PSD Comparison

Submitted by Lionsfan on

Dunno if anyone has seen this yet, but MSU recently sent out a flyer about their PSD price level, and listed some comparison's for other schools.

I'm less interested in theirs, but looking at this, I'm kinda shocked that we're on the low end of things. When you look at Alabama, LSU, TSIO, or even Oregon; some people are paying a lot more than we are

 

wolverine1987

March 22nd, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^

A fair price is a price that someone is willing to pay. When the price of our tickets, or any item, gets too high then people won't opt to buy it, and it will fall. As a consumer I wish the prices for our tickets were lower, just like I wish my car cost less than it did, but I don't begrudge DB or anyone charging what the market will bear.

aaamichfan

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:51 AM ^

The only type of seating where Alabama is substantially different than us is for the "A" seating, and I wouldn't be surprised if we have more luxury boxes than them. It also wouldn't surprise me if we have more luxury box space than Ohio State as well.

rbgoblue

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:33 AM ^

I don't really understand the logic behind the way they "ranked" the schools.  There really appears to be no rhyme or reason to how they put them in order, at least from the picture showing.  That said, Nebraska football is ridiculous!

rbgoblue

March 22nd, 2012 at 11:47 AM ^

Got it.  Not sure why I didn't see that, but wouldn't it make more sense that if you were trying to justify PSDs, maybe rank athletic departments in terms of how much they require per seat?  Seems like 2011/12 football standings doesn't fit the message they are trying to convey to their customers.

JeepinBen

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:39 AM ^

Also, thanks for posting, I do find it interesting. A few factors do help keep ours "down" in relation to others though. As mejunglechop noted above, we do have the biggest stadium and sell more PSDs, so the net value could be similar. Also, Hockey is a moneymaker for the university - this is very rare. I believe MBB turns a profit as well. Also, we have the largest alumni base in the world and lots of fans in general, I'm sure that sales of memorabilia are as strong as ever with the 11 win season, bball success, hockey success, etc. And I don't believe the chart above includes luxury boxes, which were really pricey. So there are a few other revenue streams besides PSDs that DB has to work with. Hopefully PSDs stay (relatively) low.

NorthSideBlueFan

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^

Provided essentially the same comparison chart when justifying their new PSD plan a couple years ago. This is standard AD dick waving to their public saying "see we have to keep up with all those other schools you hate or you will make us lose if you don't donate."



Full disclosure: I am one of the folks that has to cut a check to UM for my 4 seats every Winter.





NeilGoBlue

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^

I have two tickets in the club level, and 2 on the 40 in section 2.

I personally believe that the club level is overpriced and the 40 yard line tickets are underpriced.

dahblue

March 22nd, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^

I just think its funny that State is going to charge a seat license fee when they can't even sell out the stadium. Leave it to Sparty to increase prices when supply exceeds demand.

Wolvercane

March 22nd, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^

Think about monopolistic pricing. Basically you set supply to equal half the demand to maximize your profits. While Sparty is not quite going to this extreme, by charging more and not quite fully selling out, they are being profitable then if they sold prices at the efficient P* and Q*. 

But this does make their shitty stadium look even shittier with a bunch of fans dressed up as bleachers. DB should lecture them about "brand". 

TrppWlbrnID

March 22nd, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^

so you pay more to sit in a shitty stadium with ads blaring everywhere, field less teams and finish behind your instate rival?

it is also interesting to me that the other programs milk their big time spenders for more than UM. A zone at UM is $500 while at other schools it is $1300, 900, 800, 800 and $3500 at Neb!

Section 1

March 22nd, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^

I wonder if they are, in all cases, comparing apples to apples?

The PSD amounts for Michigan are all standard seating, in the main bowl.  Prices and PSD's for club seating and luxury boxes are very different.  And so I wonder if some of the other quoted prices are all for regular seating, or for special luxury seating?

If you are reading this, Dave Brandon, my advice to you is to create more parking around Michigan Stadium, and patrons will pay a premium for that too, providing you with another revenue stream, without inflating our current-level PSD's.

topgun161

March 22nd, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^

I find it interesting looking at the overall budget for each school. When looking at Oregon, LSU, and Bama, our budget is 10-20 million more per year. But we are funding 10 additional sports! On the other hand, Stanford is funding an addional 8 sports at about 20 million less than UM.

denardogasm

March 22nd, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^

Interesting that the Big10 schools play significantly more sports than the other conferences, according to this list.  I wonder why that is.  The only one I can really think of that would be obvious is hockey.

JeepinBen

March 22nd, 2012 at 1:15 PM ^

If you live in AA and have X dollars to spend on sports tickets you might get season M Football tickets, go to a lions game, get a 9 game Tigers pack, get M Hockey season tickets and see the red wings a few times. All of those tickets will add up to X.

If you live in Nebraska you get football tickets and still give them X. This is an extreme example of "the only ticket in town".*

*Unless you count the College World Series

MLaw06

March 22nd, 2012 at 3:31 PM ^

the psd is only one requirement.  michigan also requires a certain number of priority points in order to get certain seats.

michigan keeps the price of psd's down by requiring larger priority point donations (which are separate and distinct from the requirement for psd's).   in effect, michigan utilizes a more efficient tax characterization because priority points are fully deductible whereas psd's are only 80% deductible. 

therefore, comparing psd's to other psd's is comparing apples to oranges since the true price is in the sum of (1) psd's, (2) priority point "additional" donations and (3) ticket prices.

MLaw06

March 22nd, 2012 at 3:34 PM ^

includes the price of the ticket in the "annual donation" (i.e., psd)

"There are three areas of Club seating available to Husker fans. The West Stadium Club seats are either indoor and outdoor seats on Level 3 in the West Stadium connecting to the West Stadium lounge with its access to vendors, private restrooms, and plasma televisions. The annual contribution per seat will be $1,500-$2,500 for the 2011 season. The Skyline Club offers 50 indoor seats with an excellent view from the center of the 7th floor of the North Stadium as well as catered food and beverage, plasma televisions, and restrooms reserved for club patrons only. Sideline Club seating features 42 partially enclosed seats located in the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, only a few feet from the sideline, putting fans literally on top of the action. Both the Skyline and the Sideline Club are a $5,000 annual donation with the price of tickets included. Photos."

MLaw06

March 22nd, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^

aggregating the ticket prices into the psd would effectively reduce your ticket prices by approx. 25% (depending on your marginal tax rate) (i.e., 80% x marginal rate).

that means that you can easily sell them and make a profit even if you sell them for face value.  therefore, there is some built-in gain in connection w/ the psd construct if you aggregate ticket prices into the psd.