The anticipation for 2025 Arizona State football is palpable, from a welcoming hug from a haboob at Mountain America Stadium on Monday to Northern Arizona’s kicker on Thursday calling a Saturday night upset.
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini is among those celebrating an announced sell-out game against the Lumberjacks in Week 1. But he also recognizes the lofty expectations built up from a 2024 College Football Playoff berth shouldn’t spoil their will to do something largely unprecedented in program history: backing up results.
“We’re chasing ASU history and trying to prove that this isn’t a fluke,” Rossini said Thursday on Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo. “This isn’t a once-every-20-year magical season, that we can run back big wins, successful seasons, keep teams intact to kind of build the kind of program that can compete at a national level sustainably.
“That’s really encouraging when we’re selling out the first game of the year. … We’ve got to get into the Big 12 schedule and continue to make Mountain America Stadium the place to be in the fall.”
The valley is showing out ?
For the first time since 1998, our home opener is officially SOLD OUT!
Still looking for tickets? Check Ticketmaster, the official marketplace of Sun Devil Athletics, for last-minute tickets! ⤵️ t.co/uX1bbmBX81 pic.twitter.com/QH8J2A4cW0
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) August 28, 2025
Rossini said last year’s surprise run to the outsider was not ASU football peaking or even reaching their potential.
In fact, the second-year AD said the Sun Devils’ potential is “undefined” and a constant work in progress.
ASU football’s year-over-year retainment of season ticket holders, by contrast, is at a place where Rossini would like to keep it: roughly 97%.
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“I mean 80-85% would be a really respectable target for any team, college or pro,” Rossini said. “Coach (Kenny Dillingham) has joked, he’s a competitor, we were at 96, he’s trying to close the gap. We’ve made it one point since then. I had to remind him some people do die, some people do move. We’re not gonna bat a thousand on this, but 97% is really good and you pair that with 7,700 new season ticket holders.
“The atmosphere is going to be rocking on Saturday.”
Is international play a possibility for ASU football in Rossini’s eyes?
The new FBS college football season got underway in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday with an all-Big 12 matchup, Iowa State getting the better of Kansas State.
To Rossini, this international contest having no other Power Four competition from a broadcast standpoint as a Week 0 spotlight was huge for the Big 12 Conference.
But will ASU really seek out games across the pond?
Rossini said he and his staff are in the “very early days” of discussions, but playing in Europe is an idea ASU football is entertaining. Seeing a fan in Dublin wearing a “Sam Leavitt for Heisman” shirt doesn’t hurt, either.
“I think we’re building a global brand. And now we got to continue that at (College) Game Day,” Rossini said. “I know Kenny talked about that as well. Getting the (ASU) flag, getting Sparky involved week by week wherever Game Day goes.”
As a university, Rossini said they already have a strong presence in Europe and Asia with international student enrollment. Playing a regular season game outside of the U.S. could only strengthen that further.
About that NAU kicker…
Lumberjacks place kicker Samuel Hunsaker predicted an upset of the No. 11-ranked Sun Devils with an Instagram post that read: “5 days away from NAU making history vs ASU.”
Leavitt, the same ASU quarterback getting Irish love, simply responded: “Bet.”
Rossini honestly was unaware of the social media exchange but was candid on the State of the Sun Devils podcast.
“I’m going to leave it to those guys (on the field).”
Catch ASU-NAU on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST on the Arizona Sports app, ESPN 620 AM or 98.7 FM HD-2. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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