U to launch point system for season tix starting in the 2012-13 season

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Sid:

U expands point system
Starting in the 2012-13 season, the same preferred season ticket system that was adopted for football in the new TCF Bank Stadium will be adopted for Gophers hockey and basketball.

A letter being mailed to season ticket holders will outline the system at both Mariucci and Williams arenas.

The system involves a number of factors, including how long the tickets have been held, donations to the U and whether the holders are alumni. Donations are expected to be $100, $250 or $500 per seat. Seating at both arenas is being completely reassigned, based on the how many points the ticket holder has.

"Safeguarding the financial health of Gopher sports is a key element in helping our student-athletes achieve the athletic and academic goals we all have for them," said Joel Maturi, Gophers athletic director.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/1...EyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI

Go Gophers!!
 

Could this be a way to attempt to get that practice facility money?
 


The only real surprise is that it won't be in effect until 2012/2013.
 

Let's say that I've held season tickets for 20 years and I've not donated dollars to the U over that time. Not an alumni of the U. Seats for the past 15 years have been in row 5, section 219. With the reassignment, will the seats stay about the same, improve, or regress? Based on what happened at TCF, what should I plan for, and, is that a fair comparison?
 


freshtrout said:
Let's say that I've held season tickets for 20 years and I've not donated dollars to the U over that time. Not an alumni of the U. Seats for the past 15 years have been in row 5, section 219. With the reassignment, will the seats stay about the same, improve, or regress? Based on what happened at TCF, what should I plan for, and, is that a fair comparison?
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If you would have had season tickets for the last 20 years I would have hung out with you more often.
 

It all depends on what is classified as "premium seats". The points system (factoring years with seats, donations, etc) merely determines the order you are in to choose your seats. I'm guessing anything in the lower section (not counting obstructed view) that are betweent the baskets and the upper sections between the baskets..and with chairbacks on the ends, will require a donation ($100, 250 or 500 per seat each season).

If your section falls under the premium seating, you may get a good crack at them (via longevity) but you will likely pay more for the right to sit in them...
 

On the Sports Huddle this morning Maturi said that about 60-75% of the seats in The Barn will require some amount of donation. He also said that each season ticket holder will physically get to choose their seats in person if they would like, at The Barn when as the time approaches.

Go Gophers!!
 

You knew that it was coming. But I'm quite certain that whether Bleed forks over cash for premium seats isn't going to impact at all whether a rower or tennis player reaches their academic goals.
 



I personally welcome this.. I've been a ticket holder for only 7 years..but also am a grad and I give money to the U. I was hoping that some day I would get a chance to move ahead of folks that don't want to donate to the University.

While some folks will bitch and moan, the fact is that is no different than most big time hoops programs.
 

I'm assuming donations to TCF Stadium will count for our points?

How about being a season-ticket holder for multiple (major-revenue) sports?
 

Good one Section 19

station19 said:
If you would have had season tickets for the last 20 years I would have hung out with you more often.
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But as you probably know, the Dude that has the season tickets that we split, has had them for at least 20 years.....therefore the Q. Thanks for the replies folks.
 

I'm assuming donations to TCF Stadium will count for our points?

How about being a season-ticket holder for multiple (major-revenue) sports?
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I hope yes to both..but who knows. They didn't factor my hoops tickets when I chose for TCF. That said, I would think any donation for TCF should count. I really think folks that have season tickets to at least 2 of the big 4 revenue sports should get some bump.. but thats bias coming from a guy that has football and basketball tickets.
 



The Q then is ... can the tech kids at the U connect the two? Or, will their bosses care? They SHOULD Rouser.
 

Expectations for the success of the team should then rise accordingly. Better opponents for the preseason should then also follow as those tickets currently have a street value of about $5 - altho we've attended games when we could not give a pair of extras away. Will there be any follow up of appreciation for season ticket holders? I'm guessing they're are putting it off a few years to shore up the product and give people a chance to get out their checkbooks.
 

Rouser said:
I hope yes to both..but who knows. They didn't factor my hoops tickets when I chose for TCF. That said, I would think any donation for TCF should count. I really think folks that have season tickets to at least 2 of the big 4 revenue sports should get some bump.. but thats bias coming from a guy that has football and basketball tickets.
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They would have factored your BB seats if there was a donation tied to them to the Golden Gopher fund which was a huge factor for me to upgrade my TCF seats. What I've heard is that anything in the lower deck between the freethrow lines are going to increase big. I was going to move some of my seats this year but was advised to keep my corner location because the cost will remain roughly the same. The legacy ticket holders that have sat near mid court for the past 40 years are the ones that are now going to have to pony up or move.
 

You can't even get a seat at the Dean Dome without some sort of donation to the Ram Fund. I think KU is the same way and a couple of other places are the same way. The K-Fund stuff at Kentucky was unpopular (and the new pricing for basketball and football are already causing an uproar among some of the older season ticket holders who got great seats based on minimal investment or who they knew in the Athletic Department) but it has paid dividends.

My feelings on things like this are mixed. On one hand, I think it's kind of hard to ask for increases in this economy. But I also think that a points system helps do a lot of good. You actually get more points in the K-Fund by supporting the Olympic/Non-revenue/Women's sports that help you in basketball and football. So if you buy season tickets for say Women's soccer you get more points that help you in seating assignments with football and basketball.
 

I would hope Joel takes into account the "donation" Gopher basketball season ticket holders have given through out the 8 Monson seasons when non conference game tickets were virtually worthless. As has been pointed out, the "street value" was nil. That was about $200.00 per season ($25.00 x 8 home NC games or so). The ONLY people who went were the season ticket holders or people who got free tickets.

Joel did say it costs a lot of money running a 25 team athletic department. I just wonder if raising basketball and hockey ticket prices is really necessary to cover the costs of sending our swimmers to Hawaii January 10th, 2010. There are about 49,980 other University of Minnesota students who would have loved to have gone to Hawaii in January all expenses paid but then they don't swim fast.

My point is there are alot of places Joel could cut corners to save money rather than just raise ticket prices. If he was more fiscally responsible then these ticket price hikes would be a lot more palatable.
I know we need prop 9 women's teams to cover Football, Hockey and Basketball but do we need so many teams? Wisconsin does just fine without baseball.

Here is a breakdown of our head coaches and there salaries. Likely few of us can name the sports they all coach without looking it up. I couldn't. Note these are just the BASE salaries.

Coach's Name/ Year/ Position/ Hire year/ Base Salary

Anderson /2007 /Head Coach/ 1981 / $135,337
Bernstein / 2007/ Head Coach/ 1991 / $70,564
Bingle / 2007 / Head Coach/ 2002/ $66,000
Borton / 2007/ Head Coach/ 2002/ $216,825
Brewster/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 2007/ $402,462
Burns/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 2004/ $77,762
Dale/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 1985/ $81,387
Davis/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 2000/ $74,000
Denney/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 2004/ $64,851
Hebert/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 1996/ $130,213
James/ /Head Coach/ 1998/ $95,000
Kremer/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 1998/ $,332
Lucia / 2007/ Head Coach/ 1999 / $234,392
Lundin/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 1986/ $75,365
Niesznr / 2007 / Head Coach/ 1977 / $64,332
Plasencia/ 2007/ Head Coach/ 1996 / $65,672
Robinson/ 2007 / Head Coach/ 1986 / $100,000
Smith 2007 Head Coach 2007/ $603,116
Standering / 2007 / Head Coach/ 1992/ $54,025
M. Stephenson / 2007 / Head Coach / 1992// $79,998
J. Stephenson / 2007/ Head Coach/ 1994 $54,856
Thomson 2007/ Head Coach / 2001/ $57,836
Wilson 2007 / Head Coach/ 1985/ $73,542
Young 2007/ Head Coach/ 2006/ $72,275

http://ww3.startribune.com/dynamic/salaries/employees.php?dpt_code=Athl&ent_code=UMTC
 

What worries me most, is not capitalism or supply and demand. I'm most worried about the impact on the atmosphere of basketball games. Over the last 20 years there appears to be a lot more corporate tickets and/or big contributors in prime seats who don't cheer. Sometimes it's like a geriatric convention in the lower level. The atmosphere just seemed to be so much more electric before. I hope we don't lose even more atmosphere.
 

I don't know how this would hurt the atmosphere...a lot of the seats in question here are used by a lot of old timers' distant relatives that don't care about atmosphere...they enjoy the perks of grandpa's nice seats. Moving them out and replacing with folks who love the University's hoops program cannot hurt the atmosphere. The real question is... where do the students end up? Same place..or down low on the sides?
 

MSU Seat Reallocation

If you want to know some of the specifics about how the seat reallocation process might work, check out the MSU brochure on the subject. The Spartans just completed a basketball seat reallocation for the upcoming season. I know Maturi has studied the Spartan model very closely and I wouldn't be surprised to see most of the elements of their process incorporated into our plan.

http://www.msuspartans.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/msu/genrel/auto_pdf/Seating-Adjustment
 

MSU plan

If the goal is to raise the most revenue, this is the right road map to follow. I like it.
 

Doesn't seem a lot different than the Gopher Points system for football.
 

GoldInDirt said:
What worries me most, is not capitalism or supply and demand. I'm most worried about the impact on the atmosphere of basketball games. Over the last 20 years there appears to be a lot more corporate tickets and/or big contributors in prime seats who don't cheer. Sometimes it's like a geriatric convention in the lower level. The atmosphere just seemed to be so much more electric before. I hope we don't lose even more atmosphere.
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Rouser said:
I don't know how this would hurt the atmosphere...a lot of the seats in question here are used by a lot of old timers' distant relatives that don't care about atmosphere...they enjoy the perks of grandpa's nice seats. Moving them out and replacing with folks who love the University's hoops program cannot hurt the atmosphere. The real question is... where do the students end up? Same place..or down low on the sides?
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Honestly - this announcement made me absolutely cringe, simply because I have seen the U do VERY few things correctly in my 14 years as a fan and ticket holder. I see absolutely no appreciate for season ticket holders, especially since we are the ones paying far more than those that could scalp on the street (my friends got $20 lower level seats to the Purdue game when they were ranked around #5 in the nation this past year). If they do a point system like football, I thought their biggest mistake was not allotting any points for student season ticket holders. When you pay the $ and come to the games as a student, and get the same priority as someone that graduated that never even attended a game...that's just not right.

I can see both of your points, GoldinDirt and Rouser - it could hurt the atmosphere if corporations and the the rich fans (but the ones that aren't die-hards) just fork over a lot of money. However, it could be better, if ticket holders that have been long time supporters do get bumped up.

Personally, something I have preached for non-stop since my days in the Barnyard, is moving the student section to the sidelines. I know the U would never do this...because they want every cent right now - but I wish they'd look long term. 2/3 of games are won on their home courts, if you have a great home court atmosphere, you get that 6th man in the crowd, and it can make a huge different. This is their one and only opportunity to do it (just like they should have made a young almuni section for football as well).
 

GopherLady said:
Personally, something I have preached for non-stop since my days in the Barnyard, is moving the student section to the sidelines. I know the U would never do this...because they want every cent right now - but I wish they'd look long term. 2/3 of games are won on their home courts, if you have a great home court atmosphere, you get that 6th man in the crowd, and it can make a huge different. This is their one and only opportunity to do it (just like they should have made a young almuni section for football as well).
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Amen to that, GL. At Michigan Stae, the students are in the lower dozen or so rows wrapping around the entire arena except for the center court area on one side (reserved for high rollers). The $400 Zone A and $250 Zone B seating areas are above the students - these areas are roughly equivalent (but not quite as many seats and none within the first dozen rows) to the priority seating areas at the Barn ($500 and $250) for which the Gopher Athletic Dept has been collecting premiums for years. To me it looks like MSU is catching up to us as far as premium seat fees is concerned - and now Maturi wants to up the ante and collect even more? What's up with that?
 

GopherLady said:
Personally, something I have preached for non-stop since my days in the Barnyard, is moving the student section to the sidelines. I know the U would never do this...because they want every cent right now - but I wish they'd look long term. 2/3 of games are won on their home courts, if you have a great home court atmosphere, you get that 6th man in the crowd, and it can make a huge different. This is their one and only opportunity to do it (just like they should have made a young almuni section for football as well).
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Sorry GL normally love your ideas but I think where the students are at now are appropriate. In the early 90's when I went to school 1/2 of the student section was in the upper deck! Maybe we should go back to that to get the whole arena fired up! There were silence protests and other things done to get the current seats the students have today. Quite honestly the Barn was rocking for a variety of reasons including the most important, winning or coming off winning seasons. How rockin would Breslin be if NW was the home team?
 

Just to note....the same thing is happening for Hockey as well....
 

This points system reminds me of the schemes they came up with to divvy up the loot in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World."
 

Gopher Points

We kind of knew this was coming after they built TCF. We survived that change and we will survive this also. Unfortunately, I think if we want to compete with the better teams, we have to raise money like the good programs for facilities, coaches salaries, etc. It will probably help me as I have been a long time season ticket holder and also pay for priority seating. What I think will be interesting is how they treat faculty & staff, who purchase tickets for less than most of us can and sit in better seats than many of us who are already paying for priority seating.
 

I would imagaine faculty/staff will be treated the same way they were when the football seating realignment was done. A friend is a staff member. She told me she still gets her faculty/staff discount for football tickets, but otherwise she was treated just like every other season-ticket holder. Longevity, (and moreso) giving, etc. is what it's all about. Would imagine things will be the same for men's hoops and puck.
 

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