Preferred Seating Plan - What will you do?

[GopherJake]

The 2012-13 season is planned to be the first season of the "Preferred Seating" program, with the seat selection process to take place in Spring, 2012. They will be using the Gopher Points system and you will be required to "donate" to secure certain seats in the building, at 3 different levels of priority, corresponding to donation amount.

I'm interested in what folks will do. Will you renew? Will you pay the extortion fees? Are you fed up with the program?

 

[Southpaw]

Depends on the details of the plan. If they follow the Michigan State model, we'll be hearing about details shortly after the conclusion of this season (talk about bad timing). Right now I'm strongly leaning towards not renewing - we're already paying top dollar in comparison to other Big 10 teams. MSU, which implemented its plan this season, is now charging premium seat fees ranging from $100-$400; these premium seating areas are basically in the same sections of their arena that coincide with the premium seat areas at the barn where we've been charging even higher rates for the past 18 seasons - so, MSU is catching up to us and our response is to up the ante. Too bad we haven't been able to come anywhere close to the MSU accomplishments on the court.

 

[beavergopher]

Another case of tin ear timing from the U of M. You can get away with this when the teams are good or you are opening a new venue. Renewed my football tickets. Too hard to get to many of b-ball games with the 6:00 PM starts if you have normal working hours.

 

[Minnesconsin fan]

should add a choice about getting less seats--- right now I split 4 with a buddy and have 2 of my own. I will not be splitting the 4 anymore

 

[EverTheSkeptic]

Actually my answer would be "I am stretched to the max. under the current plan. I can't afford any increase in either ticket price or preferred seating donation, so I will have to end 26 years of being a loyal season ticket holder."

 

[From the Barn]

Actually my answer would be "I am stretched to the max. under the current plan. I can't afford any increase in either ticket price or preferred seating donation, so I will have to end 26 years of being a loyal season ticket holder."

Try, you can still be a season ticket holder without a donation and there hasn't been any mention of an increase for season tickets.

 

[Dr.Don]

My Preferred Seating Plan is sitting on my dead ass in my LazyBoy (free admission) and watch them or listen to them. But that was not one of the options, so I did not vote.

 

[Moonlight]

I will get season tickets if I don't have to contribute to the athletic fund (I have kids in college) and I don't have to move back.

 

[sec105]

...so I will have to end 26 years of being a loyal season ticket holder.

And sadly Joel Maturi couldn't care less.

 

[Ski U Master]

Will not renew because I don't want to have to move to a different seat from the ones we've been in for years, and I'm not paying more.

 

[HHH_Gopher]

I'm sorry, but I just don't get the attitude of those frustrated with this plan and unwilling to move seats. For those of you who have had tickets for many years (like myself) and have sat through seasons of every type - historic, middle-of-the-pack, mediocre, poor, astoundlingly poor, etc - you obviously love Gopher hoops in the Barn. You obviously have been willing to pony up for the cost of tickets, which is still a solid deal in this market. What about having to move seats would lessen that experience? It might actually provide an opportunity to enjoy the game from a new vantage point. I'm actually excited to see where I might end up.

I'm also disappointed to hear people complaining about having to pay more. I get that tickets aren't cheap and that there may be an extra burden for those who want to stay in their seats. However, this will level the playing field and actually reduce the cost for a lot of people. It seems to me that there is no sense of what this will mean for Gopher sports to implement this plan in Williams and Mariucci. When you look at the past five years, the athletic department was really saved financially by the money coming in from the Big Ten Network and the Learfield deals. Looking to the future, there truly is no major additional source of revenue outside of the reseating plan in the two winter sports arenas. This simply has to happen and will help ensure that the entire Gopher sports program will be adequately funded in future years. This isn't to say that some hard decisions won't have to be made in the near future. I'd be shocked if we're still supporting 25 sports five years from now.

I guess my point is that I don't get the sense that a lot of fans view this from the perspective of the institution. It seems as though the standard response is "I've had my tickets forever and it's wrong for the athletic department to ask me to change." I know there is an economic reality to this move and a lot of people simply will not be able to afford keeping their seats in the same approximate location. However, I know a decent amount of people that can afford it and just won't do it.

This will be a good thing for Gopher sports. Keep that in mind.

 

[bga1]

I'm sorry, but I just don't get the attitude of those frustrated with this plan and unwilling to move seats. For those of you who have had tickets for many years (like myself) and have sat through seasons of every type - historic, middle-of-the-pack, mediocre, poor, astoundlingly poor, etc - you obviously love Gopher hoops in the Barn. You obviously have been willing to pony up for the cost of tickets, which is still a solid deal in this market. What about having to move seats would lessen that experience? It might actually provide an opportunity to enjoy the game from a new vantage point. I'm actually excited to see where I might end up.

I'm also disappointed to hear people complaining about having to pay more. I get that tickets aren't cheap and that there may be an extra burden for those who want to stay in their seats. However, this will level the playing field and actually reduce the cost for a lot of people. It seems to me that there is no sense of what this will mean for Gopher sports to implement this plan in Williams and Mariucci. When you look at the past five years, the athletic department was really saved financially by the money coming in from the Big Ten Network and the Learfield deals. Looking to the future, there truly is no major additional source of revenue outside of the reseating plan in the two winter sports arenas. This simply has to happen and will help ensure that the entire Gopher sports program will be adequately funded in future years. This isn't to say that some hard decisions won't have to be made in the near future. I'd be shocked if we're still supporting 25 sports five years from now.

I guess my point is that I don't get the sense that a lot of fans view this from the perspective of the institution. It seems as though the standard response is "I've had my tickets forever and it's wrong for the athletic department to ask me to change." I know there is an economic reality to this move and a lot of people simply will not be able to afford keeping their seats in the same approximate location. However, I know a decent amount of people that can afford it and just won't do it.

This will be a good thing for Gopher sports. Keep that in mind.

HHH- good post and perspective. This will only be a good thing for Gopher sports if it is accepted by the seasons ticket holders- new and old. They are taking a big risk here. They are combining a bad economy with a poor and dreadfully unexciting season of basketball just in our rearview mirror.
Premium seating plans are a pretty good idea when you are pitching a dream or initiating an exciting new arena or stadium. I am not seeing the sales pitch to date being big enough or good enough to get people excited to do this in a big way. We'll see. Sometimes a deal like this will push the fence sitters off and you lose that revenue and thereby you don't gain any net revenue or even lose some.

They should consider the idea of putting this off until either the economy breaks loose or the team has a very good year.

 

[bga1]

Will not renew because I don't want to have to move to a different seat from the ones we've been in for years, and I'm not paying more.

You should send them a letter to that effect. See what they say in response.

 

[SelectionSunday]

No, they shouldn't "wait until until the team has a very good year." For all we know that could be 10 years from now. You can't dump preferred seating plans based on that. It's just bad timing that we had a crappy year at the worst possible time, for sure.

Whether we like it or not, some of us are going to have to crap or get off the pot before the 2012-13 season, no matter whether the Gophers in 2011-12 are really good, really crappy or somewhere in between.

 

[bga1]

No, they shouldn't "wait until until the team has a very good year." For all we know that could be 10 years from now. You can't dump preferred seating plans based on that. It's just bad timing that we had a crappy year at the worst possible time, for sure.

Whether we like it or not, some of us are going to have to crap or get off the pot before the 2012-13 season, no matter whether the Gophers in 2011-12 are really good, really crappy or somewhere in between.

Maybe you are right. However, I would advise them to redo their math and make sure. The poll above while far from statistically valid shows that 15 of 28 will not donate and some are dropping tickets if negatively affected in their seating location. And this is a poll from fans that are diehard enough to frequent a Gopher fan site.

 

[Moonlight]

I agree bga. The U is a business when it suits them and it isn't when it doesn't. As they are currently acting like it is a business, I suggest they pay attention to their loyal customers. When they are a business, they don't follow good business practice. I've outlined this before, but throwing bones to their long time season ticket holders would help them when the lean years come - and they always do.

 

[bga1]

I agree bga. The U is a business when it suits them and it isn't when it doesn't. As they are currently acting like it is a business, I suggest they pay attention to their loyal customers. When they are a business, they don't follow good business practice. I've outlined this before, but throwing bones to their long time season ticket holders would help them when the lean years come - and they always do.

Yep- well put.

 

[HHH_Gopher]

I'm in line with SS....the amount of planning that goes into implementing a plan like this dictates that you set a start date and move forward. If you think back to when this was first publicly discussed, we were coming off an appearance in the Big Ten title game and really excited for a promising 2010-2011 season. Right now, we're all dispirited. By the time we're all selecting tickets next spring, we could be coming off a good season and in a much better frame of mind. Same thing for across the street in Mariucci. The performance from one season to the next can be so fickle in college sports. I just don't believe that you can wait for on-court excellence on this one.

To be fair, the point that BGA is spot on about is still listening to season ticket holders. Maybe not as to whether the plan will happen, but the "how" should be influenced by all of us who spend our money at the U.