Premium Seating

One of the mantras of the premium seating section has been "don't sell your seats". Basically, you don't want to irritate those who have spent a lot of money on their seats by having opposing fans spoil the experience.

Obviously, it is sometimes not possible to go to games as circumstances arise and the athletic department looks like they've come up with a creative solution to bypass StubHub:

We are building an online forum where all football premium seat holders can submit or donate their individual game tickets to the Premium Seat Exchange.  These tickets can only be purchased by other premium seat holders. Access to the exchange program is exclusive to premium seat holders to ensure that we protect your game day experience. Access is granted through your ticket account and the price of all tickets will be determined by the face value ticket price ($75 or $95 for the 2012 season). If your tickets are purchased, you will receive these funds. 

Interesting idea and it seems that it would be a good idea to make friends with someone with premium seats so they can buy, at face value, club seats for you!

Dave Brandon just sent out this letter:

<blockquote> Dear Victors Club Member,

We hope you are having a great summer and are looking forward to those eight special fall Saturday’s at Michigan Stadium. I know that Coach Brady Hoke, his staff and our student-athletes are working hard to make all of us proud this season. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some new information regarding premium club seat areas and suites and, make a request to you, our loyal fans.

This year, you will be allowed to move between the third and four floor club levels on the east side. You can simply use the elevators or the stairs. We hope that the new high-definition scoreboards will also add to your enjoyment of the game day environment.

Today, we announced a partnership with StubHub, an industry leader in the secondary ticket landscape.  This service will provide many of our season ticket holders in the bowl with an orderly, fair method to re-sell tickets to games they cannot attend.  We have had many requests for this service and we are pleased to offer it through a reputable company who has a great deal of experience in handling these transactions.

We will not be including premium club seats and suites in the StubHub marketplace. I understand that your purchase of premium seats and/or suite tickets is not only an investment in Michigan Athletics, but also an investment in the unique and special in-stadium experience that you expect and deserve.  Knowing that, I would like to ask you to not attempt to resell your season tickets on any secondary ticket platform. The premium seat and suite experience is a special one and we want to preserve the integrity of these areas for you – our loyal fans and donors. 

I want to again thank you for your support of Michigan Athletics and thanks in advance for helping preserve the premium seat experience for all of your fellow fans in Michigan Stadium.

See you at the Big House in 43 days.

Go Blue!

Dave Brandon

</blockquote>

I actually like this idea.  There were some around us last year that obviously re-sold their tickets to visiting teams.

I have club seats at Michigan stadium and I haven't sent in my check yet for next season.  Last year was my first year in the premium seating, so I'm not sure if this is the usual practice or not but this AM I received a call from an athlete thanking me for my support of the athletic department.  This seems like one hell of a coincidence given yesterday's events.

I was curious if any other season ticket holders/ boosters received similar calls and/ or if this is the usual protocol.

Go Blue!

EDIT: My friend was in the club seats that have the glass in front of them (probably why the noise level was a lot less). Also, their other seats are on the 40 yard line row 20. It is noticeably louder the lower you go in any stadium (including M) and the difference between row 20 and even the top row of the stadium (row 99?) is significant (for noise and visual).

So, I talked to a friend that has club seats on the east side. Here are the bullet points.

Very comfortable and will be great when it's cold and rainy outside
TV screens are good (no sound) but hard to see when the sun shines
Scoreboards are hard to see
Can't hear the band at all unless the mics are on (Couldn't hear UConn band at all)
Most folks were standing and cheering in the club seats but you are so high there is little crowd noise that you can hear
Need to wear a hat (even though you are inside) because the sun shines in through the glass
You are a looooong way from the field

Even the people in the club seats were complaining that they could not bring in bottled water -- hilarious considering what they paid for the seats!