season ticket donation/priority points
Anyone know how much of a donation is required to guarantee football season tickets for 2011? $100=1 priority point.
My friend wants season tickets and asked me if I knew. I don't, so I decided to put it to the mgoblog community. He has until January 31 to send in the check. He's not alum so it's all about the $$$.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:28 AM ^
Its hard to say, totally depends on the year and the number of renewals. Last few years has been a little easier but with new coach hard to say if more will renew due to renewed enthusiasm or because of recent record might not take as much. I think your looking at least 5 points but might be closer to 10.
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
that's it? i would have guessed it was more. good to know, though.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:30 AM ^
I imagine that will respond within a day or two.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^
I donated $1,000 because reading through the board previously it seemed like that was a pretty safe bet to get season tickets, Although with the new hire I am not sure if that will help or hurt my chances.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^
I am in the exact sme boat. Hopefully others will pipe in.
Someone said in a previous post that he sent in $300 and was offered 2 tix. Others have said they declined the season tix to get the "all-in" package. All-in gave him seats no higher than row 35 for every game. Most seats were between the 30s.. They were just not renewable.
I plan on putting up $500 this year and hope for the Blue section. If I get end zone I may take them or wait for the "all in"
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
Even if he's an alum, it's still all about the $$$. If you ask me, the point accrual deal is both confusing and wasteful unless you are donating a large sum. It's also more of a long-term thing, as anything short of five figures is not going to get you far enough up the list to secure season tix for the upcoming season--especially now that the deadline is a week away. Plus one more thing to consider about the 2011 season specifically: we have our 'big ticket' games at home--OSU, ND--making his prospects a bit more difficult. He's probably better off looking for an undergrad who doesn't plan to order tix (there's always "that guy") and pay them a few bucks to do so.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
http://www.mgoblue.com/victorsclub/priority-points.html
Looks like you have to give 100 to activate, then you get a pt for every 100 you donate. I'd imagine 5+ points would get you tickets (just judging from the charts) but that could totally change this year.
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
I donated $300 two years ago and got 2 tickets for the 2008 season. They were endzone seats about half way up. Last year I donated $500 and got 2 more seats in a blue section, row 6, which is too close btw. This year in anticipation of renewals being higher and demand going up with a new coach and the economy being a little stronger, I donated $2500. I spoke with a rep at the Victors Club and that should get my 4 seats between the 20's together hopefully, but if not I will just try again next year. I would recommend to anyone to donate what you can. Based on my experience and recent conversation with the Victors Club, I would suspect $500 will get 2 season tickets in the endzone, $1000 gets you 2 on the sidelines, and $1500 will get you 4 endzones. Hope this helps.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:11 AM ^
I thought it was you. I will donate 500 and hope for 2 in the blue. If not, then an all-in will do just fine for this year. Any thoughts?
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
Before the 2009 season I donated $2500 and got 4 on row 1. Depending on if you want to sit closer give as much as you can and you will get much better seats. I think with the Hoke hire there will be a lot of renewals and a spike in new requests.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
I got a pair of renewable season tickets in the Blue section starting last year with just 1 priority point. I actually should have had 12 points, from my degree and my wife's degree and a past donation not to the athletic department, but I found out later that they weren't entered into my account properly. I don't know if there was more availability last year as the suites opened up and some ticketholders moved up there, but I would guess that it still wouldn't take more than a few hundred dollars -- or for alumni, maybe even just $100 which would activate the account and give you 6 points -- to get offered season tickets somewhere.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
I also had this experience. I thought I had way more points than they credited me, which was confirmed when I got my first renewal form in November. Mainly, they hadn't credited me with having a degree (5 points), even though I submitted all that information when I joined the waitlist.
I was also under the impression (or hope) that my season tickets in college would count. However, only consecutive seasons to present count.
Nevertheless, I got two renewable tickets in Blue tier (row 6...not that great) with only 2 points. I have no idea if it'll be that easy this year, but with the schedule, I suspect not.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^
This won't exactly answer your question, but here is what I know from personal experience:
20K donation will get you as close to the 50 as possible
10K will get you between the 40s on the visitor side
5K will get you between the 30s
Caveats, it will depend on how many tickets you want, 4 is difficult, 2 is easy.
I'm not sure how much of a donation you will need to make, but if you call the victors club, they will give you their best estimate. Kurt Gulbrand and Mary Walker are good people to talk to.
Also, I don't think the new coach will affect things as much as people say, as much as the move to club seats. Many people that had tickets between the 30s moved up to club seating, thereby leaving some holes in the bowl.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 AM ^
My experience is different from yours. A good friend and current seat mate of mine gave 25k and got 4 seats on the 50 and a champions lot parking pass. I gave 10k and got 2 seats on the 30 and a grey lot parking pass. I have since moved to the club seats where the PSD is considerably higher and points are no longer an issue.
When I spoke with the athletic department, the all in seats were non-renewable because they were going to be re-numbering the seats making the seat space wider (at last). Because of that, there would be seats that would no longer exist. They have been moving people around in preparation of getting that finished and that was why the tix weren't renewable, because some of the seats would just cease to exist.
Last year, the minimum donation for tix seemed to be $250-300. With the ND night game and tOSU at home there will be high demand for tix.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^
I also gave $300 last year and received two seats row 42 in the blue section. Gave another $300 this year and will see where if I get my request to move a little closer.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^
Anyone know what the new suites are going for?
Not that I can afford it, but still.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
Suties or club seating?
Suites run 55,000 to 85,000 depending on sight line. (does include 16 tickets, however, (i believe)
Premium seating runs $1500 to $4000. However, I don't recommend the $4,000 indoor club seating. Save your money.
January 23rd, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Thanks, I was wondering about the suites. 55-85 is pricy, even for suites. I think the suites over at the United Center run 150-200 and that's for the 82 Bulls/Hawks home games and concerts.
As a student though, it was all just curiosity. Even the "cheap" club seats are more than a month and a half of living expenses for me right now.
January 23rd, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^
1. As of the start of the 2010 season about 25% of the suites were unsold. A lot of the usual corporate customers in Michigan really couldn't touch this sort of thing right now with the state of the economy.
2. There is a minimum committment, 3 to 7 years.
3. Each year there is stated that there could be an increase in the expected cost, from 1% to as high as 10%
4. NO outside food. As you can imagine the food there is nice but also suffer from the markup as all stadium food. But there are easier bathrooms to get to.
5. 16 seats max and 4 parking passes. Each suite has a LCD TV so you can also check out what else is going on.
6. At the original offering, one had to fork over a check for $10,000 non-refundable, and which was not necessarily applicable to the final deal.
7. Originally only "3 owners" but subsequently this has been liberalized to multiple owners but only 3 designated people can sign off on the food charges. Basically the stadium doesn't want to play referee, umpire and judge - your group set up your own organization, bylaws and deal with how you cut up the tickets.
8. All of the premium seating donations have a fraction which are listed as donations and are tax deductible and you do get an official letter for tax reporting purposes.
May have changed a bit after DB arrived as AD, but that was the general scheme. If you are interested, definitely give the AD a call or go to the facilities stadium web page and check out premium seating section.
Is it worth it? I don't have a suite but have one the newer real chair seat. As I get older, and more legs aren't what they were, being able to sit in a seat is nice. Actually prefer being outdoors - you hear the crowd better and it is simply more fun to be out in the air. Inside, you might was well be at home.
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:45 PM ^
This was really interesting to read, thanks for posting it.
I wish I had an extra 50k right now, but sadly even that would go right into paying for this semester and next. It'll be a few years before I have the problems of "who will I allow to sign off on food charges." But here's to hoping your info comes in handy someday.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^
Last I heard.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
I wanted seats in the blue section which are $125 a ticket. So in order to get those I donated $300 which got me 3 points. I am not an alumnus so those were the only points I could get. But I got season tickets after being on the waiting list only one year after donating it. Sadly, I have donated more to Michigan than I have to my alma mater.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:07 PM ^
I graduated from UM in 1995 but was transferred out of state with my first job almost immediately. After 13 years in the field, I was relocated back to Michigan in 2008, and I'm just now in a financial position to get season tickets.
I took a slightly different route than what many of you have described. I sent my VC enrollment form in a few weeks ago with it set up to contribute $100 monthly for the next two years, thinking that I'd be accruing the necessary points without taking a big one-time hit.
Now that I'm reading your posts, I'm getting slightly worried. Does anyone know when they do the ticket allocation? in other words, I've got my 5 points for being an alum, plus my 1 for the January contribution, but I'm starting to think that my monthly contributions from Feb on are not going to help me this year at all. Should I send a few hundred more dollars in prior to the end of Jan to help my chances this year? Or, will maybe my Feb through Apr donations count if they don't do the allocation until later this spring?
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
"Annual Priority Point Recalculation
<br>Priority points will be calculated based on donations received by January 31, 2010. Your points will be used to allocate away-game and post-season tickets, as well as invitations for special events."
<br>That's when the points are calculated for the tickets for the upcoming year as well.
<br>
January 23rd, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
I am sure most people don't know this and might not care, but the basketball season ticket holders are going to be reallocated based on giving history. My understanding is at the end of this season, season ticket holders will be ranked 1 to whatever and pick seats based on their ranking. I am hoping to get seats that aren't behind the basket.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
I never have had season tickets, but go to most games through secondary ticket market. My question is how do I on the rare occasion get tickets between the 20's from Joe Blow random guy on the street for close to face value. Does he pay for the donation and take a loss (not likely) where does he obtain tickets? Joe Blow usually has like 5 sets of tickets, how is this...he is not usually dressed like he can afford all these tickets.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
Joe Blow is buying them off of season ticket holders. I had some extras and sold them to a guy for about $10 under face, so I didn't take a complete loss.
January 23rd, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^
FYI: if they are true season tickets you can return them to the athletic department and receive a tax credit for the face value. I don't recall how far in advance you have to return the tickets, but I think it's only a couple days. Check with them for instructions, but it's not that difficult to do.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
don't judge a book by the cover, but a lot of those guys have had season tickets forever. I talked with one guy before a basketball game once. He said that his father got season tickets back in the 60's when Michigan stadium was only filled for the OSU game. He has had them ever since, and now his son (the scalper with whom I was talking) sells them every weekend. I know for a fact that a lot of people that have the premium seats, simply aren't interested in going to every game, or making a profit from selling tickets. So, they end up finding different ways to get rid of the tickets. The guys you see on the street are creative and find any way possible to get their hands on tickets.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
kinda late to the party -- just made my donation today.
i went in and dropped $1000, but the crew at victors club didnt leave me with a sense that i would receive tickets.
any news yet from those who tried to make the jump off the list?
January 26th, 2011 at 9:25 AM ^