The problem is that students prices have DOUBLED in the last 5 years. That's the bullshit.

I don't like the constantly diminished game experience (7 nation army), I don't like the losing, I don't like seeing $80 tix available for $20 or $10 or $0 at gametime, I don't like $4 bottles of water, I don't like a home schedule that includes only 1 decent matchup, but also includes Appy St. DB is responsible for all but the losing.  He has done nothing to create value for his customers.  The product is mediocre and the game experience declines every year.

Yes, actually. When Michigan plays real opponents at home, the games are "better".

My hunch is that Brandon still believes that the demand for UM football tickets is inelastic, and therefore constant increases in ticket prices (not to mention mistreatment of loyal, longtime customers) won't affect how many seats are occupied.

He's in for a big surprise if he does.

....

Right.  As much as I loathe many of the actions by this AD, I don't see a scenario where they would choose to alienate their most loyal customers.  They make some boldly money-grabbing moves, but to intimate that 50+-year ticket holders MIGHT lose their seats is not a move anyone with a functioning brain would make. 

Now, if someone can produce hard evidence of this purported email, I'm willing to give up my entire faith in humanity.

These things might come out in waves, but I got the email you copied a week or two ago. The story in Brian's post says a few months ago, so this might be a different communication.

this seems like a much more likely thing for Brandon to do than what the MSU guy was alleging. I hope this turns out to be the truth.

First off, I assume your complaint is that the new Big Ten Conference schedule has the Michigan State and Ohio State games either both home or on the road each season rather than one home/one away.  

What you fail to mention is that Penn State is on the opposite rotation and from 2016 to 2019, Wisconsin will be paired up with PSU per the conference's policy to ensure the highest ranked teams from the two divisions play one another.  While the post-2019 conference schedules hasn't been released yet, Nebraska could likely be paired up with PSU from 2020 to perhaps 2023.

Brandon has also arranged the home/road schedule of the major non-conference opponents from 2018 onward to synch up when PSU and Wiscsonsin/Nebraska are playing in Ann Arbor.  For example, in 2018, although Michigan is at Michigan State and at Ohio State, the Wolverines host Arkansas, Penn State and  Wisconsin.  For the record, Nebraska is also on that home slate, but that game is due more to the conference's policy to have each team in the two respective divisions play one another at least once over a four-year period.

I don't understand your problem with a neutral site against a powerhouse SEC program (Alabama a few years ago and Florida in 2017) in a state (Texas) with one of the largest pools of high school players on prime time in front of 100,000 plus fans in the most opulent stadium in the country.  Canham was as much a marketing/publicity hound as Brandon--he'd probably love the opportunity.  Bo always wanted to play ND in the first game of the season, so while this isn't in Ann Arbor (or South Bend), it would mean having to play the major non-conference opponent to open the year.

Besides, neutral site games have long predated what we know as the modern version of the practice.  Army-Navy hasn't been played on the college campuses for as long as I can recall.  Oklahoma-Texas is played in Dallas while Georgia-Florida is an annual event in Jacksonville, FL ("The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party").  I realize these three games aren't quite the same as Michigan-Florida played in Dallas because of location and the one time nature of these contests, but it's not as if we're breaking new ground here.

I thought the Appalachian State game rematch was sketchy, but assuming Michigan wins it, that will exorcise in some degree (but not entirely) the ghosts of that upset in 2007.  That game is in the record books and it isn't going anywhere in terms of college football'shistory, so my recommendation is just roll with it.

I do agree with you that the student ticket issue was handled badly.  Brandon should have gotten input from them last year before unilaterally changing the policy.

I also feel that major pro and college athletic events are way overpriced relative to their value--and that includes Michigan.  But UM's football ticket prices aren't out of line when you look at the other major programs around the country--they're actually roughly comparable.

As far as Michigan's marketing campaign is concerned, my only complaint is that it's kind of unoriginal.  The special offers for food or souveniers, etc., aren't all that exciting to me.  Seeing that they have soft demand for tickets plus the new fiscal year's report due to the Regents in about two to three weeks, it doesn't surprise me that they're pushing hard to sell the open seats to the games.

Not having wi-fi in the stadium is a problem.  There have been a handful of articles in various newspapers talking about how people (particularly younger ones) want to have seamless internet connectivity.  It'll be interesting to see how Michigan handles that problem.

Reading through your comments, it's pretty obvious what your biggest problem is--the team had a bad season last year.  If Michigan turns the program around with Hoke, Mattison, Nussmeier, etc. running the program, you won't be claiming that the coaching staff is mediocre.

If I could add one more thing on the schedule, please note that Brandon moved very quickly in getting Brigham Young to replace Notre Dame in 2015.  He's also gotten away from putting MAC teams from Michigan or Ohio on the schedule post-2014 (although Ball State is tentatively on the non-conference schedule for 2020).  He replaced a future Miami-Ohio game with Central Florida (a team that beat Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl last year and that according to recent accounts, was a program that Alabama refused to play in 2015/6).  He's also gotten two Pac 12 teams into Ann Arbor with no return date (Oregon State, Colorado) plus he's added more teams from other parts of the country (Air Force, SMU, UNLV, Hawaii) to replace those MAC teams we've seen in the past.