Football Ticket Prices Increase Again

Submitted by Brian on

[press release]

Michigan Athletics Announces Ticket Prices for 2012 Football Season

ANN ARBOR – The University of Michigan Athletic Department announced Friday (March 30) the ticket pricing levels for the 2012 football season. The six-game home slate will cost $390 per ticket.

“We appreciate the contribution our fans make to our football program and Michigan Athletics through their commitment every Saturday at the Big House,” said Dave Brandon, the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics. “The financial support we receive from our fans provides us with critical resources we need to create outstanding academic and athletic experiences for our student-athletes across all of our 29 sports. Our fans passion for Michigan Football is unparalleled.”

Individual game tickets will be priced at $75 per ticket for games against Air Force (Sept. 8), Massachusetts (Sept. 15), Illinois (Oct. 13), Northwestern (Nov. 10) and Iowa (Nov. 17). The Michigan State game on Oct. 20 has been designated as a premium game and individual tickets for that contest will be priced at $95 per seat.

This is the second straight year that Michigan has moderately increased season ticket prices after keeping prices constant for the seven years prior to the 2011 season.

“We benchmarked our ticket prices against our peers and other comparable football venues and we have concluded that these prices will bring us closer to current industry standards,” said Brandon.

The athletic department will also offer ticket packs to accommodate fan interest in partial season ticket packages. Ticket packs and individual game tickets will go on sale in July.

To purchase a wheelchair accessible football season ticket, please email the ticket office at [email protected] or call (734) 764-0247 or (866) 296-MTIX (6849).

Season ticket renewal packages will be available in early April.

Comments

JeepinBen

March 30th, 2012 at 5:10 PM ^

I mean, it's a crappy home schedule. $75 for UMass? And tickets are almost $100 now for the "good" game (s in the future?)

Talk about pricing out the recent grads...

Victor70

March 30th, 2012 at 9:38 PM ^

Two years ago they gave away tickets to the Event Staff so that they could invite family to see UMass.  That game was no a sellout.  The only streak alive is that of games with over 100,000 in attandence.  I don't think there is any danger in that ending any time soon.

Coastal Elite

March 31st, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^

I think this is actually a good point. I love Dave Brandon, but I hope prioritizes attendance maximization at least on par with if not above profit maximization. You may have a large segment of game-attendees - maybe 80,000 strong - who have an extremely inelastic demand for watching Michigan football in person. So if you're maximizing profits, it makes more sense to charge those 80,000 people $200 a head rather than fill the stadium with $50-ticket-buyers. But a stadium with 30,000 empty seats is not experience-maximizing for anyone.

Maize and Blue…

March 31st, 2012 at 7:02 AM ^

which averages out to $65 a game.  DB better hope the Big House is sold entirely as season tickets because no one in their right mind would pay $75 to see UMass. What's worse, paying $75 for UMass or full price for NFL pre season games?  Thank goodness for the secondary market.  I paid $76 for 3 for Minny last year and $34 for a pair to EMU. 

I guess I'll be spending a lot of time in front of TV on Saturdays this fall instead of screaming my head off in the Big House.  It'll be interesting to see how quick it will take DB to hit the breaking point where fans come dressed as empty seats.  I suspect it will be sooner rather than later and he won't have to worry about another stadium expansion.

Bodogblog

March 30th, 2012 at 5:11 PM ^

But that is really starting to get up there.  Nearly $100 for Sparty seems a long way from what I have in my mind as a standard ticket price, which is about $65/game. 

Are ND, Nebraska, and Ohio all going to be premium games in '13?  A bit much here.

M-Wolverine

March 31st, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^

Which is what the prices are if you buy the season tickets. There is at least some sense in rewarding those who buy the whole package vs. those that just want to cherry pick the good games. Whether it should be this much is up for debate.

profitgoblue

April 2nd, 2012 at 10:03 AM ^

That $65/game for season tickets is the price of only the tickets themselves.  That does not factor into the necessity to contribute funds to the Victors Club for the privilege of buy the tickets in the first place.  The biggest slap in the face this year, in my opinion, is having to pay several hundred dollars just to be on the waitlist.  That may be industry standard but its still ridiculous.

 

Bando Calrissian

March 30th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^

At what point does Michigan Football get cost-prohibitive for anybody but the affluent?  If you're a dad who wants to take your kid to a Michigan game, as so many of us experienced when we were kids...  $150 bucks bare minimum to get in the gate, plus probably $20-30 bucks on the low end to park the car, plus about $30-40 bucks if you want to grab a couple hot dogs and a coke, maybe a bottle of water, and a bucket of "maize..."  You're looking at a gameday that will cost you upwards of $200.  Just so a dad can have a fun day with his son.

How many of us had our formative memories of the University of Michigan made on days exactly like that?  And how many kids won't get that opportunity because most folks in this struggling economy and region have been priced out of the mix?

It's absurdity.  "Market value" and "benchmarks" my ass.  

bluewings

March 30th, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^

I had quite a few season tickets last year and sold western, eastern, san diego state, and minnesota tickets for 30-50 dollars each.  I sold them based off of what people were buying them for.  I hope 30-40 dollars at the concession stand gets you more then a couple hot dogs and a coke.  But people looking to buy a coupld tickets to games won't be paying 100 each unless its a big game. 

WolvinLA2

April 2nd, 2012 at 1:11 AM ^

Exactly.  When I was a kid, I usually went to Western, Central, Miami, something like that.  Maybe Northwestern or Indiana.  UM against MSU, ND or OSU aren't made for a dad and his kids.  Those are made for the affluent, just like a playoff NFL or MLB game. 

To be honest though, when I grew up, a Michigan game was a special occasion.  It wasn't a typical Saturday event.  It was a once a year thing, maybe not even.  You don't have to be affluent to drop $200 bucks on that kind of thing.

joeyb

March 31st, 2012 at 12:40 AM ^

I went to 3 games last year. WMU and SDSU were free and I paid $40 for Nebraska. You can find parking for $10 if you're willing to walk, or you can have someone drop you off if you live close enough. The food is a little steep, but if the dad can wait and only buys food for the son then they could get away with a $20 day at the game, or free if everything aligns perfectly.

M-Wolverine

March 31st, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^

I don't know how hard it is to get secondary market seats. I didn't know when walking became a crime against human rights. You can find parking for free on the other side of the Stadium bridge if you come early enough. Or anytime you want if you can manage a 20 minute walk. I live that far away, walk to games, and the only time parking even gets to my house are the huge games. It's not a right to park right next to the Stadium for $5. But say you ARE paying through the nose for parking...you have to be pretty dumb to then be buying concessions. You should be tailgating and making your own food. If it's to have a day with your son....I have numerous tailgating memories and stories...my concession stories I'd really have to strain to come up with.

Now if you're really on a budget, you could park for free and make you own food. Or eat at someplace you parked by before or after the game. I've never starved in 4 hours before. Particularly if I ate right before it. There's certainly concern about escalating prices. But being overly dramatic or entitled rather than being smart about game day doesn't help matters.

joeyb

April 2nd, 2012 at 1:03 AM ^

Haha. I didn't realize that a 20 minute walk and 4 hours without food was such a difficult thing. So, let's say you take your kid to a game against the MAC. You get tickets from a friend for free or scalp them on your way in for $20 a piece. You pay $30 for parking to be right next to the stadium. You get a hot dog for your son and a pop for your son and two hot dogs for yourself and a bottle of water. That's about $20. So now, you are just under $100. That's not exactly unreasonable.

Now, let's say you got the tickets from a friend for free, you park on Industrial for $10, walk 20 minutes, and eat before you go in and after you leave. You are only spending $10 on the game event. Basically, everyone can afford that, and if they can't, they aren't worried about how much the initial retail value is.

It sucks that ticket prices are going up, but it's what has to happen if we want an elite-level athletic department.

1464

April 3rd, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^

Absolutely.  Let's even replace the marching band with a mascot.  Both are there to get the crowd going, and a mascot is not going to take up an entire section.  Then we can put those cool LED signs all over the stadium to advertise for Pepsi Next.  Maybe we can even pull a EPL tactic and greenscreen our field so we can run ads on the field on live TV.  More money for the BTN right there...

Zone Left

March 30th, 2012 at 8:17 PM ^

"The Lions new average season ticket price in 2012 is $72.04."

Link

Michigan is still cheaper than the Lions and Michigan sells out every game. The Lions are also cheaper than the majority of NFL teams.

Who else is Michigan competing with? It's not like I'm going to decide to go to Eastern games or become an MSU fan.

Brayden09

March 30th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^

The college feel is starting to become watered down due to ticket increases. What happened to the feeling that on any given weekend I could get tickets without using half a paycheck? Is Brandon seriously trying to isolate his fanbase?

joeyb

March 31st, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^

I hate the ticket prices as much as the next guy, but Brandon is trying to build an elite athletic department, which takes lots of money to do. New stadiums, new facilities, $700k defensive coordinator salaries all cost a lot of money and it has to come from somewhere.

lexus larry

April 2nd, 2012 at 9:35 AM ^

Only partial snark/sarcasm...

Are the wages of the staff of the football team cumulatively higher than previous?  (Several here argued Hoke took a lower salary/wage/package, enabling the $700k for Mattison.)

Don't know the entire AD budget, but since the Department is in the black every year (for the past 8-10 or so), AFTER payments on developments/plant/staffing/new sports, where does the "black" or "profit" go? 

Just asking...

snarling wolverine

April 2nd, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^

It used to get put in some kind of rainy-day fund, but right now I think it goes toward retiring the $226M debt for the stadium renovation.  I think they've got it down to around $150M right now.

One other cost that people forget about is tuition/room and board for scholarship athletes.  When tuition costs go up, it hits the AD in the wallet, too.

joeyb

April 2nd, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^

I'd say that it's probably lower than the salary of RR's combined staff, but probably lower than LC, although I don't know real numbers for any of them. All I remember off the top of my head is that Hoke came in at a salary less than RR's. So, you have a point. However, Hoke will probably be earning bonuses that RR never earned, so that will bump up the money that the AD has to pay out. Not to mention the increase of salary going forward as contracts get renegotiated.

bluewings

March 30th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^

I won't be buying season tickets this year.  Not worth it.  Buying individual game tickets from others will be 1/2 of what a season ticket price will cost.  Having ND, Neb, OSU at home is another story.

mgoblue7

March 30th, 2012 at 6:54 PM ^

The only way to send a message to DB is if 100,000 people dont buy tickets to the crappy umass game for $75. Of course they will make a package with the mich st game and another non conferance game, that way they will sell out or at least get over 100,000 to that game.