Season tickets process
So I was disappointed to see only one response to the drawn out question posed over at IRWT and I didn't see anyone bring it up here, so someone enlighten me:
What is the best way to go about getting season tickets to Michigan games?
What type of moolah are we talking to get good seats, or even club seats?
I hope to be able to afford purchasing some fashion of tickets in the not-too-distant future, so any insight would be appreciated.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:53 PM ^
mgo.licio.us
September 7th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^
And the reason he's posting it here is because the guy at IRWT doesn't know the answer, either, and no one has provided one over there. I suggested that IRWT pose the question to the mgomasses as probably being the best way to get a solid answer.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^
I got 2 tickets for about 800 bucks
September 7th, 2010 at 8:01 PM ^
I would assume the OP is referring to renewable season tickets, which the All-In package, AFAIK, is not.
(p.s. I didn't neg you.)
September 7th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^
Yes, that's the ticket! (sorry)
I am just trying to figure out if I need to start contributing now to get my foot in the door, and what I can expect to shell out to get decent seats.
I don't live in Michigan, but have so much family and friends there that I know the tickets would never go to waste. I hope to be able to afford some premium seating somewhere down the road.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:32 PM ^
one way to do it is to start donating as if you already had season tickets that required a PSD. The cheapest PSD is 125USD/seat/year. The victors club does things on a point basis; so time on the list means less than the number of points that you have accumulated to the point when seats become available. Check the Mgoblue site to see how they figure out points. Also if you can afford it, it might not be a bad idea to buy season tickets to non-rev sport like wrestling, volleyball etc. You get V-Clubs points thtat way, and the season tickets aren't that bad in price. This might help you move up the ticket food chain.
Good luck.
Update -- from the mgoblue website FAQ:
I am on the wait list for football season tickets. What does the Preferred Seating Program mean for my chances of being assigned football season tickets?
Any available season ticket inventory will first be assigned to wait list participants with the highest active priority points. You will be responsible for any applicable Preferred Seat Donation for the newly assigned season tickets.
September 8th, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^
$50 is the cheapest yearly PSD, it's for endzone seating
September 8th, 2010 at 2:56 PM ^
Use this form as a starting point. This is the 2010 version, a 2011 version will be posted after the season with the new deadline.
http://www.mgoblue.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/mich/genrel/auto_pdf/dev-psd-form-2010
First off I started with 0 pts as I'm not an alum of UM. I started by donating $100-150 total each yr...not per seat @ the end of the 06 season. Upon my 1st donation I was offered the "Go Blue" pack, now referred to as the "All-in" pack. I increased my yearly donations to $200-$250 per year, and last year I was offered renewable season tickets. I believe I had 4-5 priority points at the time I was offered renewable season tickets. Based on your alumni status I would feel if you make the minimum $100 donation next year you'll have the option to acquire Endzone seating @ the least. Granted it sounds like you have bigger seating aspirations, but it appears some others with more relevant experience in terms of premium seating etc have answered those questions below. All in all this is the time to get your season tickets, as others have noted, the down economy coupled with the performance on the field has resulted in an abundance of season tickets in my opinion. In my 4 years of being involved with the process I have never seen more marketing by the University for season tickets and “All in” packs than I have during the past two years. Please keep in mind the looming project of widening seats within the stadium this offseason which I believe results in less capacity, but I could be wrong on this front.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:27 PM ^
But when were you able to sign up for it? Does the AD send out an email? I have never received one despite being in the system for student tickets for 5 years and purchasing single game tix this year.
Although, the single game tix are great. All seven games are on the 50 (both sides of the stadium) and not higher than row 36. I was able to get some great pics on Sat, especially the one of Brock walking in my new avatar.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^
For seats in the bowl, securing full season tickets is all about accumulating points. For each dollar you contribute every year, you'll accumulate Victors Club priority points and move higher up on the list. Once you have your tickets, you need only meet the required donation level for the location of your seat assignment (unless you intend to move into a more expensive tier).
See this for a better explanation: http://www.mgoblue.com/victorsclub/priority-points.html
For the club seats and suites: they are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you have enough dough-re-me right now, you can secure club seats for the 2011 season. (They sold all of the available club seats without required donations for the remainder of the 2010 season to those that already bought club seats and suites to make sure there were fannies in those seats). Once the club seats (and suites) sell out, they'll revert to the priority point system and you'll have to wait in line again.
See this for more info on the club seats and suites: http://www.michiganstadiumproject.com/. You can see what club seats are still available for purchase with the required donation level on that page.
In short, the best way is to get seats quickly is to spend more money than others on the waiting list are doing (but they don't release that info) if you want bowl seats, or spend a bunch to secure club seats right now so you'd have them for 2011.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:08 PM ^
Thanks for the explanation. I will read up on this further.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^
September 8th, 2010 at 3:05 PM ^
Your friends are doing something incorrect, if they're still waiting on season tickets after 10 years. I would guess they added themselves to the list, but didn’t continue to donate to build up a few pts and I emphasize a few; as not much is needed to get season tickets in my opinion. A 1 time donation of $500 will score them Endzone seating @ a minimum. They would of course need to continue the PSD to maintain that seating year in and year out.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^
Sounds like with my wife and I being alumni, ~5k per year to the AD should climb the ladder fairly quickly. That would be 10 points to start + ~50 points per year accumulated + 50 points for the current year. I wonder what kind of seats these levels of "priority points" equate to:
| Rank | 2009 Priority Points |
| 100th | 2,639.58 |
| 500th | 526.95 |
| 750th | 397.10 |
| 1,000th | 330.37 |
| 1,500th | 236.49 |
| 2,000th | 161.72 |
| 2,500th | 123.38 |
| 5,000th | 63.25 |
| 7,500th | 44.00 |
| 10,000th | 30.15 |
| 12,500th | 18.00 |
| 15,000th | 1.00 |
From what others have said, I would assume 15,000th = no tickets, but where does decent tickets lie on this scale?
September 7th, 2010 at 8:26 PM ^
you could get a pair of club seats right now for 2011, which is something I'd strongly consider if that's where you ultimately want to be. They are likely going to be a scarce resource soon and getting them in future years will probably entail waiting until the current holders keel over. If you did buy club level now, they'd probably be pretty open to working with you should you decide you'd rather be in the bowl. My guess is that your $5k would jump you into the Blue tier at a miminum.
September 8th, 2010 at 1:20 AM ^
The only problem with buying club level seats is that you're then paying the minimum club donation each year. Still, there are seats to be had in the club and West side chair backs. If you want 2 in either of those areas, you should be able to do it.
I would call the Victor's Club directly. They are very, very helpful, especially if you are talking about that level of commitment. I spoke with someone there in the last couple of weeks and he said that the unknown at this point is exactly what the policy will be for reserving seats for the 2011 season. Last year, up until the end of this summer, you could make your donation for the new premium seats and reserve your tickets. You then had to buy the tickets in time for the season to start. It is unknown right now if you will be able to reserve specific seats again, or you will be reserving seats in a particular section.
Also, note that the aisle/seat widening project is not complete yet for the West and South sides of the stadium. This will be finished next off-season, and there will be some re-jiggering of seats in the bowl. This is when priority points will matter again.
If you only want to be making a smaller annual donation in the future (less than club level annual donations) as other posters have indicated, the key is getting your total priority points up so that you get what you're hoping for.
Again, I can't stress this enough: Call the Victor's Club. They can help.
Good luck!
September 7th, 2010 at 8:32 PM ^
acquiring tickets the old fashioned American way... getting to know the right people. Find someone with kick butt tickets who doesn't attend many games anymore, and offer to take over paying for them while keeping them in their name. Good luck! GO BLUE!!
September 8th, 2010 at 1:21 AM ^
I guess this is an OK idea, but isn't really any different than the All-In package. This works as long as it works; then it doesn't. You have to get your own priority points going if you want to control your own seats.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:41 PM ^
Well I'll tell you how I got mine.
I got on the season ticket waiting list in 2002; I think it cost $20 to get on the list. At that point they offered people on the list two different packages. The blue and the maize which had 3 games in them 1 being an awesome game like OSU and the other two being 1 big ten and one crappy OOC. So usually the packages would be like OSU, Indiana and EMU or MSU, Purdue, and WMU. From there you earn 1 priority point per year if you donate the Minimum of $100 per year. Then you have to buy the tickets of course on top of that. As you get higher in the points they offered better packages. In the last few years before I got offered I was getting a whole season in the same seat other than the homecoming game. Now the AD is offering similar packages to the public so I'm assuming they offer the season ticket wait list the same things they are now offering the public while you wait on the list. The problem is that while you're on the list you HAVE to take 1 of the packages they offer you to show you're committed to buying tickets.
For graduating UM you get 5 priority points and if you donate more money you can earn more priority points. Then each year based on your point standing they offer tickets. I got my tickets last year for the first time, 1 season after I graduated, so that means I have something like 7 priority points for 2002-2008 seasons then I had 5 from graduating so 12 total points when I got offered a season ticket package. So I would assume you would have to be on the list, non-graduates, for around 12 years before you got offerened tickets.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:58 PM ^
Last year I signed up and gave a donation of $300. I only have 3 points and was lucky enough to receive two renewable season tickets in the blue tier.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:04 PM ^
September 9th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
I also joined the wait list and donated for the first time recently (December 2009). I only made a $150 donation, but I had priority points (see link above for info on those) for being an alum and also for having purchased both football and basketball season tickets in the past as a student (and also the all-in package last year as an alum). I was offered 2 renewable season tickets this fall. I think with the expanded stadium, the down seasons recently, the down economy, and the hoarding of tickets the AD did to deal with the temporary loss of seats during construction, this past winter was probably the best time to join the wait list. I'm guessing if you don't have a time machine then joining the wait list right now is the best time to join.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^
For anyone wondering, there’s no secret to “mgoblue7’s” process of being awarded season tickets. As I noted above I was able to attain season tickets with 4-5 priority pts $400-$500 donated. “Mgoblue7,” was able to do it with even less. There’s tickets out there for anyone who wants season tickets and is willing to maintain the yearly PSD, it’s quite an easy process, just make sure you submit your contribution form by the 2011 deadline once its released.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:41 PM ^
I don't think this option is available anymore.......we paid $500/ticket 4-5 years ago for a set of 4 in section 22........great seats. We pay face value plus whatever the seat license is (2nd tier).
September 8th, 2010 at 3:16 PM ^
Correct; you can only transfer tickets to your spouse.
Transfer of Tickets: The purchase of season tickets is not a property right but rather a privilege that is assigned annually to you by the Michigan Athletic Department. Season ticket holder privileges may only be transferred to a spouse of a season ticket holder, or to the surviving spouse in the event of death. Such privileges cannot be transferred to children of a season ticket holder
September 8th, 2010 at 12:34 AM ^
There are 2 boards from this spring (so well beyond the normal distance one would look back) on this topic that I think are pretty informative:
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/first-time-season-ticket-discussion
and
September 8th, 2010 at 10:04 AM ^
The threads cited by Tully Mars are good places to start.
However, I have a related question. If I'm a first-time season ticket holder with aspirations of moving closer (ideally, next to) friends in another section of the same tier, does anyone know the process for requesting this? Anyone have experience with it?
September 10th, 2010 at 7:46 AM ^