stadium could host roughly 60,000 attendees.
OU entrepreneurship senior and co-founder of Fill the Stadium Josh Robinson commented that the contract dictated an optional increase in maximum ticket allotment if requested by April 3.
Co-founder Nathan Wong and Robinson said the tickets were sold out a few days after the event’s headliners were announced.
“60,000 is how many tickets were claimed, so that’s what we expected to show up,” Robinson said. “(It) didn’t change anything logistically for us, it just meant we had a few extra volunteers.”
Fill the Stadium cost $725,000 for facilities fees and event expenses, which was due on or before the seventh day following the event. Robinson said no extra money was owed for increasing the maximum ticket allotment since less than 30,000 people attended the event.
“The university is completely paid,” Robinson said. “We still have a little bit of fundraising to do, but the costs that are not yet paid are for marketing expenses and expenses that are continuing to roll in on the back end.”
In a statement to OU Daily, the university wrote that the request to increase maximum ticket allotment was granted for an additional $125,000, meaning the Facility License Fee totaled $425,000 and was due at the time of the request.
OU wrote that all money owed to them was paid in accordance with the timeline designated in the contract.
Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
