Student Section going GA

here's the new "official" petition because the other one could easily have problems with people signing multiple times

https://csg.umich.edu/upetition/p/footballseating/

But I'm wondering if raising student ticket costs is another measure to help with attendance (in addition to being a cash grab). Will students be less likely to buy and waste season tickets if they're more expensive? Not sure if I actually think this, I'm just throwing it put there. And PS: I was there from 94-98 and I was at kickoff for every game most cases when the band took the field. And I was in a sorority. Greek fans do exist.

I strongly disagree with this move.  I think people are STRONGLY underestimating what many of the current students have been posting in reference to basketball season.  The OSU game was complete chaos before tipoff.  People literally almost got trampled and I am not joking in the slightest.  This was with only a few thousands students.  There are going to be thousands of students rushing all at once to get in right before kickoff.  Anybody who's been in a line like this knows full well that there is going to be a push right before people are about to get in.  There is also going to be a ton of confusion and anger with the lines and people cutting.  Add in a ton of alcohol (which students will get) and this crowd is not going to be calm.

On top of this, I think a lot of people are being safe with their 2 AM assumptions.  I've talked to several people at schools with general admission already and they've told me they wait overnight for games not even close to the size Michigan will have in the future.  The lines are going to end up going for well over 24 hours in the future.  Maybe not next year, but within a few seasons it's going to happen.  

I don't care whether you think people are bad fans or not, students are at school for school first and other things second.  I don't understand why we need a policy that's going to create chaos before kickoff and waste a ton of time for the students just to look better on TV.  We can't create anything more intelligent than general admission?  Come on.  Why can't they institute a "hail" like system with an MCard swipe when you walk in?  What's so tough about this?  This is a poorly thought out plan that's going to hurt students.

https://csg.umich.edu/upetition/p/footballseating/

The first 20 rows require a seat, then the rest GA (or similar)?

When did sitting in the first 10 rows get to be a thing?  It's one of the worst ways to watch a game in Michigan Stadium.  Especially in Sections 29-33; the better view is from about row 40 to about row 70.

Who seriously thinks that there is a better view of the game from the first ten rows?

I hate these threads. It just turns into alumni bitching about "back in my day we didn't have this problem" and then blaming the students.

Guess what, if a student is reading this blog then they probably aren't part of the problem. I haven't missed kickoff in 3 years so it gets old seeing everyone say how today's students don't care and whatnot.

I'm not too upset about having to get there a little earlier. Now I just can't sleep in as long, which is how I spend my Saturday mornings. I'm just upset that I waited my time to get good seats and now I'm getting the shaft.

is that the students were fine with the old policy. The people who cared the most about studnet behavior seemed to be those who had limited access to tickets and didn't like to see the students come late because they wish they were at the game. This is an understandable viewpoint but also a negligable one because hey, you don't go here, you didn't go here, etc. The great majority of students got the fun of partying from the break of dawn until game time and still made it for toe to meet leather. Now, they don't, and that sucks. 

Those of us in the Drumline showed up 11 minutes before kickoff, and we got seats on the FIELD, fergodsakes!

I for one find this news AMAZING!  I am a grad student at UM-Flint and did my undergrad at UM-Ann Arbor.  I did my time huddled with drunk students who are turn around and talk to each other more than watch the game.  I made my way down to row 18 my senior year only to get put back up at row 80 my first year of grad school amongst more obnoxious people.  They try to keep us Flint folk as far away from the camera as possible.  I show up  AT LEAST 30 minutes early, so now we all can finally be rewarded.

can't believe this thread is never ending. This isn't that huge of a deal. I have a real hard time believing that without the guaruntee of good seats that students are going to get there even EARLIER.

the jackass drunken frat girls and sororiety whores who couldn't be bothered to get there 5mins before the band begins won't suddenly be willing to get here hours before.

it sucks that upperclassmen lose out and can't get grandfathered in, but students now have a choice to make, rather than being entitled to have the cake and drink it too. that's all this is

I think this move is absolutely fantastic.  I also think the reason the current students are so upset by it (at least in this thread) is because the students are being held ACCOUNTABLE for their actions.  You no show up for games.....you no get assaigned seats.  And like it's been said by a lot of people before me this is a relatively new occurance (students not showing up) and I'm so glad the Athletic Department did something about it.

 When I was in school (and a frat btw) from 1978-81 we somehow managed to balance the rigors of academic life, partying AND we made it to the games.  On time.

Imagine that.

They should learn from the basketball experience. They need to have a process to address some of the key issues. For basketball line cutting, seat saving, and drinking in line are major problems. The AD has done little to stop it. The seating saving problem will be worse in Michigan Stadium. In fact I assume it will become standard protocal for greek life.

I hang out with probably some of the most intense Michigan basketball fans. We manage to get front row bleechers every game. We probably will be some of the first people in the Big House under this policy. We are the type of people that will benefit from this policy. Yet almost all my friends hate the policy (including the freshmen). Why? It isn't just about drinking and tailgating. Most of us are upset because now football will basically be a massive time drain. We already spend insane amounts of time waiting for basketball games. It just isn't fun to wait 7+ hours in a line.

More students need to be like Lloyd Brady. 

The dumbest thing about this idea is that it won't do a damn thing for getting people to show up early.  The drunk sophomore sorority girl who comes 20 mnutes late the game isn't suddenty going to suddenly discover a new love for Michigan football and be super concerned about getting a seat close to the field.  The people show up late are the people who don't care much about football.  Having GA seating isn't going to make them care more about football.  I guarantee you we will see the exact same problems.

I like this for a couple of reasons that benefit me personally.

1. Ticketholders driving in from Flint and Dearborn who probably weren't going to get totally hammered can be rewarded for already driving in early to find a parking spot.

2. Isolated single tickets like mine are more useful as GA than they were previously, as it's easier to hook up with friends already down there or plan something on the fly. It's also theoretically easier to sell off a ticket for a game I can't get to.

As much as I thought I'd hate the GA tickets for Hockey last year, it didn't affect me simply because I was getting there an hour before puck drop anyway. The tickets tied to our m-card was the more irritating part of that change.

As a Syracuse student (yeah, the Final Four was hell for me) I have to say general admission is the way to go, shitty fans get shitty seats for the most part and people who actually want to get great seats earn them by getting there early.

Man, some of the doomsday scenarios being suggested are quite hysterical. Nobody's going to be camping out for a fortnight for anything. Come on.

However, I don't think the AD has thought this through entirely, as no details were given on how gameday is going to work. I suppose they have some time to figure this out, but just letting it be anarchy outside the gates until 10 AM while the stadium staff looks on through the fence is going to backfire too. I would personally prefer "blocks" of GA sections assigned by seniority to give people a slightly better chance of going where they want to go rather than just letting every student in at once. 

The people who want to be in the 5th row in 2013 are the exact same people who wanted it in 2012. They were already there at 10 AM. 

Also, to complete a thought I had started about Hockey, the worst offense to the "premium" section at Yost was not GA tickets (we were all there early anyway) or the M-Card (which was silly and just made transferring tickets more cumbersome), but rather the elimination of about 4 rows worth of space in the section to be given to... nobody. It would have been moderately less annoying had they put wheelchair seating or even super rich jerks there, but they carved out a huge chunk of the section and stuck 3 folding chairs in it for the American Red Cross volunteers. No offense to those guys, but what the hell?

They should make it all GA so the stodgy old grandpas who contribute nothing to the game atmosphere can't just waltz in from their RVs 10 mins before kickoff.

Actually, this demographic might just be MGoBlog seeing these comments.

Are we going from "Some students are showing up late" to "Many students aren't even coming because fuck these prices and general admission". Face it. It's still college. Not everyone is a football fan. Many just go for the tailgates and wander on to the game.

this thread has desolved into a convo b/t Drunk Uncle and The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a party.

You know, it's ridiculous that people are paying just to be on the WAITING LIST  for season tickets. And students aren't even showing up.....when they have season tix at a discount price....

Since there's so much opposition to either have all assigned seats or having all GA
Isn't the best solution is look at what other schools did? 
As mentioned earlier in this thread, there are examples of Wisconsin, Alabama and Penn State, where seniority/credits/contribution to the University (e.g. glee club/ other athletic teams, volunteers, student organizations) determine the section, or the ability to choose the section, for the student. 

On the other hand, within that block (say 20-30 rows), then you have GA within that section.

There are multiple downsides with a full GA, and a few posters of this thread act like going full GA will solve everything and "punish those entitled students". 

Isn't it better if we can combine a point system (e.g. MCard swipe to track attendance/time), with other factors (credits, class standing, being a member of glee club/solar car team/swimming team etc) to let students choose which block they want to apply for when they buy tickets.
Then go GA for those sections when they arrive?
(In addition, this rewards the students by their contribution, in that they might prefer a seat more towards end zone/midfield, where full GA have no control of that. Some might prefer to get a seat in the first few rows at the corner to interact with players after a victory, others might prefer a good view from rows 30-50 closer to midfield. A full GA, or assigned seats, does not offer that flexibility) 

Then say 15 minutes before/after kickoff, if a certain block is not full, maybe an usher can hold up a sign to indicate to other students ppl are free to move to that block?

I know there are flaws to everything and 'm just throwing ideas out there, and it does take more resources to get a system in place. But at least this can eliminate the early lining up problem stated by some here, for a full GA, and also preserving some sort of seniority and recognizing student contributions on campus. But it also ensures people have to get there early to get a good seat within their block, or risk losing their assigned block if they are like 15 minutes late (or whatever cutoff time is for ppl to move freely between blocks). This makes sure within say 10 minutes of kickoff, all the “good seats” should be filled up, and people who do care, will show up early, avoiding the disastrous scenarios that we saw in the pictures with 30-50% empty.

i still think this is much better than the current debate of having all assigned seats, or acting like Full GA is the solution (if it is, try doing it for the entire stadium, like the spring game - o right, even that the recruits/parents and other VIP get a better section)

Its funny how time changes us. When I was younger I would have probably been upset by this, but now that I'm 30 I'm completely in support of it. It's embarrassing to have the student section that empty at the beginning of the game.

prices have jumped nearly 50%, but I think I understand their reasoning. Raising the prices should reduce the number of students purchasing tickets. Assuming students place more importance on things they enjoy, the more dedicated student fans will purchase tickets at a higher percentage than the lesser student fans. A smaller student section that is packed is better than a large one with empty seats. Then the seats freed up by lack of student demand can be sold at full price in those four game packs. I don't have a problem with this.

The student section has been de facto GA going back as far as I can remember.  Making it de jure GA doesn't seem to be all that big a deal.

What happens to them?

Honestly, we're going to see the upper portions of each section empty, with the few last row fanatics sitting up in Row 92 (or whatever it is), and a whole lotta space in between.

The problem I see is that a certain percentage of students miss a game.  If it's 15% or 20%, how does the AD determine that student can't buy tickets the following year?

As stated, this may fill the first few rows (10-15) by kick-off, with mostly full up to the portals at the same time, but virtually empty above them.

To my mind, football Saturdays are a significant part of the college student experience, and every student should/will get the opportunity to buy tickets.  Maybe the raised prices will cull the fence sitter from ordering tickets.  Who knows...

Finally, it'll be interesting to see what comes into the email from the AD in late July, when they finally know how many non-renewals took place.  I'm expecting there will be season ticket packages avaialable at that time.

1. people who are completely unaffected by it (i.e. most of the people on this blog)

2. students who didn't try to get in line early for the Ohio bball game this year

But see I think you're wrong when you say that alumns are "unaffected by it".  Seeing the student section half full is goddamn embarrasing and it bothers the hell out of me to shell out big bucks for my annual "donation" so I can then shell out bigh bucks for tickets, drive three hours one way from Cleveland and back again only to realize that the people who only have to drag their ass in from West Quad  and practically get the seats for free cant seem to make it on time.  And if bothers me more that those same students, because they ARE young and loud and enthusiastic dont realize what a tremendous positve influence they can have on the team and when they blow games off.  It still gives me chills when I think about Kovacs last year during the coin flip at the Northwestern game when he pointed down at the student section and said "we want to play down there".

Everyone in the fucking building knew why.  Damn it....show up and help them!