Allow me to preface my question by noting that this is not a "congrats to me on my first season tickets!" post. I'm genuinely interested in the discussion, and I couldn't find any previous posts that reflect it.
Background: I've been procrastinating for years about getting football season tickets, partly because living out-of-state meant I probably wouldn't be able to attend more than 2-3 games in any given season. To compound matters, I either wasn't told about or completely botched the switch from the old waiting list to the new priority point system.
So in December, I decided it was time to make my initial donation (albeit a paltry one) and activate my priority points. I had an idea what those points should be after the donation (~15), but I was convinced that they would NOT be enough to receive a season ticket offer (much less one that isn't in the endzone). In 2009, 18 points ranked 12,500.
Lo and behold, I received an offer last month to purchase tickets in the blue zone. I was shocked. So my questions are these:
1. What are the experiences of the MGoNation with regard to the priority point list? Has anyone received an offer with less than 15 points? Has anyone needed significantly more than 15 to receive an offer? At what point total have you been invited to upgrade to a new seating tier?
2. IF this is indeed unusual (as I assumed it would be), are there factors that would explain it?
I heard a while back that season ticket renewals run ~97% each year (which I assume doesn't include students, who turn over at a rate of roughly 25%). If season tickets comprise 60% of stadium capacity (good/bad assumption?), that would open ~2,000 seats for new season tickets each year. To compound matters, I'd heard that some changes in the stadium (e.g. to achieve ADA compliance, widen aisles, etc.) would be reducing capacity. On the other hand, perhaps some of the better-off donors are upgrading to indoor seating. And of course, there's the theory that unhappy ticket holders could be voicing their disapproval with the product on the field by not renewing.
But perhaps my initial assumption that all 15,000+ with a priority ranking are waiting for tickets is simply a bad one. Many of those with a high point total probably have tickets already. In which case I would ask:
3. Are there really only 5,000ish people on the waiting list who don't have tickets? That level of demand would seem low to me.
Thoughts?
Happy Memorial Day to everyone, especially the Vets.
Congrats to you on your first season tickets! Hopefully you're loud and you like standing.