Call me crazy, but it appears you actually are disagreeing with the poster you said you agreed with. He suggested that they require a fee for ALL seatbacks. Wouldn't that feed MORE into your idea of only "corpies" getting those seats. I could be reading it wrong, but maybe not.
Eventually, that could happen. Not in the first couple years, though. No way.
That's not the U's fault. That's your company's fault. Plain and simple. Why any company would invest big money in season tickets and not use them is baffling at best, poor management at worst. The U would be incredibly idiotic to turn away corporate money in this environment. Unfortunately, that leads to company's like yours doing strange things.
Hal Steinbrenner was charging $100,000 PER GAME for some of those suites. The Gophers are not comparable. The Gophers ticket cost is still one of the lowest - on average - in the Big Ten. Even with brand new digs.
Addressing your issues point by point. (which I don't like to do but since you've done so I feel compelled to respond:
1. I probably could have elaborated better, I was specifically responding to his point that the planning seems subpar to me.
2. I'm not as convinced, I hope you're correct, but from my personal seats in the dome, there were far to many empties and opponent fans using corporate seats. I do think the newness of the stadium will draw for year one, but the fact remains that we still have a small fanbase. Evidence of this is the fact that we expect to supply every person on our waiting list with a seat despite a reduction in capacity.
3. I don't disagree with you. Not sure what you do for a living, but that's life in corporate America. There is a ton of waste (don't get me going on the economy
), but we look at it like this...having the seats used twice a year is a good investment for a client who provides us with 6 figure revenue. We do the same with the Vikes, Twins, T-Wolves and Wild. If you add it up, we have probably $50K+ in unused tickets each year. Still, we use them as a perk for folks who buy millions of dollars of our services, so that expenditure is relatively minor and if it keeps a client happy and writing checks. So what may look like a waste to many, really is just marketing. If you look at it like a fan, it doesn't make sense, but from a business standpoint, its a good use of funds. Unfortunately, corporate policy doesn't allow employees at any level (including senior management) to utilize the seats, otherwise I'd be glad to take them.
4. Wasn't referencing the suites, please re-read, The premium seats behind the plate at Yankee Stadium were the ones that have largely been empty. The cost of those seats was $2,500 each. Many have now been reduced by half. While the scenario isn't exactly apples to apples, the basic thought process and assumptions are largely the same. The theory was that building a new place would be enough of a draw alone to fill the place up. That has not happened, at least in the premium seats.
In closing, we obviously all want the same things, a winning program and a great gameday experience. I'm just less willing than most to accept that the University is infallible in their processes. I think they've done a good job, in fact, I'd give them a B for the overall project, I just think if we end up with a Mariucci atmosphere, we've landed short of what could have been accomplished. Of course, we'll just have to let things play out. My most sincere hope is that I can come here in a few years and say TJ was 100% right and I was 100% wrong. Go Gophers!
