So I got an email from Michigan Football
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.
The wheels aren't coming off at all. For $100 I get season tickets on the spot, no wait at all.
In contrast the season ticket wait list at Alabama is 29,000.
Their stadium is not much smaller. They've always had sellouts even during their down years. Same with Nebraska. It shows that their fans care more and don't just go when the "product" gets good.
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.
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.
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.
State College has about 40,000 people and is in the middle of nowhere. Most of their fans are coming from Pitt or Philly. Not selling your tickets because of tough times for the football team would be a step towards getting Michigan back on track.
PSU went a program similar to PSDs and had issues selling tickets
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2012/11/penn_state_…
The pro teams in Ohio are not near Columbus. Cincinnati is probably the closest town with pro sports and the two cities are very different worlds. I spend a lot of time in Southeastern Ohio and OSU is really the only game in town.
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.
It's been reported elsewhere here that somewhere in the range of 5-8% of tickets were not renewed which is a pretty serious drop off for one year. Whatever adjective one wants to use, there is an issue.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
Breaking the 100K streak is the anti Brandon people's wet dream. Then they'll ask why no coach wants to come to a team with 25K empty seats.
you hit the nail on the head right there.
Anti-Brandon as much as anti-Hoke.
Isn't that right, EvenyouBrutus?
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.
under 100,000----even if it is true.
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.
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.
It was made clear that the PSD waiver was for this year only.
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.
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.
It couldn't possibly be that the discount met his personal price point. Put it this way, if the prices started at $1000 / seat in the EZ plus an annual $5000 PSD, would you be a real fan and pony up, or would you become a fairweather fan?
If by "fairweather fan" you mean "fan that doesn't think the in-person experience is worth the cost over the at-home experience", guilty as charged.
Pretty sure that's the fairweather fan definition. The "product" sucks so you stop going. Even though the ticket prices were basically the same last year and most of these people bought them last spring.
You don't have to attend games in order to be a fan.
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.
with THAT avatar, you need to post more.
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.
Double posting definitely makes me a bad fan.
It's not about attending games. It's about dropping them to show the man when the tickets are actually cheaper this year. It's all a mask for people not wanting to come because of "product."
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.
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.
Did you get rid of them this offseason? Congrats. You really showed them.
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.
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.