John U. Bacon article on decreasing student attendance and game experience at Mich. Stadium

Brandon trying to make each football Saturday at Michigan Stadium the Super Bowl is completely off target.  Each Michigan Football game was like going to church.  There were traditions.  Things were passed down from father to son.  The music was highly integral to the experience. There were no ads. 

The game day experience sucks and Brandon is entirely to blame.  The sooner Brandon is fired like he was from Vlassis (the CEO gig he had before Domino's, which is the CEO gig he had where he had to admit on national TV that the product they sold to customers was garbage), the sooner things will get back to where they should be, starting with a football that doesn't just quote the historic accomplishments of it the teams that came before, but adds to those accomplishments. 

Michigan football games used to be the Masters.  A gratifying in-person experience that was truly unique.

Over the last handful of years, it's become random tournament in the middle of July that has a different sponsor every four years.

I've been to the Masters once and walked out of there feeling like the #1 goal the organizers had was to make it a special experience for their patrons.  Clearly, they are monetizing the event with the TV deal and the handful of corporate sponsorships.  However, every interaction you have as a paying customer is one of them trying to provide you with good value, not extract every last dollar.  I very clearly remember being pleasantly surprised by this on more than one occasion.

The fact that the Masters is different is what makes it a great in-person event.  Michigan football is now like most other sporting events I can attend.  That being said, the band is still awesome and I give them credit for keeping some of the pageantry of game day afternoons alive.

I don't see what the University has to gain by charging students these ridiculous prices for tickets.  They should let anyone with a Student ID into the game until the seats are filled.  

To call Brandon mindlessly profit-seeking and “unfair” to the UM faithful may have some truth.  But it sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.  Bacon himself sold out UM to bring home the bacon.  He made money off UM’s troubles under RR   Also, his one-sided book, based on the words of a fired coach, hardly seemed “fair”. It made UM look bad.

Granted, Brandon has made some head-scratching moves (student tickets, games with Ala, Appy State and MSU, an exploitable contract with ND, etc.).  If I were a student, I’d probably be pissed.  Also, I wish that "college" sports were still college sports.  But UM has to find a way to succeed in the real world, not in my own wish-fulfilling fantasies. 

While Bacon’s job is to find stories, Brandon’s job is to make money, pay coaches, and enhance UM’s image.  It’s easy to make fun of him: a guy who sometimes seems to sell UM like a pizza.  But Bill Martin’s laissez-fare tenure and the RR fiasco made UM concerned about image.  UM needed a more “hands-on” leader who knew about image making in the new world of sports media, biased committees, rich boosters, and public relations firms. 

In criticizing Brandon, Bacon tries to make Bill Martin into a heroic figure.   I appreciate that Martin faced extraordinary challenges, and I don’t doubt that he’s a decent guy with integrity.  Yet, during his tenure, he let UM look like they still were guilty, while he was getting his pocket picked by Ohio.  Martin was busy issuing mea culpas over ten year-old NCAA violations (judged by an Ohio alum and the current Ohio AD), while Ohio was busy hiring a shady new coach who had been accused of NCAA violations. Then Ohio paid unheard-of sums to public relations firms to reduce public pressure.  They kept the school out of NCAA jail for ten years before the public found out what everyone else knew: that Tressel was a liar.

If public relations firms in Ohio could have kept a liar like Tressel out of jail for ten years, similar help could have made decent people like LC and RR look like saints.  But in retrospect, Martin seemed to help little with Lloyd Carr’s annual questions about retirement, rumors of illness, or public debates, about whether #3 Fla or #2 UM should play for a national title.  Even worse, Martin seemed to help little after a disastrous coaching search, leaked information, public bickering between alums, and the selection of a spread–formation coach that did not match the personnel.  He did not give RR a big media build-up, or help him publicly deal with tough questions, as Brandon did for Brady Hoke.  So, the media seemed to attack RR for a new reason every week: from player records to academics to lawsuits to practice-gate (which involved a lack of guidance and oversight from Martin’s own administrative staff).

So, UM turned to a businessman, Brandon, who had expertise in branding.  I personally do not seek people like Brandon when I want to go out for a beer.  But, after the RR fiasco, UM may have needed a guy like him: an autocratic, “hands-on” leader who knew something about marketing and image making.  Maybe someday we will no longer need that.  But with the direction that college football is heading, I won't hold my breath.

It's just not the same. 

I was once the biggest sunshine pumper on this board. I've been pretty negative after last year's shit show, but really i want the team to do great this year. I really do. But it's still not the same. The whole presentation of gameday is changed compared to even a few years ago. It's sad because I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. 

I have lived in GA for the last 4 years.  I've had season tickets for the last 8.  This is the first year I actually sat down and put a ton of thought into wether I wanted to renew or not.  Here's the thoughts that affected me in the order that they affected me most.  

1. Results.  I liked Rich Rod when he was hired.  I know that puts me in the minority, but it's the truth.  I also wonder if Rich Rod were here in 2011 if he would not have had the same record that Hoke did.  The regression from 2011 through 2013 didn't necessarily shock me, but it angered me greatly.  Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations for this team, but I honestly believe that a. we should only lose to MSU once every so often, not the other way around.  b. we should beat OSU more than they beat us, not the other way around.  c. we shouldn't be on the verge of losing to teams like Akron and win on a hope and a prayer of a last play. and d. we should be in the running for the B1G Championship game or at it every year.  I don't think anyone here can say we have done any of that in a long time.  

2. Price.  I didn't like the PSD but figured it was how College Football was moving and I just needed to suck it up.  Michigan was doing ok so I wasn't more than just annoyed at the moneygrab.  Then prices started going up.  I did some research on the average cost of season tickets for college football.  Shockingly I couldn't find much data.  There was this article which indicates that in 2013 Michigan had the 3rd highest cost of season tickets.  Anyone remember if we put the 3rd best team in college football on the field last year?  I paid around $1400 including my mandatory donation for the 2013 season.  I really don't feel like I got my moneys worth out of it.  http://www.businessinsider.com/25-colleges-top-football-ticket-sales-2013-8.  It's also interesteing to read the article as it addresses teams like Alabama which had prices go DOWN and their price is below the average for the entire B1G.  Makes me wonder if some of this price grabbing is a pandemic in the B1G and not entirely just DB.  

3.  Atmosphere.  I don't really know what else to call it, and that word is definitely misleading.  I love going to the game.  There's nothing like walking in on ground level and just watching the crowd extend downward for what seems like a mile  in all directions.  I'm talking about the 'competing with the 60 in hdtv' argument.  On TV, if there's a questionable call, we get to see it from several different angles and several times over.  In the big house, you're lucky if you get to see it once.  I know they said they were going to increase the number of replays, but I expected it to become useful.  It's hard to get replays in when you're too busy showing the basketweaving competition advertisement on the big screen.  

I will say that this is my final straw year.  This is what has to happen, or they will lose me as a season ticket holder as well.  

1. Win.  Plain and simple.  I want 9 wins this year and at least 1 win over a rival that matters (IE, OSU or MSU)

2. Fire Hoke if winning isn't working.  You can argue all you want about volatility and the affect it will have, but if I only have the stability of a 7 or 8 win season to look forward to I'll take the volatility.  

3. Adress the concerns of the students.  They are the ones that matter.  Without students, you have a pro team.  Detroit already has one shitty pro team.  Get better network coverage, get wifi, whatever it is that makes the student body WANT to come.  

4. Price yourself competitively to the product.  Don't raise prices on the tickets, don't raise the PSD.  Lower them.  Maybe put in an incentive to keeping season tickets.  It's obvious the points system doesn't do anything really other than reward people who can make large lump sum dontations.  So maybe put in a seniority bonus.  At 5 years of consecutive season ticket purchases you get $5 off per ticket, at 10 you get $10.  Make me feel like more than just a customer because if I continue to feel like I customer I'm going to stop dedicating myself and my money to you and start treating you like a business.  That means I only come to you and buy from you when I want to.  Being in GA, that means I'll probably not be coming to you all that often.