Michigan to open up 2,000 single-game football tickets behind student section
I haven't seen this posted so:
2,000 fewer tickets were bought by students, so Brandon decided to sell the tickets in the rows above row 70 of sections 31-34 to the public. An increasing lack of interest in student ticket purchasing is not unique to Michigan and is not a good trend.
http://www.annarbor.com/sports/michigan-to-open-up-2000-single-game-foo…
I was one of the fortunate people who paid over $200 per ticket, thanks to dynamic pricing, to sit in these seats. The cycle of life is complete.
An increasing lack of interest in ticket purchasing is not unique to Michigan and is not a good trend.This was anticipated and desired. The AD sells tickets at a severe discount to students (even if it was a 30% increase in price), so being able to sell these 2,000 tickets to non-students is welcomed.
It is only welcomed financially, but I don't think this bodes well for the future.
When I was an undergrad, Saturday afternoons and football were special. This lack of interest in going to games at a universityl where football is life I find to be terribly disconcerting.
I don't think it is lack of interest, but more likely a lack of funds. People are racking up massive debts to go to college, and spending money on tickets is probably moving down the priority list for a lot of people.
Not sure why you desired this, but I think it is a bad trend for both the AD and the school's fans. The extra money you welcome now is going to be paid for in the long run, because the students you are anxious to keep out now are not going to be the non-students paying the non-discounted prices in the future. You are being shrtsighted if you think you can make enough money off the extra tickets over the next four years to overcome the loss of the dedicated fans over the next four decades.
I think the AD understands this fact, which is why I think they probably don't share in your desire to see reduced student ticket sales. It will be interesting to see how they respond, though. There seems to be a certain level of disdain for today's students and their failure to adhere to Michigan's longstanding traditions about a strong student section, but I think they need to get over that and figure out what the effective carrots are, since the stick is clearly not working.
Well, to be fair, they DO raise the student tucker prices pretty much every year, as well!
It's not what Brandon wants. Your reasoning is faulty: they raise student ticket prices every year for the same reason they rise all other ticket prices every year: because they think that they can still sell out at the higher price, and they want to maximize revenue. The GA policy was in response to students failing to uphold their end of the implicit contract, and is designed to encourage students to attend games on time by rewarding the earlier arrivals with better seats. It may have the side effect of reducing student ticket sales, but that's not the goal. Had the AD simply wanted to reduce student ticket sales, they could have simply reduced the number of tickets available to students.
Why should student ticket prices remain the same? It's not like Michigan is unique. You think Ohio's ticket prices and student ticket prices haven't gone up? Bama?
It's just whining for the same of whining.
The cost of almost everything goes up...I'm pretty sure if you're smart enough to get into the University of Michigan, you understand this concept.
I think it's fair to ask "why" at this point. The AD is well in the black at the current prices, the employees are lavishly compensated, and they've got so much dough they're dumping tons of money into obscure new sports programs just for the hell of it (sorry lacrosse, you're cool and all but no one watches you and realistically nobody who's not already pretty well off gets to play you).
What does more money do? Further gild the already lavish facilities so "student athletes" can live, work, and study in luxury even more removed from what the average student (who's paying for all this through ticket sales now and in the future) gets to experience? Let the coaches earn even more compared to what any other state employee gets?
If UofM football were a pro sports team, then no, they wouldn't need any excuse to maximize revenue. But the AD is nominally nonprofit and is supposed to have some sort of mission other than "make more money". So "why" is a valid question when the AD says "we must maximize revenue!"
August 3rd, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
Huh? The RichRod years were when the late arrivals and no-shows became legion.
Seems like a short-term financial gain that has the potential to be a bad thing over the long-term, though. I'm betting students who have season tickets are much more likely to purchase season tickets as alumni.
It was both Notre Dame and Ohio, and I needed the tickets for friends who were coming to the game. I think I will sit above the students for the game against ND...should be fun, and it's been a long time since graduation.
August 4th, 2013 at 12:02 AM ^
I am a student who was unable to afford student tickets when they were on sale at the end of the school year because I am paying for college on my own. Since I saved up some money working this summer, I emailed the ticket office last week because I saw something about a student ticket waitlist on the website. I was SHOCKED when they emailed me right back that I could still order tickets . I don't get why student interest is diminishing, im just glad I was able to get tickets for this fall
you push students by raising prices and switching to general admission, they respond with apathy.
And if you do neither, they respond with apathy as well.
As I said above, I think the AD needs to find the effective carrot that will get at least the only-marginally-apathetic students to the games on time.
While students get discounted price the rest of the fan base gets gouged. Now, I have no problem with discounted tickets. Students should get that. But bitching about GA seating and a rise in prices when everyone else who have families and much larger bills than students, are getting slammed is a tab bit self-absorbed.
Yeah you know what else people with families and larger bills tend to have?
Salaries.
Speak for yourself.
My comment was meant to be as outlandish of a comment as you saying the parents all have salaries. Doesn't look like very many people got the comparison/joke.
Anyways, despite my parents both being doctors with more than adequate means to pamper me throughout my college years, my parents still made me pay for part of my tuition and only gave me $80 a month for food/entertainment, with everything else left for me to figure out myself. So I most certainly do not know anything about "mommy and daddy" covering my frivalous college expenses.
most kids though are paying some percentage of their way to school meaning football tickets are probably going to be a part of their burden. With tuition going up, it's easy to see how tickets become unaffordable for some students
Ditto. The AA housing market and student loan burden is a serious issue. One can only hope these highrises eventually saturate the market and cause prices to drop, but I was hoping that 4 years ago and its yet to happen.
I pay $900 in rent and $850 in student loans per month after finishing grad school a few years ago. I was lucky enough to always be able to swing tickets, but I had to work 20-30+ hours a week through undergrad and into much of grad school just to be lucky enough to only be throwing down 850 in loans a month.
My dad helped with a couple of summer classes my first year, but that's it. Less than 5k of the nearly 100k spent on my education.
August 4th, 2013 at 12:07 AM ^
Where were you staying in Ann Arbor for that much money? I paid about 450-500 per month since I moved into a house with my friends. You should be able to do it for much less unless it's a one bedroom or studio apartment.
I am currently paying $900 for a 1-bedroom apartment that is about 1.5 miles from downtown.
During school I paid anywhere between $350 and $600 sharing houses and apartments. But, for a single young professional, it's almost impossible to live cheaply in Ann Arbor.
I'm not as ignorant as you think, and I'm sure shit not as big of an asshole as you certainly seem to be. My parents were of means, but to teach me to have to depend on myself, they made me pay for half of my own tuition, all of my rent and all of my textbooks. They were however nice enought to give me $80 a month for food, which barely afforded me more than a steady diet of Ramen. Wasn't as tough as you had, but I sure as shit know what it's like to not have the luxury of sitting back and just enjoying my college years.
I could see how my comment was obvisiously taken the wrong way and that's my bad, but while everyone spoke out about my comment like a rationale adult, you pounce on me like an immature prick with no filter hiding behind the safety of your keyboard. It seems like once a month you misinterpret a comment of mine and aggressively attack me like the biggest douchebag on here. It always ends with you telling me no one wants me here, yet here I am, still been her longer than you, and still have a karma of 2, so it looks like pretty much everyone except for you seems to be fine with me staying here. I'd appreciate if you'd learn to kindly refrain from responding to any of my posts ever again, because 9/10 times, you fuck it up.
As someone who has been basically self-funded through college I'll have to respectfully disagree with your point of view. The students who come from wealthy families will continue to buy them even if they're crappy fans. But the students who go there and want to participate in the student football experience keep getting priced out because they don't have the means. This just creates a culture of have and have-nots that has been increasing in Michigan the last 6 years that I have been there. And I understand that college football is becoming more and more like a business, but if we're trying to not create this type of culture in higher education then we really need to not do things like this...else it's just hypocritical of the institution.
A truly dedicated student would sell his organs to make that money. Let's replace all the loud student fans that cheer enthusastically with old, fat rich people. That way, our games can be completely silent and we can hear everything Hoke says! Or better yet, we can hear all the OSU fans cheering instead.
Like it is for any non-"Big game" that doesn't have absolutely perfect weather because only half of the allotted tickets show up?
If we had a student section that showed up on time to EVERY game and cheered their asses off, this would not be happening. The problem is, we don't. Which is fine, in today's world...most schools don't.
However, if that's the case...then decisions have to be made to do something about it.
They might be right behind the handicap seats, thus negating the conflict.
People in those seats will have to accept standing otherwise. Simple as that.
it's not terribly surprising to see demand dropping as a lot of people have huge debtloads as it is. I knew a few people who were pretty much paying their way who couldn't really afford to fork out $200 to see 2 or 3 good home games.
And if that's the case, I'm glad the AD went and made those tickets available. People will buy them and hopefully it won't look so empty now
Going to MIchigan games is fun - however there are many downsides. You cannot bring in water anymore. Buying some or going up the aisle is a pain in the rear. After four hours you are nearly dehydrated. Your allocated space is 12x12 inches. The TV timeouts are now unbearable. I can't tell you how many times we've been at a game and said not another TV timeout. When I'm at home I can get stuff done during these breaks. Then you have the beer belly whiners around you. These guys know what play should be called every down. They were especially bad during the RR years.
I do not see demand returning with prices being what they are and such strict regulations at the stadium. The younger generation is not as interested as their predecessors. DB needs to be careful not to kill the golden goose. Once you lose fans it's hard to get them back. Just ask the Detroit Pistons. I would consider going to UM games again if it were like the olden days with pony kegs and marshmellows. But those days are long gone.
that just wanted to throw a few marshmallows. I must admit, it does sound like you are an expert on whining.
Shout me down and enjoy the empty sections...I'm giving the facts why people aren't coming.