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Post by Coyote Fan on Aug 22, 2016 18:39:34 GMT -6
Many people will lie on the opposite side of the fence as I do and that is fine but here goes. I don't like the new policy that USD is now implementing in their season ticket sales. For football to get any seat in the middle three sections will require a howling pack donation of at minimum $100. There may be seats that require more but the good seats require that donation. Now I checked out the basketball season ticket sales and it appears to me that the only way anyone can guarantee not to pay a howling pack membership if you want season tickets is to sit behind the basket on the opposite side of the court then the students. Every seat in between the baselines requires a howling pack donation or may require a donation. So basically what USD is saying is that if you want to make a commitment to season tickets and get a halfway decent seat you have to pay double the price to get it.
What this will do is to decrease and possibly dramatically the number of fans that are going to buy season tickets instead of waiting until single game tickets go on sale. For football and basketball I just don't think the interest is there to be able to charge those kinds of prices and expect to grow attendance and interest in Coyote Athletics. This strategy might work well for about 1,000 - 2,000 fans for football and another 500 - 1,000 for basketball.
I actually wished I would not have bought my season tickets and instead waited for the single game tickets to go on sale and just bought the 5 tickets all at once. I would have gotten better seats for the same price and the seats that would have been double the price if I bought the season tickets just got cut in half by waiting. The demand is simply not there to implement this kind of strategy.
If someone is making the commitment to season tickets the value should be better to do so, not worse. I don't recall ever having heard of a season ticket purchase being the more expensive option when it comes to buying tickets. I have said in the past that USD caters to the elite and not the casual fan. This policy could not be more in line with that way of thinking. USD really needs to think of ways to grow the fan base and I don't believe this ticket selling strategy follows that line of thinking.
Even with a new arena a Wednesday or Thursday Summit League game will not sell out the entire seating area between the base lines. I really want to make a bigger commitment to go to more USD events but I also need to feel I am getting a reasonable value by going. I don't expect to sit in club seats or courtside folding chairs but I don't think I should be required to pay through the nose for a seat even with the free throw line about 15-20 rows up. I think for both football and basketball USD is reserving way too many seats for Howling Pack members and not selling them to non members. This is the kind of strategy that should be implemented if football games are selling out every game or if basketball is averaging 4 to 5 K per game. Currently USD needs to ease up on the financial commitment one needs to make to support USD athletics.
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Aug 22, 2016 20:30:07 GMT -6
Welcome to America and D1 sports!
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 21:38:36 GMT -6
Why I'm doing this, I don't have a clue...but here goes. Let's start with the argument that the best seats in the house go to the people that make donations ($100) to the Howling Pack. Would you suggest that we cater to those that don't give, haven't given, and never will give? So the conversation would go something like this:
AD Herbster: hello?
Non-giver: I'm calling you to let you know I'm not happy with the ticket policy. I think it sucks that people that give donations to the fund raising arm of the athletic department are getting the better seats.
AD Herbster: Why would that be upsetting to you?
Non-giver: Because once again you're catering to the elite. Not guys like me that may or may not buy tickets, depending how I feel.
AD Herbster: What am I supposed to tell a booster that made a pledge to build the arena, or have given every year through thick or thin to the Howling Pack, that they have to sit on the end up high?
Non-giver: I don't care what you tell them to be honest. I think this department needs to cater to those that don't support them. And I'll tell you another thing, if I don't get premium seats for $3 or less for basketball games, forget about me even coming.
AD Herbster: Do you realize that (3) basketball officials get paid $4500 per game, and we have a budget around $1M just for men's basketball. How do you propose we recoup some of those expenses?
Non-giver: Get the money from the Howling Pack
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 21:42:33 GMT -6
Next, go look at SDSU 's season ticket policy. Other than just 3 sections (end zone area), in order to buy tickets, you need to make a donation to the Jack Club ( or whatever they call it ). To sit in the middle you have to give $250. Sections next to them pay $200. Then next to them they pay $150. In addition to that, season tickets are $170 each. Can you imagine that? Those elitists bastards.
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 21:50:21 GMT -6
Lastly, I will tell you there IS NOT a bad seat in the new arena. There just isn't.
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Post by Yotes on Aug 22, 2016 21:59:45 GMT -6
I'm going to agree that reserving every single seat between the baselines for Howling Pack members seems excessive, but I'm also going to guess that nearly everyone buying season tickets at $300 per seat is going to be able to justify another $100 to join the Howling Pack (if they aren't already a member). Any HP member will get a great seat and it helps encourage further investment from the fans that is needed to advance the athletic department as a whole.
The Howling Pack sections for football are totally reasonable. My first year buying season tickets (2014 I believe) I was not a Howling Pack member and ended up about 8 rows up and on the 25 yard line, not bad seats at all.
At any rate, give more money if you want better seats.
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 22:20:16 GMT -6
His complaint was he doesn't want to sit 15-20 rows up on the free throw line. That's not base lines. 15 rows up on free throw line is a good seat.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Aug 22, 2016 22:26:16 GMT -6
Yotes,
If I want better seats I just won't buy season tickets but instead will just buy single game tickets instead. That seems like the sensible way to handle the new policy. This policy won't expand the season ticket fan base nor will it expand the fan base in general. It will gouge more money from the fans that would have gone to the games anyway. I prefer that the USD fan base expands and everyone pays equally to the athletic department rather than a few hundred fans pay for it at the expense of growing attendance. If the goal is to get more butts in the seat I just don't see how this accomplishes that. Make Howling pack membership voluntary not mandatory. New fans are not gonna start out pledging big money to the Howling Pack. Let them establish themselves as fans and worry about their donations down the line. If someone never becomes a fan they will never become a Howling Pack member. If they are eased in gradually then there is at least a chance they will be a donor down the line.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Aug 22, 2016 22:36:01 GMT -6
His complaint was he doesn't want to sit 15-20 rows up on the free throw line. That's not base lines. 15 rows up on free throw line is a good seat. If there are 4,000 in attendance it's a good seat. If there are 1,500 in attendance which is a more along the lines of what the actual attendance is for many of the games than 15-20 rows up on the free throw line is an average seat at best. Instead of asking for Howling Pack membership why not just double the prices of the tickets instead. Why hide the cost as Howling Pack membership. Whether a seat is worth $40 or $20 with a Howling Pack membership is really no different. It's all in the wording. The athletic department gets the money either way. The demand isn't there yet for basketball to charge high prices for seats especially if someone wants to buy seasons tickets when the season ticket fan base is probably not much more than a thousand if that. I do expect a bump in attendance with the new arena this year but I would not expect the attendance to spike up to the point where the average is at 4K per game. Once the interest is at the level of seeing the arena two thirds full every single night than with high demand higher ticket prices are warranted.
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 22:45:19 GMT -6
Because you can deduct the donation?
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Post by yoteforever on Aug 22, 2016 22:46:36 GMT -6
Honestly CF, if there are 1500 there at a game, I sincerely doubt anyone will say anything if you move closer and towards the middle. I'd bet on it
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Post by Coyote Fan on Aug 22, 2016 23:02:51 GMT -6
Honestly CF, if there are 1500 there at a game, I sincerely doubt anyone will say anything if you move closer and towards the middle. I'd bet on it Who knows whether that would be true or not. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Coyotes had an attendance of 2,000 and of those fans 70 of them were sitting behind the baskets and 30 percent were everywhere else. An interesting example of this was at the premier center in Sioux Falls during the recent UFC event. I purchased tickets to the upper deck and never got to sit in the seats I purchased. They had ticket takers on the second deck just above the highest escalator as the upper deck was completed closed. Everyone that went up that far got a ticket to sit in the lower bowl. It wasn't actually the best lower bowl ticket and I ended up moving on my own and sitting in what was probably a seat that was worth double the price that I paid. I ended up with a very nice view of the octagon. I think the UFC had a policy like that so the arena would look full on TV since it was a nationally televised event. With the new arena I doubt they would have policies like that but ya never know. I understand to a point the need to make money for the athletic department, but is the long term growth of the fan base sacrificed for short term gain. I hope 5 years from now basketball can get to the point of averaging 4K per game but that seems to be a pipe dream at this point. I hope football can average 10K per game but at this point that also seems to be a pipe dream. Getting football and men's basketball to be a consistent winner would not hurt the effort. During the Boot's golden years that dome had to be close to 2,500-3,000 per game. Probably double what attendance is now, or at least was last year.
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Post by yotealum86 on Aug 23, 2016 5:25:34 GMT -6
I have no problem with the ticketing policy. Those that donate to support the University should get the better seats.
I am very excited about the direction that the University is going in regards to athletics and academics, so I decided to put my money where my mouth is and am now a proud White Club member of the Howling Pack. Did the ticketing policy entice me to join? It probably didn't hurt! But more so, I just see USD heading in the right direction and wanted to do my part.
Anyway....I am really excited for this upcoming year with all the exciting things happening at the U.
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Post by usdguy99 on Aug 23, 2016 7:38:01 GMT -6
I'm hoping someone here can clear something up for me...I received the email yesterday in regards to the season ticket purchasing policy and there is conflicting information. Will all premium seats be based on points only or have there already been promises made as far as courtside, club seats, etc.? I thought the purpose of the points was to eliminate and/or alleviate the issues that we have had in the past of people having "premium" seats and not giving at a level befitting "premium" seating. I purposely increased my HP level, and therefore point level, to help ensure that I would be in the running for the premium seats. I've talked to multiple people that have said they were already told they will have courtside tickets (non-corporate). Granted, those individuals probably have a higher point balance than me but why are they being told/promised that they will courtside and/or premium seats? Just seems like we are going through a lot of headache for nothing if the administration is already handing out seats. I guess if someone has information in regards to this, please share. Thanks!
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Post by yote14 on Aug 23, 2016 8:19:44 GMT -6
I think Coyotefan has a valid argument. I don't think he in any way is saying non givers should get as good or better seats than givers as some on here have said. Having the entire arena blocked off for howling pack givers except 500 bleacher seats behind the hoop absolutely seems excessive when 70% of those seats will not be sold to HP season ticket holders. Telling a season ticket holder they cant even have a back for their chair seems excessive.
For football the proportion of HP seats to non HP season ticket holders is perfect.
Increasing the fan base is something I hear everyone on here talking about. We need to remember we live in SD. A lot of families cannot afford $1,700 for football and basketball tickets which is what it would cost a family of 4.
The conversation between USD and a fan looking to get season basketball tickets who cannot afford the HP sounds just as bad as the others narrated above.......So I'm paying $1,000 for season tickets and the best seat I can have is behind the hoop? YES. Without a back on my chair? YES. But there are 4,000 seats on the sides without season ticket holders claiming them? YES, deal with it. Pay more. Non HP season ticket holders are not as important as the casual fan walking in off the street buying a single game ticket. But I want to be as much of a part of this university as I can I simply am maxed out with what else I can give. We don't care about any fan who cannot donate additional money to the HP.
If we are not pricing fans out than why have I seen so many people that tailgated 4 and 5 years ago stop coming because they were priced out of the cement lot? Why is the fan base not growing faster? I see some valid points in coyotefan's post.
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