Season Ticket Renewal Deadline is 4/15

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Iceland12

Iceland12

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Thought there was a thread on this. Did a search and found one but it locked. Got a few notices and a phone call last week. Returned the call today. Talked to a nice lady. Told her that we'd stay this year and that even though we've had tickets since 1993, we won't renew them next year if the 2017 increase goes through. Said that with the way they've played thru the years, that extra fee truly is a charitable deduction, and it going from $1000 to $3000 in three years makes us want to send that charity money elsewhere,not just to the U's Athletic Department.

Also mentioned that with the BTN contract up for renewal, schools could get $38 to $45 million a piece. Not a good time to want to finish that 300% increase.

She took everything in stride. Laughed a few times too. She finished by saying that they are recording "comments" and will forward them to the new A.D. (with a proposal?) Then "he or she" can hopefully decide what to do with that last increase. Heard this from other people too.

Maybe even in that "locked" thread. ;)

You can pay in installments, but we're paying on Friday, April 15th. It just seems so darn appropriate doesn't it? :drink:
 

I renewed yesterday. I have had my tickets for nearly as long as you.
I really don't know what I'll do next year. I can financially swing it. Whether I will want to is a different story.
Did your representative happen to mention the renewal percentage? I would have asked but never spoke to anyone prior to my renewal.
 

Well actually tax day is the 18th this year but close enough.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Well actually tax day is the 18th this year but close enough.
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It sure is. Which is why I didn't type "Tax Day". But if you associate "4/18" with Tax Day, rather than "4/15" that would be quite....unusual.
 

Iceland12 said:
Also mentioned that with the BTN contract up for renewal, schools could get $38 to $45 million a piece. Not a good time to want to finish that 300% increase.
Click to expand...

What does one have to do with the other? Getting the same size check as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, etc., does nothing to narrow the gap.
 


Maximus said:
What does one have to do with the other? Getting the same size check as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, etc., does nothing to narrow the gap.
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I hear the NFL makes a lot of money... why aren't ticket prices going down!?!?!

Yeah that's not something you hear elsewhere, not sure it would change much with any other sport.
 

Maximus said:
What does one have to do with the other? Getting the same size check as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, etc., does nothing to narrow the gap.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can drive on up from Texas, pick-up your 3-4 Season Tickets, answer phones in the Ticket Office and patiently explain to the callers how the extra $20 million or so that the Gophers will be getting means nothing to them because "Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State," are getting it too.

Unless you're to busy directing traffic at the Texas State Fair. Which from your other post is now apparently being held in Houston...:rolleyes:
 

CWCWCW said:
I renewed yesterday. I have had my tickets for nearly as long as you.
I really don't know what I'll do next year. I can financially swing it. Whether I will want to is a different story.
Did your representative happen to mention the renewal percentage? I would have asked but never spoke to anyone prior to my renewal.
Click to expand...

Nope, I didn't ask. Would have been a good question, but since I had read reports from others that tickets sales aren't going well, I didn't bother. Did say "Oh and good luck with the other calls." And she laughed and said "Yeah, (laughs) thanks!"
 

After three years in the Dump and 7 years at the bank, we've decided to give up our seats. Increasing family commitments coupled with increasing costs just made it not worthwhile any longer. The hardest part was that we were really lucky to have some great people in front us who helped make the games even more fun. They were always there to high five after wins or share a bitch session as we walked out dejected after a loss. I should probably change my moniker to Sittin' On The Couch now.
 



Season ticket holder of two tickets since 1971. Added two more when we went into the bank. Last year I dropped to two extra seats and regretted it all season. Going back to four tickets this year. Go Gophers.
 

Glad we were able to open a new thread on this topic.
 

Spoofin said:
Glad we were able to open a new thread on this topic.
Click to expand...

Funny, you are always among the first to contribute to it.

This will be our last year getting 4 seats on the $650 "donation" area. I'll probably keep 2 in a lower cost area.
 




CWCWCW said:
I renewed yesterday. I have had my tickets for nearly as long as you.
I really don't know what I'll do next year. I can financially swing it. Whether I will want to is a different story.
Did your representative happen to mention the renewal percentage? I would have asked but never spoke to anyone prior to my renewal.
Click to expand...

I asked when I renewed my two today and the rep said renewals were around 80% but stated this this is down from the previous season(s). He said that there were numerous concerns about the donation and that many long time ST holders were critical of the UM decision.

I was expecting a renewal rate in the 70% range but that is only based on the church choir types that I read on GH and the Rivals site.
 

Renewed tonight, looking forward to another year in Sec. 117!
 

Iceland12 said:
Thought there was a thread on this. Did a search and found one but it locked. Got a few notices and a phone call last week. Returned the call today. Talked to a nice lady. Told her that we'd stay this year and that even though we've had tickets since 1993, we won't renew them next year if the 2017 increase goes through. Said that with the way they've played thru the years, that extra fee truly is a charitable deduction, and it going from $1000 to $3000 in three years makes us want to send that charity money elsewhere,not just to the U's Athletic Department.

Also mentioned that with the BTN contract up for renewal, schools could get $38 to $45 million a piece. Not a good time to want to finish that 300% increase.

She took everything in stride. Laughed a few times too. She finished by saying that they are recording "comments" and will forward them to the new A.D. (with a proposal?) Then "he or she" can hopefully decide what to do with that last increase. Heard this from other people too.

Maybe even in that "locked" thread. ;)

You can pay in installments, but we're paying on Friday, April 15th. It just seems so darn appropriate doesn't it? :drink:
Click to expand...

Expecting them to care or react isn't realistic. For the good of the program, I'm starting to hope they don't change course because if they can't pull in money from football fans for the football program I don't know where it will come from in the future. We filled the stadium for Ohio last year, not Ohio state, Ohio. You will be replaced by someone, better to have season tickets dip some and donation revenue continue to increase. I'm done fearing a half empty stadium, I'd have to see it to believe it.
 

Just renewed, with hesitation. Renewals are down, but where they expected after last year. Certainly need an AD to show vision for future success and ticket price plan. I truly believe things can only get better and our football team should be pretty darn good next year. Go Gophers!
 


Bayfieldgopher said:
I asked when I renewed my two today and the rep said renewals were around 80% but stated this this is down from the previous season(s). He said that there were numerous concerns about the donation and that many long time ST holders were critical of the UM decision.

I was expecting a renewal rate in the 70% range but that is only based on the church choir types that I read on GH and the Rivals site.
Click to expand...

Just a guess on my part but if the reps are authorized to say the rate is around 80% that probably means it is closer to the mid 70s. Just a gut feeling for the way they would try to spin things to put as positive of a face on it as possible. Losing 20% of your season ticket holders when there is no waiting list in place to fill those lost spots is not good no matter how you slice it. The U is going to need a good year from football in order to get the excitement back and keep more from dropping off when the increase happens again after this season.

Of course that assumes they actually care about the number of butts in the seats on gameday (which I am not positive they do). With the increases in donations they are probably doing fine from a revenue standpoint at this time because the increases in prices should help offset the decreases in the number of season ticket holders.

I won't be shocked if they put a hold on next years increase unless they get the sense that demand for tickets next off season is going to be high.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Just a guess on my part but if the reps are authorized to say the rate is around 80% that probably means it is closer to the mid 70s. Just a gut feeling for the way they would try to spin things to put as positive of a face on it as possible. Losing 20% of your season ticket holders when there is no waiting list in place to fill those lost spots is not good no matter how you slice it. The U is going to need a good year from football in order to get the excitement back and keep more from dropping off when the increase happens again after this season.

Of course that assumes they actually care about the number of butts in the seats on gameday (which I am not positive they do). With the increases in donations they are probably doing fine from a revenue standpoint at this time because the increases in prices should help offset the decreases in the number of season ticket holders.

I won't be shocked if they put a hold on next years increase unless they get the sense that demand for tickets next off season is going to be high.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if the front line reps are authorized to say much, and maybe even wonder how much they actually know. I think this is one of those cases where you could ask some target cashier how it is going and generally infer some stuff, but ... maybe not the best source of info.


Also wildly changing ticket prices based on demand isn't always the best choice, some baseball teams have done that and found that they set some crazy expectations and perceptions on what a seat is worth and then found that they couldn't raise prices and still sell like they expected later even when they did well.
 

Renewed our 4 seats. Sitting in the non-donation seats again this year. Go Gophers!
 


MNVCGUY said:
Of course that assumes they actually care about the number of butts in the seats on gameday (which I am not positive they do).
Click to expand...
They seem to only care about tickets sold, not actual attendance. Big problem in hockey, lots of "sell outs" but half the arena is empty. All about the dollars, not about the gameday experience.
 

Ski U Master said:
They seem to only care about tickets sold, not actual attendance. Big problem in hockey, lots of "sell outs" but half the arena is empty. All about the dollars, not about the gameday experience.
Click to expand...

Everyone lies about attendance to some extent though, that's true regardless how a team is doing, not so much a system.
 


LakerFan said:
Expecting them to care or react isn't realistic. For the good of the program, I'm starting to hope they don't change course because if they can't pull in money from football fans for the football program I don't know where it will come from in the future. We filled the stadium for Ohio last year, not Ohio state, Ohio. You will be replaced by someone, better to have season tickets dip some and donation revenue continue to increase. I'm done fearing a half empty stadium, I'd have to see it to believe it.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. Can't imagine living in "fear of a half empty stadium". You were exaggerating that right?

Filling for Ohio rather than tOSU seems to be directly connected to the "2 Pack" where WI and NE fans needed to get a game to tie to their preferred game to get tickets. Can't imagine a stand alone sale of Ohio tickets coming close to filling the stadium.

The phone call message said they wanted to know "what you thought about renewing your season tickets". Answered that question pure and simply.

The "forwarding comments" with a proposal to the new A.D. sounding like part of the "script", for what it's worth.
 

LakerFan said:
Expecting them to care or react isn't realistic. For the good of the program, I'm starting to hope they don't change course because if they can't pull in money from football fans for the football program I don't know where it will come from in the future. We filled the stadium for Ohio last year, not Ohio state, Ohio. You will be replaced by someone, better to have season tickets dip some and donation revenue continue to increase. I'm done fearing a half empty stadium, I'd have to see it to believe it.
Click to expand...

Filling the stadium for Ohio is the benefit of selling season tickets and two-packs. Last season we had Nebraska and Wisconsin games at home (not to mention TCU), making it a very attractive home schedule that included two programs that bring fans with them. Many season ticket holders held on for that attractive schedule, and many Husker and Badger fans were forced to buy tickets to a non-conference game, such as Ohio.

I hope you're right, but with a far less attractive schedule and only Iowa bringing in visiting fans, I'm expecting a lot more empty seats this year. And if it's still mostly full, the U's pricing strategy will be proven successful.
 

Only time wil tell.
Will walk up and Stub Hub fans be excited with a winning schedule or bored?
In the past filling the seats often depended on IA, WI and now NE coming to MN.
This schedule only has IA.
 

Front line reps are able to state those numbers. I worked there 10 years ago and we always had the numbers then. They have much more accurate numbers now with a much improved ticketing system with AudienceView over the dated and crappy Paciolan system they had back then. One of the managers I worked with back in my day called me last week, and that 80% number is correct. Just a bit behind last year's pace, but also didn't seem optimistic they would hit last year's numbers in the end.
 

....its predicted....." 2018 ticket prices finally go up after several years of staying the same price. The U announces that they are the only school that hasn't raised ticket prices in last 5 years. coming off their 2nd straight year of 8 wins. AD wants to increase revenue for all sports, with this ticket hike the Womens track team team gets a new locker room"....
 

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