Shama: Ticket Price Increase Coming for U Football? UPDATED 3/7: Prices Increased

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It would also be nice if the stadium was wifi ready this fall. Should have put that in the Vikings deal.
 

I received a commemorative Brick by Brick DVD in the mail yesterday along with a thank you letter from Teague for being a season ticket holder. This is the kind of crap they need to continue to do to make season ticket holders feel just a touch appreciated.
 

I had an interesting experience while renewing yesterday. Our group of 6 have bench seats but we rent chair backs for $45 each. I asked the ticket office what the Vikings were going to do for their season ticket holders that have bench seats (were they going to buy chair backs for them?) If so, I would save the $45 and let the Vikings pay for my chair back for two years. This is the email that came back to me (love the misspelling)

Thank you for your email. Final details with the Vikings playing at the Stadium have not been finalized and this includes portable seat on the bench locations. The only way we can grantee that you have a seat back for the upcoming year is to purchase them when you renew your season tickets. Ski U Mah!

Anyway, our group decided to not get chair backs this year. So I went to renew my ticket and the chair back is already figured in to my ticket price (based on last years order). The problem was that there was no way to remove the chair back from my renewal (i.e., simple check box to remove it, etc.). The only way it could be done was to call the ticket office and talk to a rep and have them remove it and then place my renewal over the phone. Talk about an inefficient way to renew tickets. I have never been too fond of the ticket web interface the Gophers use......have others found it to be a little clunky and confusing?
 

GopherJack said:
I had an interesting experience while renewing yesterday. Our group of 6 have bench seats but we rent chair backs for $45 each. I asked the ticket office what the Vikings were going to do for their season ticket holders that have bench seats (were they going to buy chair backs for them?) If so, I would save the $45 and let the Vikings pay for my chair back for two years. This is the email that came back to me (love the misspelling)

Thank you for your email. Final details with the Vikings playing at the Stadium have not been finalized and this includes portable seat on the bench locations. The only way we can grantee that you have a seat back for the upcoming year is to purchase them when you renew your season tickets. Ski U Mah!

Anyway, our group decided to not get chair backs this year. So I went to renew my ticket and the chair back is already figured in to my ticket price (based on last years order). The problem was that there was no way to remove the chair back from my renewal (i.e., simple check box to remove it, etc.). The only way it could be done was to call the ticket office and talk to a rep and have them remove it and then place my renewal over the phone. Talk about an inefficient way to renew tickets. I have never been too fond of the ticket web interface the Gophers use......have others found it to be a little clunky and confusing?
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Yes. I mainly experience the season ticket portal, but I have heard from people who are more casual fans (and some alums from other B1G schools who went to grad school with me) and just want to buy a set of tickets for an individual game that it is pretty difficult too navigate. They complain that there are too many clicks and links to be taken to get to actually buying the tickets. It seems to me that we should want as few barriers/steps between "I think I want tickets for X game" and the order confirmation page as possible, but our website appears designed to do exactly the opposite.

Of course, I don't mind the extra barriers for my Wisconsin/Michigan classmates in grad school, so I would be alright with it if we could find a way to keep the clunky system in place for them.
 



HouseOfHagen said:
I received a commemorative Brick by Brick DVD in the mail yesterday along with a thank you letter from Teague for being a season ticket holder. This is the kind of crap they need to continue to do to make season ticket holders feel just a touch appreciated.
Click to expand...

It is amazing how sometimes those little things can make a difference. Like the Twins giving season ticket holders a 10% off concessions discount starting last year. At least you know they are aware you might want to cancel and they're doing something to keep your business.

How about t-shirts for season ticket holders?
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
Actually, many fans are delusional idiots who expect the price to remain the same or even drop. These same idiots can't grasp simple things like inflation and complain when things like air travel gets more expensive. Another random example is many people can't understand that the gas tax is charged on a per gallon basis (in MN and most states) and a sudden increase does not change how much one pays per gallon in gas tax. So even if the root cause is a refinery problem and the price of gas spikes, many idiots think they're paying more in taxes per gallon. I could go on and on but my point is that there will always be those who unrealistically whine about ticket fees going up without understanding some simple economic principles. Unless we start going 0-12 every year, plan on paying more for having a winner. Get over it and...

Go Gophers!
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My how the tables have turned...

(I realize that the latest jump in prices is quite a bit larger, but this is still a pretty funny juxtaposition)
 

GopherHomer said:
My how the tables have turned...

(I realize that the latest jump in prices is quite a bit larger, but this is still a pretty funny juxtaposition)
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$55 per ticket versus $500? Yes, that is quite a bit.

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Reasonable rises in tickets prices in the 10 to 20% range, and not every year, are tolerable, but a near tripling of prices in 3 years is insane. Even this year, $90 for Iowa, Ohio State? Kaler, regents and Teague seem to have forgotten that the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and Wild overlap the Gopher season. What jerks.
 



I'm glad we have another thread now to discuss the ticket price increases.
 


GopherHomer said:
My how the tables have turned...

(I realize that the latest jump in prices is quite a bit larger, but this is still a pretty funny juxtaposition)
Click to expand...

Although I'm the first to admit that 99% of my posts are nonsense, it's funny that my alter ego is hellbent on proving that it is 100%. I guess if you selectively pick and choose posts you can find one of those jukeboxjunctions or whatever you call it. Thanks for being my biggest fan ;-)

12-04-2014, 11:56 AM #9 MNGoldenGophers1's Avatar MNGoldenGophers1 MNGoldenGophers1 is online now
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Quote Originally Posted by theTurning View Post
http://m.thepostgame.com/blog/road-s...chigan-tickets
+1

These increases are no guarantee that they will result in success on the field (case in point, Michigan). It could have the opposite effect. As others have pointed out, less fans, less concessions, less fun, etc. I’ve been attending games regularly since the 70’s and recall the U of M jacking up ticket prices in the 80’s only to have it backfire in their faces. They backpedaled when many season ticket holders did not renew by sending out stopgap letters offering the same rate as the previous season. Even with that back-down offer, some did not renew. The damage was already done because the message was loud and clear, the reward for years of sitting in half-empty stadiums was to get slapped in the face with a big ticket price increase. I don’t recall what the increase was in the 80’s but it is nothing like this one. I’m afraid there is no amount of goodwill or political spin to justify the huge increase as the damage is already done. If only they had started with a more modest increase which, IMHO for most fans, I think would have been in the neighborhood of $100 per year.

BTW - I’m already dropping 2 of 4 tix for sure and most likely will drop all 4 and just scalp them for pennies on the dollar. For those who claim it is hard to scalp tickets, that’s B.S. At least two or three times a year I scalp extra tickets so my son can bring friends to the game. This year, I got extra Iowa and Ohio State tickets for $20 (I paid $25 for the OSU tickets because they were on the 45 and I felt guilty he was only offering them for only $20). Several times over the years I have also given away tickets or ate them because there was no interest. I’m betting on street tix, on average, being cheaper. Only time will tell if I’m right but if history is any indication, I come out way ahead with this strategy. Like the article said, if they're going to treat me as nothing but a consumer, then I’m going to act like one.
Professional Ticket Scalper since 2015
 




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