2011 Season Tickets

[usdlaw]

Join the Pack for priority

www.howlingpack.com/index.html

[yoteforever]

Everybody should buy (2) more tickets than normal. Use them for friends, kids that would like to go but haven't the money, or guests of the university. It would only be $180.

Let's get seats sold.

[Yote 53]

Upped mine from two season tix to the family 4 pack for this season. Always ended up buying tix day of the game for this kid or that. FYI Family 4 pack tix only sold for section C.

[chuck]

"FYI Family 4 pack tix only sold for section C."

Can anyone explain this? Upper section C is a mediocre place to sit at best. Why limit where families can sit to this section? Again, I think cultivating a family-friendly atmosphere is a good strategy for increasing attendance. Let's allow kids to sit in a good place instead of up high on the 25 yard line. In my experience, the closer you sit the more engaged the kids are. What about allowing Howling Pack members to choose where their family four-pack is located?

[Yote 53]

I don't like it either but it is not uncommon for deals like this to be restricted to certain sections. Family four packs are $199. There is no such thing as a children's season tix so if you wanted to get 4 season tix you would have to pay $360. Saving $160 is worth it. You could always buy a child ticket the day of the game for $5, for most of these games you can sit pretty much anywhere you want. As I don't think they will be sellouts.

I agree it would not be a bad a idea to allow the four pack anywhere, at least this season. Next year when GWFC play starts and the quality and demand go up I can see posting restrictions since the product is better.

[omahayote]

You can buy four tickets for you family, just not get a discount that the four pack gives you. That policy was in effect last year as well.

May 9, 2011 8:44:08 GMT -6 chuck said:

"FYI Family 4 pack tix only sold for section C."

Can anyone explain this? Upper section C is a mediocre place to sit at best. Why limit where families can sit to this section? Again, I think cultivating a family-friendly atmosphere is a good strategy for increasing attendance. Let's allow kids to sit in a good place instead of up high on the 25 yard line. In my experience, the closer you sit the more engaged the kids are. What about allowing Howling Pack members to choose where their family four-pack is located?

[yoteforever]

First of all, I really don't think there is a bad seat in the Dome. Try going to Grand Forks, or Fargo, and I'll show you some bad seats.

Secondly, it is a promotion to get tickets sold to someone other than a regular ticket holder. You get reduced rates, drastically reduced, and there are some asking to get premium seat location for the price they bought them for? I don't agree with that, as it devalues the worth of being a donor.

You think you are getting screwed? try the person that donates a schlorship annually to the athletic department. That person gives more than anyone, yet his donation doesn't count towards the points because if he was given the benefit of buying "quality" tickets, his donation would be reduced 20% for tax reasons.

I know a guy that gives (2) and has zero points other than his $100 donation to HP.

So when you take all this into consideration, upper C section is more than fair to me for $45 tickets. Just my thoughts.

[usdlaw]

About 8 days or so to renew your season tickets. Just a reminder.

[chuck]

"You think you are getting screwed? "

Hey, hey hey. I don't believe I mentioned being screwed. I think if you read the intention of my initial post, I was advocating for more family-friendly policies as opposed to whining about ticket prices. I am on your team, remember?

[yoteforever]

Hey Chuck,

You are right, we are on the same team. I certainly misinterpretted your post, and for that I apologize. I felt you thought for the $99/4Pak that Section C was bad seats and you felt that you or anyone buying the Family 4 Pak should get much better seats.

I guess here is my point. 6 games and 4 tickets equals 24 "butts in seats for D-1 football. That equates to a little bit more than $4/seat/game. One can't go to a hogh school game for that. Personally speaking, I think they sold themselves out for offering that. You can't support a D-1 program for $4/seat, and then still sit on the 25 yard line.

What I would say to you if I was the AD, and you bought the 4 Pak, would be if the seats below you are open, move your family down so the kids can see closer up. Heck, that makes sense. But to say that a Family 4 Pak trumps a donor for seating, then I think that's wrong. I didn't post to create controversy just to make everyone aware just how good a deal we have.

We are on the same team, I assure. We are on the RED team.

Go 'Yotes

[usdlaw]

I think there are two issues colliding here. As we grow attendance at games with the MVFC and the HP with younger alumni there are and will be more fans that want a family friendly environment and want to bring their kids. They also want the priority credit for their donation. After all, that is really our largest benefit.

The family 4 pack is great. I've used it for three years. I have no problem limiting it to section C. Many professional and college events have a family section. But what many may not realize is the family 4 pack was created for non HP members. It was a marketing tool used to get people to games. Basically the two kid tickets are free. You do not have to be a HP member to get family 4 pack seats.

The rub is that we are getting more HP members that are young alumni with kids. I really wish there was a student/child season ticket price. I've asked, and was told there used to be but they discontinued it because there were only about six kid tickets sold a year. I guess it was deemed more of an administrative hassle. But ... my point is ... that was prior to some of us joining the HP and specifically targeting young alumni to join the HP.

I can think of 9 kids whose parents have season tickets and would get a child season ticket if offered. That's 9 kids that live within a mile of my house. Some of those use the family 4 pack and some pay adult price. I know there are more out there.

Administrative issue: policing it. In the past, apparently, many people have abused the family 4 pack and allowed adults to sit and use the ticket. While I recognize it is a revenue thing, at some point you just have to hope people will be honest.

My issue is we are asking young alumni to join the HP, but when they want to bring kids are told they have two options: buy family 4 pack in section C (which means your donation gives you absolutely no priority) or buy adult price in sections D E or F for your child.

Times have changed. The HP probably used to have an average age of at least 45, probably a lot higher. I think we are lowering that average age, although no one tracks it. One major difference between older alumni and young alumni, student debt. Young alumni now are faced with financial decisions completely different than alumni probably age 35 and up.

Let's take a family of four. They donate $300 to the HP (thank you) and want 4 tickets to football. There options are $198 for section c family 4 pack, which technically they can get without donating the $300 to the HP, or $360 for tickets in D E or F. If you ask the average 28-35 year old do you want to pay $198 for season tickets or $660 (which includes the HP donation)? Most will say $198, and say sorry usdlaw I know the HP is a great organization but we'll just donate by buying the tickets this year. I've heard that a few times, a few too many times over the last 3 years I've been involved. What is worse is they say, you know the Dome is usually not full anyway and we can't make every game, sure it's nice to have a guaranteed ticket by having season tickets, but we're just going to buy them on Game-day instead.

The toughest question I get from potential HP members is why should I join if I can't get priority seating for my 2 and 4 year old without having to pay adult price. I realize schools like Nebraska charge the same price ($392) for a seat regardless of whether you are 2, 12, 25, or 55. But the difference to me is, demand. The Dome is not full. Yes, I realize we are D1 and have to start acting like it. But ... we are also rural SD and have to remember that too. Until we have the demand, we are over supplied. Yuk, did I really just quote ECON 101.

IMO we have to recognize that growth in numbers, meaning attendance and HP donors, will come from young alumni before it will come from the older generations. I'm talking about the number of people who donate and attend games, not the actual value of the donations. Obviously, the higher $ donors are usually older. And with the financial situation that most young alumni are faced with in this day and age, we should be cognizant of that, but also recognize you can't give away the farm either. I'm not suggesting we do that.

In case anyone is wondering it is not the job of the HP to have anything to do with ticket prices. That is the sole responsibility of the athletic department. But the two kind of go hand and hand because the HP is the exclusive alumni organization that specifically helps fund scholarships and drives attendance.

All of us have a goal to raise money for student athletes and to increase attendance at games, and watching our student athletes succeed.

In my mind, here's a simple solution. Is it really that hard to have a second colored ticket for children only? Until the Dome is full and demand is there, we could have a red ticket for adults and white ticket for children. The ticket taker would know not to let an adult in with a white ticket. If the parent wants a friend to use the child ticket because the kids aren't going that day then take the white ticket to the ticket booth and pay the upgrade to adult price. That doesn't seem to me like a real administrative headache. And whether you only have 20 child season tickets sold all year who cares. At least that means you have 20 more future Yotes sitting in the seats. Isn't that better than those parents deciding, I don't want to take the kids to the game, its too expensive, gas prices are high, let's just stay home and watch it on Midco. No I am not CoyoteFan, but that last sentence did sound like something he has said before.

You could have a child season ticket rate of like $60, something less than adult. That way, the young alumni who gives $300 to the HP feel like they are in the same priority as other $300 donors with no kids.

Of course, two opposing view points are obvious. I've heard these many times. Sections D E and F are premium seats, so from a maximizing revenue standpoint the price should be higher because the quality of seat is higher. I understand that, and agree. But I see the side of developing future Yotes more. The last obvious opposition is from the old fogies. They say, "I don't want kids sitting by me, crawling in and out of seats, getting up 4 times a game to go to the bathroom or concession stand." If I had a dime every time I heard that.

Nothing would change for this year. But I hope this is something that can at least be debated for future years. I can see both sides, but I tend to lean toward those families with kids and trying to find a way to get more of them to games without losing revenue or donations to the HP.

Sorry for the length.

[Yote 53]

Bravo. You expressed my exact thoughts.

[usdlaw]

Thanks Yote 53. I've been debating on responding to this for awhile now.

[chuck]

No worries, Yoteforever, I see where you are coming from. Not to belabor the point, but I'd like to throw one more financial consideration out there. A family four pack is $199, not $99. To add another child is $30. So--for a family of five to get season tickets, that is $38 dollars a Saturday for tickets ($230 divided by 6 home games). Throw in a couple popcorns and drinks, and it is almost $50 to attend a game, even with the family four pack discount. I would agree that in the overall landscape of college sports, that is generally reasonable...but for families that are squarely in the middle class (which most potential attending families/ younger fans are), that is a serious consideration! Especially when this year's schedule has one excellent game (Eastern Washington), two decent games (Southern Utah and UC Davis), and three stinkers (you know who they are)...and there are certainly alternative activities/financial considerations competing with attending six football games in the fall for families.
I mention these financial considerations in the context of USD's population base--it seems to me we are in a somewhat unique demographic situation compared to other FCS schools and need to continue to think for ourselves as opposed to just following the template of other schools with similar FCS status but different demographic situations.

[chuck]

I agree with Yote 53 on usdlaw's excellent post. Definitely a "Top Post of the Year" nominee in my book.

Just a few minutes of poking around on the internet backs up your point that a child ticket is a reasonable and doable possibility. As I've said before--we should think for ourselves and make decisions based on our particular situation, but UNI should be one of our models as we transition to competitive D1 status. As you will see on the following link, they offer $49 season tickets for kids.
www.unipanthers.com/tickets/niwa-tickets.html