So I got an email from Michigan Football

Submitted by BlueTuesday on

It seems the wheels are coming off in Ann Arbor. For a limited time only(until May 16th) and because I'm a former football ticket pack purchaser I've been invited to "be (in) one of the most exclusive groups in all of sports". For $100 donation I could get season football tickets in the endzone AND they'll waive the PSD. 

Crappy schedule this year, I know. Nonetheless, I took the deal. I'm the very proud owner of 2 season tickets to Michigan football. I promise you, some of my greatest lifetime memories have come while I was inside Michigan Stadium. 

Sorry, I don't know how to copy and paste the email to the board. Shoot me.

pearlw

May 10th, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^

Yes i saw how giving the students an extra week was interpreted as a major disaster. Again i think we dont know whether this is a surprise at all to AD.

With 2015 schedule looking good and presumably the athletic dept having faith in the team, they face the choice of:
1) lowering price of all tickets this yr because of schedule. Then dealing with complaining and moaning when they lift prices by large amt in 2015 to reflect better schedule.
2) dont lower ticket prices. will result in lower renewal rate. need to go further down the list and perhaps discount one year of PSLs.

They may have known this all along and went with 2. The tone here is always that the athletic dept is panicking because they have to extend a week or discount PSLs. No way to know that this isnt going exactly how they expected it to go.

vablue

May 10th, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^

I got my season tickets in 2007 for $100 donation when Michigan was saying it would take $500, and that was after a very good season and a preseason top five team. Second, Alabama has the same issue as Michigan with students and ticket holders not showing up. If they do actually have a 29000 person waiting list it would also be appropriate to point to their smaller stadium.

bluebyyou

May 10th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^

Mayrbe...or another plausible explanation is that they are the only game in town.  The lack of professional sports creates a much stronger focus on college programs. Columbus.OSU is similar...other than a hockey team that no one seems to care about, OSU is the only game in town.  Large audience for a small number of seats.  

And a winning program.  Never underestimate the importance of W's and L's, which I believe to be the major factor in Michigan's current ticket issues.

ThadMattasagoblin

May 10th, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^

That should never happen though. They have 6 professional teams in Ohio. I doubt they'd have the fan support issues we have if they went through a rough patch like we have. Same thing with PSU. They still have one of the best home field advantages in the nation despite having 7 professional teams in their state and crippling sanctions. They don't have the in fighting that we do with David Brandon, Hoke, etc. and just want to win. 

bronxblue

May 10th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^

To be fair, getting to Happy Valley from Philly or NYC is quite a bit harder than getting to A2 from Detroit.  just because your state has lots of sports teams doesn't mean collegees that are hundreds of miles away from those cities won't be "the only game in town" relatively speaking.

bighouse22

May 11th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^

This is more a product of perception and performance.  The home schedule would have very little impact on season ticket renewals if the program were seen as on the rise.  The demand would be there to see a championship contender.  If you have a poor product then demand slips.  

The way you convince the fan base that you have a product on the rise is by beating your rivals.  It is really that simple.  The results from this season will be a tipping point one way or another.  They have a weak schedule, which should be at least 9-3, more wins mean optimism and less means pessimism.

Blue Durham

May 10th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^

Not long ago, Michigan had a pretty substantial wait list for tickets. That has now completely evaporated. This is not insignificant.

So, if you consider the actual drop in "total demand" for tickets (both sold and those who wanted tickets but couldn't purchase) over the past couple of years, this number could be approaching 10% a year for a couple of years.

The effort within the Athletic Department to maximize revenues has cost the university as a whole a lot of good will amongst its most loyal supporters. This will has long-term effects.

Blarvey

May 11th, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^

This is the bigger story for me. I remember back in the 90s and even into the 2000s hearing about how Michigan football tickets had a long wait list for season tickets. I imagine that has been gone for at least 2-4 years now so the market is completely different.

Not necessarily the wheels coming off but I think many programs have to reprice tickets or risk fans getting out of the habit of going to games. It has already reached the point where most cupcake games aren't very intimidating atmospheres for the visitors. Losses in ticket revenue will probably be made up in the next TV deal, so why not focus on keeping fans in the seats, especially when a major recruiting/ticket sales pitch is being in the largest stadium in the country? 

vablue

May 11th, 2014 at 9:05 AM ^

I know this has been the myth, that Michigan had a long waiting list, but I got my tickets in 2007 and it was because I gave a small amount of money, not different from what is going on now. I think Michigan had a waiting list but for quite some time the only way to get off the list was to give money. The reality is that in recent years Michigan has given up the facade that this is a waiting list and been more honest that you get season tickets based on donations. So yeah, I am saying Dave Brandon is running the most honest athletic department we have had in sometime.

Blue Durham

May 11th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

One case is pretty much the definition of anecdotal evidence, but I'll play along.

You acknowledge that the waiting list was there, but could be bypassed with a donation to the university. I don't doubt that a donation got you tickets back in the '80's as well - but given the size of the waiting list then, it was probably not small.

There was a significant waiting list in the '80's, and people did move up slowly and eventually, after a number of years, get tickets. That list still existed in 2007, but you were able to bypass it.

But clearly, from the flurry of e-mails from the athletic department, the wait list no longer exists.

The take that the department and thus Dave Brandon are being "more honest" because "you get tickets based on donations" is a complete misplaced fallacy. The donation that got you off the wait list in 2007 and got you tickets was a 1 time thing.

PSD's are for every season and were established to extract more money from the fans and to limit the amount that Michigan had to share with the visiting teams (ticket revenues are shared, PSD's remain entirely with the home team).

PSD's and a one-time donation to be an established ticket holder are two very different things and have nothing to do with Dave Brandon's honesty. There are numerous posts on that subject here, so there is no need to beat that dead horse.

funkywolve

May 11th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

What years are you referencing the long wait list for season tickets in the 80's?

My dad and I purchased tickets through the Athletic Department for the Michigan-Kansas basketball game in 1985.  We had purchased the tickets I think in the fall of '84.  In the spring of '85 they sent us the order form for Michigan football tickets.  We figured we'd put in a request for season tickets thinking there's no way we'd get them.  We were wrong.  We ended up getting season tickets for the football season.  No donation and our names had never been on any wait list.

LSAClassOf2000

May 11th, 2014 at 8:35 AM ^

If that is so, that would be a significant hit. Actually, I would like to see the multi-year trend for sales - to me, that might actually be more telling regarding the mood of the most ardent fans over time. I believe there was an article a couple months ago that mentioned the trend among student ticket sales as being even more pronounced when it came to decreases, although I wonder if this year's numbers would be funky (technical term in stats, right?) because of the flirtation with GSA. Either way, it would be interesting to get the historic stats on sales. 

bighouse22

May 11th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ^

The stats have to have enough detail to determine what is really happening.  Discounting is a sign of low demand.  If you discount enough, you may see full stadiums anyway.  Also, ticket prices have been on the rise, so discounting may not impact the overall revenue equation much compared to 5-10 years ago.  It probably needs to be broken down by number of tickets sold and average ticket price to see the trend.

funkywolve

May 11th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^

it'd be interesting to see the breakdown of ticket sales to see how many our true season tickets (purchased season ticket package for all games), how many are package deals (if you want to do purchase OSU game tickets you also need to purchase tickets to 2 or 3 other home games, can't remember the details of that) and single game tickets. 

bluebyyou

May 10th, 2014 at 9:10 PM ^

I got the same message. I gave up my  season ticket  a couple of years ago.  The season tickets that are being offered are endzone.  

"Houston, we have a problem".

Doc Brown

May 11th, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^

Speaking for myself, I am anti-Brandon, but pro-Hoke. I am pulling for Hoke to get it done this season as I believe he is getting an unfair shake due to Rich Rod's poor recruiting (besides the point). 

I want the 100k record to be snapped. Just to show Brandon how his policies are alienating the non-corporate fanbase. The only way get through Brandon's thick skull is to hit him on the bottom line. 

bighouse22

May 11th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^

I agree that it will be difficult if attendance drops, so they can't allow it to happen.  Dave B. has to recognize that the way to stop the bleeding is by winning.  If you are not winning then the next step is change.  That's how this thing works!  This is the year for significant progress.  This is what will dictate the next steps, because the sellout streak is sacred turf and status quo is not going to cut it.

ppToilet

May 10th, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^

If they offered seats on the 50-yard-line with no PSD then there would be a problem. I didn't get the email because I've got season tickets. They apparently have done some nice targeted marketing. If we have a good season, my guess is you will renew your seats even if you have to pay the PSD. If even a small portion renew then the marketing worked.

EDIT: Just +1'd you as I noticed we both created our alter egos here on the same day.

massblue

May 10th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^

Next year's schedule will be good and so will be the ticket sales.  However, if Hoke cannot turn it around by then, the ticket sales for the following season will take a big hit.  The financial implications of this are very serious as football supports the entire department.  

I really hope Hoke turns it around as he appears to be good person who trully loves UM. But if he cannot turn it around, Brandon will be quick to make a change.  He literally cannot afford not to make it.

ThadMattasagoblin

May 10th, 2014 at 9:22 PM ^

Since we reduced the prices then there is no excuse for not showing up. You're just proving that you're fairweather fans. Here's your cheaper tickets in the endzones.

ThadMattasagoblin

May 10th, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^

If you have purchased tickets for pretty much the same prices then dropped them for 2014 you're not doing much to help your cause as a fan. I believe that tickets were 70-85 per game for a couple years at least. If you're saying that you can't afford it now then why did you pay for it before.

Ginuvas

May 11th, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^

You are right, everybody that did not renew is a BAD fan because the price has not changed. You must know the finacial sacrifices that they made last year, and must know that attending football games is still more important.  You are a true fan, because you kept your tickets.  Since you are the expert, please give a list of other things that would make me a bad fan. Am I allowed to wear a green shirt to work?  Can I miss a game to go to a wedding?  Can I yell at my tv when a player drops a ball, or is that overly critical?  I would really like to be like you and feel like I have the right to look down on everybody else's fandom, so please let me know what I am doing wrong.

caliblue

May 11th, 2014 at 12:16 AM ^

By the way when i moved out here ( SF Bay area ) in the mid 80s you could buy tickets at gametime at Cal or Stanford, even with USC and UCLA coming to town. I think that is still possible in most games. We have 7 million people within 2 hours drive here.

BiSB

May 10th, 2014 at 9:57 PM ^

I attended the University of Michigan. I've been to literally hundreds of sporting events at MIchigan. My family has produced All-American athletes for the University of Michigan. I've watched pretty much every Michigan football, basketball, and hockey game possible over the last dozen years. I spend much of my free time moderating a message board for the sole purpose of facilitating conversation about MIchigan sports. I spend much of my free time writing about Michigan sports for a website dedicated to MIchigan sports. 

I don't have season tickets.

Go ahead. Call me a fairweather fan.

GoBLUinTX

May 10th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^

is more universally available and enjoyable.  

A Bob Ufer DVD that must be played prior to every Michigan football game regardless if one's eyes see Maize and Blue or bleed with hatred for the Head Coach and or AD.  Quite simply, if one doesn't follow that pregame regime, one isn't a Michigan fan.

ThadMattasagoblin

May 10th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^

It's not about going to games in total. As I explained before, it's about stopping going to games because of the team's performance. Money doesn't appear to be an excuse as it's actually cheaper for 2014 tickets. I don't really like DB but I don't hate him enough to sabotage the 2014 team and have our fanbase stop supporting the team in the Big house.