Athens — Georgia football fans are going to get higher ticket prices, and coach Mark Richt is going to get some new digs for his team.

The two actions, fans might be glad to know, are unrelated.

They were the most notable motions to come out of the winter meeting of the Georgia Athletic Association board of directors, which took place Thursday afternoon on campus.

The board voted for a 25 percent increase in the price of tickets for season-ticket holders to $40. They had cost $32 — not including minimum donation requirements of $250 per ticket — since 2002, which ranked ninth among SEC schools last season. The price will now be the sixth highest in the 12-team conference.

Prices for single-game tickets also increased to $45, up from $40. However, visiting teams will be charged whatever they charge Georgia for tickets, with a high of $55 for the Alabama game, $50 for Tennessee and Georgia Tech and $45 for all others.

"We've always said we never want to be the leader in ticket prices," Georgia athletics director Damon Evans said. "But we have to maintain a certain level. This 25 percent increase puts us right in the middle."

Also, the board approved $750,000 to move forward on plans to expand the football facilities at the Butts-Mehre building. Construction on the first phase of that project — which is estimated to cost about $25 million — would begin as soon as the association raises at least half of that cost through private donations. Phase two would take the price to $36 million.

"We're at the top of our game in football," said UGA president Michael Adams, who chairs the GAA board. "We were ranked No. 2 this past season, and there is a lot of optimism about next season. It should be a good time to fund raise."

Adams estimated construction could begin in as soon as two years, depending on the fundraising.

Plans call for the back, or north, side of the Butts-Mehre building to be built out into a nearly 44,000 square foot expansion that would extend the training room and strength and conditioning areas, and house a 10,800 square-foot multipurpose area. Phase Two would include the construction of football offices, lobbies and display areas on the second floor.

The multipurpose area will feature a floor of synthetic grass over which a hard floor could be placed through automation. It will include a full kitchen to host events, team meals and recruiting engagements.

The facility will provide enough room for the football team to run some drills or conduct walk-through practices. However, both Adams and Evans emphasized that the Butts-Mehre expansion does not take the place of Richt's continued requests for an indoor practice facility.

"The indoor facilty is not off the table," Evans said. "Mark and I came to the conclusion that, right now, the Butts-Mehre expansion was our top priority. Of course, we'd like to do it all but we have to look at funding and timing and location."

"I'm very appreciative of the athletic board's support of the Butts-Mehre expansion proposal," Richt said in a statement. "The things included in the proposal are very important to the continued development of our football program and we¹re excited about working with the Board and our athletic administration on bringing them to fruition."

Other news from the board meeting:

• 257 of UGA's 550 student-athletes had GPAs of 3.0 or higher last semester and posted an overall combined GPA of 2.92, according to faculty athletics representative Dr. Jere Morehead. He said 42 student-athletes — including 14 football players — graduated last semester.

• The GAA has begun planning a dedication ceremony this fall for the Vince Dooley Tribute area next to the Butts-Mehre building.

• Both the executive board and the full board went into executive sessions (which excludes press coverage) for 45 minutes to discuss "two personnel matters" and "a real estate issue."

Eventually they approved $1.5 million to go toward the purchase of 100 acres of land as a training area for the equestrian team. The personnel matters were not disclosed but "no action was taken," according to Adams.