Football-friendly ticket policy angers some U students

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Com_Cool said:
Wow. Pointing out others fallacies. Hmmmm well you only chose cable companies because you knew people already have a negative connotation of them and then made the big stretch to say that they are the same as gopher athletics. Appealing to emotions and faulty analogy. Shenanigans
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If his analogy is so faulty then point out the flaws in it. It's a pretty solid analogy honestly.
 

trixR4kids said:
If his analogy is so faulty then point out the flaws in it. It's a pretty solid analogy honestly.
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I did. Keep reading. It is not a monopoly imo, but I like that you don't disagree that there is at least one fallacy in his argument. :)
 

How is it not, there's no outside competition. You never explained why his analogy is flawed, you just said it was.
 

trixR4kids said:
How is it not, there's no outside competition. You never explained why his analogy is flawed, you just said it was.
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I did. I pointed out other similar products that people can purchase. He disagreed that they were similar products. We all have our own opinions, and I see where he's coming from. which brought me to my next point: do you feel that this is monopoly pricing? If not, his point makes no sense.
 


SCSU hockey is not a similar product and to say it is would be completely ludicrous. It's like saying UW - Platteville's football team is competition to the Badgers.

Personally I think the owners of the Wolves and Wild should team up and force everyone that wants Wild tickets to get Wolves tickets in a bundle package. If you don't want to pay extra for the sport/team you don't want to watch then it's your loss!
 

What am I missing? The University puts together a plan where a student who wants both football and hockey tickets can do so at an overall cheaper price. The plan is so successful that they sell out the hockey tickets, thus rewarding students that want to support more than one team. I really don't get the controversy. Every year, certain students get shut out of hockey tickets...that's the reality. The demand is higher than the space. One whiny bitch with some powerful friends screws the U out of some needed money. He should be expelled (not really...I just want to type that).
 

GopherHomer said:
What am I missing? The University puts together a plan where a student who wants both football and hockey tickets can do so at an overall cheaper price. The plan is so successful that they sell out the hockey tickets, thus rewarding students that want to support more than one team. I really don't get the controversy. Every year, certain students get shut out of hockey tickets...that's the reality. The demand is higher than the space. One whiny bitch with some powerful friends screws the U out of some needed money. He should be expelled (not really...I just want to type that).
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Agreed. I think those students should get rewarded.

My uneducated guess is next year they'll offer hockey only for $150+ but a bundle with football for the $175 (not nearly $400...nice fact checking media). And I'll laugh.
 

Does anyone know if the $99 price they quoted in the article was even accurate? I remember them being more, but I could be wrong.
 




Sudsy Gopher said:
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Screw Dayton. How about you about more pressing things than cheap athletic tickets for U students. When I was there in the early 00's 1 night of hockey alone cost as much as the bundle does now.
 

BBQ Platypus said:
Good. Then they should keep the option to buy bundled season tickets without compelling people who don't want them to pay for them.

The kind of action that the students took here was necessary in this case because, like most cable companies, the Athletics Department enjoys a local monopoly. The students have no one else they can buy this product from (unlike in a hypothetical free market, where if a company is charging too much or selling a good you don't want, you can look for another company who is selling a more desirable product and/or selling it at a better price). To restrict their choices like this just seems like an anti-customer policy to me.

I engage with multiple Gopher sports, too. Mostly basketball, but also football, and due to a family connection I keep tabs on the swim team and other Olympic sports. But I don't think forcing people to do the same is a good way to be carrying on.
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Monopoly, really? I am pretty sure similar goods and services (i.e. other athletic teams) are available elsewhere, such as St. Thomas, Augsburg, Hamline, etc. The U has a monopoly on U teams, but that makes sense because there is only one U. As they are the U, and it's their sports, they should be able to do whatever promotions they want without the interference of some whiny brats and an even whinier, brattier governor.
 




pregameatblarneys said:
Screw Dayton. How about you about more pressing things than cheap athletic tickets for U students. When I was there in the early 00's 1 night of hockey alone cost as much as the bundle does now.
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Him getting involved and using the word "appalled" is easily the most embarrassing and ridiculous thing about all of this.
 

pregameatblarneys said:
Monopoly, really? I am pretty sure similar goods and services (i.e. other athletic teams) are available elsewhere, such as St. Thomas, Augsburg, Hamline, etc. The U has a monopoly on U teams, but that makes sense because there is only one U. As they are the U, and it's their sports, they should be able to do whatever promotions they want without the interference of some whiny brats and an even whinier, brattier governor.
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+1
 

I can understand the gripe, but I think this is being blown out of proportion. On one hand if you have an inventory issue with hockey already you need to keep it separate or people will be upset. However on the other hand, they should come up with something call it a "Student Gold Member" that gets you an extra name in the hat if you buy football. Disguise it as a premier membership rather than a bundle. Agree with a poster earlier. This is a life lesson of how it is rather than fairness.
 

BBQ Platypus said:
Students do not have an obligation, financial or otherwise, to make the fan section look good on Saturdays.
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When Michigan gives away two $50 tickets for the purchase of two cokes they aren't really $50 tickets.

When the U sells a 50 yard line season ticket for $275 with a $500 donation it is not a $275 ticket.

My premise is that the football ticket was thrown in for free. The hockey ticket is worth $174. If this is the case I don't care whether you burn it throw it away, etc. it doesn't matter - it was FREE. Nobody is alleging that the spoiled hockey fans must use their free ticket to football.

The U doesn't say it's free because it would be embarrassing - same reason Michigan cancelled the Coke promotion.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Him getting involved and using the word "appalled" is easily the most embarrassing and ridiculous thing about all of this.
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As usual GII, you sum up my feelings exactly. I have already posted my views on this thread (I think it's great that our marketing team is coming up with creative ways to increase revenue and attendance). But, I realize reasonable people can definitely disagree on whether it is optimal / smart to bundle football and hockey. Hopefully, we can all agree that it's outrageous for the governer to come in and try to dictate how Gopher athletics operates.
 

If the U had any ballz the price of Hockey season tickets would go to $200 per year and the bundle price with football would be $205. Start the line and sell them first come first served.
 

GopherinPhilly said:
If the U had any ballz the price of Hockey season tickets would go to $200 per year and the bundle price with football would be $205. Start the line and sell them first come first served.
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Would love it if they do this. They probably won't.
 

The economics are the point the University should have stood on. TCF has a seating capacity of 50,805. Mariucci Arena 10,000 and Williams Arena 14,625. The Ticket Office, makerting, et al are charge with selling all the seats. By the number of seats at each, the chance for a sell out is possible at Mariucci. It should be the toughest ticket to get. Of the 10,000 seats tell me are not regulated as to how many Student Tickets are offered. But taking the current TCF sales of between two thousand to five thousand. It would be somewhere between 4 and 10 percent. If Mariucci is the toughest ticket at the U, 4 percent or 400 tickets per game. Now the price $99 is already a deeply discounted ticket and should be addressed. And there should be not only a lottery for these tickets, but they should be paid for by a certain date. Now for the student price, if it is the toughest ticket then it is has the greatest value. Lets get back to this. Student tickets for Football were $90 for 7 games or $12.85 per game and truyl there is no demand. Back to the Hockey ticket it should be somewhere between 17 and 18.50 per game. And see if you can find 400 willing to sigh up for a lottery. Don't bundle. Put all tickets in lottery, and limit the number available. Meantime sell as many season tickets, 3 or 4 game plans, and sell walk up. Quick pandering to the students.
 

Some hockey fans figured out how to game the system. Others didn't. Wah. Wah.
 





The amount of whining done by the hockey-only part of the Gopher fanbase is sickening.

There's a $5 fine for whining. Put your money in the jar.
 

GopherHomer said:
What am I missing? The University puts together a plan where a student who wants both football and hockey tickets can do so at an overall cheaper price. The plan is so successful that they sell out the hockey tickets, thus rewarding students that want to support more than one team. I really don't get the controversy. Every year, certain students get shut out of hockey tickets...that's the reality. The demand is higher than the space. One whiny bitch with some powerful friends screws the U out of some needed money. He should be expelled (not really...I just want to type that).
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I think you make some strong points in your response. I sympathize with hockey fans who have no interest in football tickets and wonder if the "U" really wants those football tickets in the hands of students who have no intention of using them. The larger point though is that the bundle represented a discount and that enough students wanted both sets of tickets (or were willing to pay more to get the hockey tickets) to sell out the student section for hockey games. If Minnesota student hockey fans get shut out by Minnesota student sports fans, is that really such a bad thing? In life aren't there always rewards/consequences for your own actions? The hockey fans who were willing to support the football team (at least financially if not physically) got priority over the hockey fans who were unwilling to do so.

At Kansas, students must purchase "an all sports combo" to gain access to men's basketball tickets. For $175, students get tickets to both football and men's basketball. http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/2013/7/24/GEN_0724131930.aspx
 

Our governor has more important things to worry about. Like November. Sounds to me like he's bundling student votes.
 

GopherRock said:
The amount of whining done by the hockey-only part of the Gopher fanbase is sickening.

There's a $5 fine for whining. Put your money in the jar.
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So I've been reading this viewpoint a lot in this thread, and I feel like I'm missing something. I'm probably more of a hockey fan than a football or basketball fan, but I wouldn't say by much. So maybe that's clouding my perception, but I see a thousand times more people complaining about hockey fans than I see hockey fans complaining. Aside from the one student in the article, this thread contains no complaints by hockey fans, and countless complaints ABOUT hockey fans.

Anyone care to elaborate?
 

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