Policy Impact on Season Tickets

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Gopher Warrior said:
Opener with a big time opponent... conference home games vs. Nebraska, Michigan and their new HC, Becky... they'll get people into the stadium.. a couple of years from now, with the results that will come.. that's when it may get dicey. But the SEASON TICKET figures this year will be interesting.
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Jerry Kills last year right??? Wasn't that your prediction?
 


When I renewed my FB season tix a month or so ago I didnt make the "donation" payment, only the ticket payment. I did this becuse I have 2 tickets but they are not side by side instead they are "piggy back" and I was hoping this would be my year to finally get 2 seats beside each other. This will be my dad and I's 6th season as season ticket holders. We intended on adding at least 2 more seats this year for my mom and wife, but like many others, the increase in price made that decision an easy one. I didnt make the "donation" payment because I wasnt sure which zone I'd end up in after a potenial seat adjustment. Anyway, I just got a call from the ticket office and they told me I had 2 options as far as the "donation" payment goes. Either pay the $150 a seat "donation" before this Friday to at least lock in the seats we currently have or not pay the donation and lose our current seats. I asked the girl that called what the policy would be if we managed to get 2 seats together in a lower donation zone if we payed the fee for our current seats and she said there would be no refund for the overpayment. She tried selling me on the fact that I would benefit because I would be locked in to the lower donation zone for next year. Needless to say, I was baffled. After all that has been said on this site, in the media, etc about this whole price increase the last thing I expected was to be potentially taken advantage of AGAIN. I also asked how renewals were going and she told me they just ran the numbers the other day and that they are close to being on track with last year. Has anyone else gotten this call? What did you say? Am I out of line for being a little upset about this? Why does it feel like the athletics department doesnt get it AT ALL?
 

tihaberman said:
When I renewed my FB season tix a month or so ago I didnt make the "donation" payment, only the ticket payment. I did this becuse I have 2 tickets but they are not side by side instead they are "piggy back" and I was hoping this would be my year to finally get 2 seats beside each other. This will be my dad and I's 6th season as season ticket holders. We intended on adding at least 2 more seats this year for my mom and wife, but like many others, the increase in price made that decision an easy one. I didnt make the "donation" payment because I wasnt sure which zone I'd end up in after a potenial seat adjustment. Anyway, I just got a call from the ticket office and they told me I had 2 options as far as the "donation" payment goes. Either pay the $150 a seat "donation" before this Friday to at least lock in the seats we currently have or not pay the donation and lose our current seats. I asked the girl that called what the policy would be if we managed to get 2 seats together in a lower donation zone if we payed the fee for our current seats and she said there would be no refund for the overpayment. She tried selling me on the fact that I would benefit because I would be locked in to the lower donation zone for next year. Needless to say, I was baffled. After all that has been said on this site, in the media, etc about this whole price increase the last thing I expected was to be potentially taken advantage of AGAIN. I also asked how renewals were going and she told me they just ran the numbers the other day and that they are close to being on track with last year. Has anyone else gotten this call? What did you say? Am I out of line for being a little upset about this? Why does it feel like the athletics department doesnt get it AT ALL?
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I dont think you being upset is wrong however i dont think it will change and more power to the Gophers if they can fill up the stadium or partially fill up the stadium

I think with the home schedule this season it will be fine but the real test will come next season.
 

Yes, but....

Go4 said:
at least he renewed!

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Hi, Go4!

I did renew, but wanted to keep all four and couldn't afford it, so had to drop two. I'm really frustrated with the rapid escalation of prices. There's something wrong when so many people as die-hard as those on this board are forced to drop seats they want to keep. I fear that soon the only people who will be able to afford season tickets are the wealthy or those willing to sacrifice too many other things in order to do it. I'm sad about this.

-Joe
 


tihaberman said:
When I renewed my FB season tix a month or so ago I didnt make the "donation" payment, only the ticket payment. I did this becuse I have 2 tickets but they are not side by side instead they are "piggy back" and I was hoping this would be my year to finally get 2 seats beside each other. This will be my dad and I's 6th season as season ticket holders. We intended on adding at least 2 more seats this year for my mom and wife, but like many others, the increase in price made that decision an easy one. I didnt make the "donation" payment because I wasnt sure which zone I'd end up in after a potenial seat adjustment. Anyway, I just got a call from the ticket office and they told me I had 2 options as far as the "donation" payment goes. Either pay the $150 a seat "donation" before this Friday to at least lock in the seats we currently have or not pay the donation and lose our current seats. I asked the girl that called what the policy would be if we managed to get 2 seats together in a lower donation zone if we payed the fee for our current seats and she said there would be no refund for the overpayment. She tried selling me on the fact that I would benefit because I would be locked in to the lower donation zone for next year. Needless to say, I was baffled. After all that has been said on this site, in the media, etc about this whole price increase the last thing I expected was to be potentially taken advantage of AGAIN. I also asked how renewals were going and she told me they just ran the numbers the other day and that they are close to being on track with last year. Has anyone else gotten this call? What did you say? Am I out of line for being a little upset about this? Why does it feel like the athletics department doesnt get it AT ALL?
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Because they don't get it. This will be a disaster by 2017.
 

tihaberman said:
When I renewed my FB season tix a month or so ago I didnt make the "donation" payment, only the ticket payment. I did this becuse I have 2 tickets but they are not side by side instead they are "piggy back" and I was hoping this would be my year to finally get 2 seats beside each other. This will be my dad and I's 6th season as season ticket holders. We intended on adding at least 2 more seats this year for my mom and wife, but like many others, the increase in price made that decision an easy one. I didnt make the "donation" payment because I wasnt sure which zone I'd end up in after a potenial seat adjustment. Anyway, I just got a call from the ticket office and they told me I had 2 options as far as the "donation" payment goes. Either pay the $150 a seat "donation" before this Friday to at least lock in the seats we currently have or not pay the donation and lose our current seats. I asked the girl that called what the policy would be if we managed to get 2 seats together in a lower donation zone if we payed the fee for our current seats and she said there would be no refund for the overpayment. She tried selling me on the fact that I would benefit because I would be locked in to the lower donation zone for next year. Needless to say, I was baffled. After all that has been said on this site, in the media, etc about this whole price increase the last thing I expected was to be potentially taken advantage of AGAIN. I also asked how renewals were going and she told me they just ran the numbers the other day and that they are close to being on track with last year. Has anyone else gotten this call? What did you say? Am I out of line for being a little upset about this? Why does it feel like the athletics department doesnt get it AT ALL?
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I got a message to this effect today too. I'm not sure how it's going to shake out, but I'm glad you brought it up. They're pretty clueless how big of a purchase this is for people and how most people would walk away from anyone with such poor customer service in just about any other situation with this amount of cash involved. It really bothers me that they're so short-term oriented...we just started building a little atmosphere and they appear to be trying to get in the way of that at every opportunity.
 

GoldMedalCounty said:
I got a message to this effect today too. I'm not sure how it's going to shake out, but I'm glad you brought it up. They're pretty clueless how big of a purchase this is for people and how most people would walk away from anyone with such poor customer service in just about any other situation with this amount of cash involved. It really bothers me that they're so short-term oriented...we just started building a little atmosphere and they appear to be trying to get in the way of that at every opportunity.
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It shocks me how much our department seems to trip all over its own feet at every turn. Whether or not the overall decisions were good ones (that debate has been had ad nauseum), they were shocked by the very predictably negative response to the seat increase and the North Carolina buyout. They bungle simple things, like making sure they have extra hot dogs on hand when they hand out thousands of free hot dog vouchers and making sure that there is somebody running the scoreboard who actually knows how to run the scoreboard for the home opener. And despite there being a large number of Gopher fans excited to have a good tailgate, the way they sort out and allocate the tailgate spots has prevented them from getting any kind of party atmosphere around the stadium.

A few of those taken by themselves are pretty inconsequential, but they are all stupid mistakes. We have had excuse after excuse churned out by some fans for why it is so much tougher for the U to compete in football and basketball (geography, climate, recruiting base, fan base, media, pro teams), and if we really do face so many uphill challenges, then why the heck don't we at least get the easy stuff right?
 

Here is the great customer service email I received from them-- check out the personal touch with the greeting and maybe they should double check the years while they are at it

"Dear [Default First Name (Result Member)]:

The deadline to renew your 2014 Football season tickets was April 17. If you are planning on renewing your season tickets for the 2014-15 season, we need to hear from you immediately."
 



Maroon92 said:
Here is the great customer service email I received from them-- check out the personal touch with the greeting and maybe they should double check the years while they are at it

"Dear [Default First Name (Result Member)]:

The deadline to renew your 2014 Football season tickets was April 17. If you are planning on renewing your season tickets for the 2014-15 season, we need to hear from you immediately."
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Maybe they are offering you 2014 ticket prices as a penalty for missing the deadline?
 

tihaberman said:
She tried selling me on the fact that I would benefit because I would be locked in to the lower donation zone for next year. Needless to say, I was baffled.
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I called in a couple times before the season ticket deadline to talk with reps there and at first they were trying to sell me on making the donation now too and then moving during the adjustment period. I didn't bite, didn't renew and am now waiting for the adjustment process to start to get lesser donation zone tickets. I had to respond with an email stating I was giving up my seats and acknowledge I was getting into the adjustment process. They assured me that I would be ahead of all new season ticket holders and anyone with a lesser seniority and donation than I. They stated the adjustment period would be starting in the middle of May. Commence the waiting game.
 

go4rube said:
I called in a couple times before the season ticket deadline to talk with reps there and at first they were trying to sell me on making the donation now too and then moving during the adjustment period. I didn't bite, didn't renew and am now waiting for the adjustment process to start to get lesser donation zone tickets. I had to respond with an email stating I was giving up my seats and acknowledge I was getting into the adjustment process. They assured me that I would be ahead of all new season ticket holders and anyone with a lesser seniority and donation than I. They stated the adjustment period would be starting in the middle of May. Commence the waiting game.
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I'm in with a big group and I just pay the guy who buys my tickets for me and Mrs. BMG, so I miss out on these interactions. That leaves me curious, did the U ever send out a consolidated, easy to understand mailing/email explaining what your various options were in light of the planned increases? Something like a bulleted list, like
-You may renew the same seats in the same place on [date]

-You may retain your points and buy new seats in a lesser donation zone subject to remaining ability but before any new season ticket holders on [date]

-On [date], any unsold seats in any donation zone will become available to any takers.

If they didn't do something like that, that seems to fall in the category of predictable problems with easy fixes which I was complaining about earlier. It seems like everyone is confused about what exactly their options are and what the timelines are. That confusion was very predictable if it wasn't explained, and would have taken some intern all of 10 minutes to draw up a boilerplate email to send to all season ticket holders in order to fix it.
 

I didn't recall seeing any of that, but I didn't look at things very closely b/c I knew we weren't renewing because of kid obligations. However, I do remember seeing options of how you could pay the donations: in full, installments, etc.
 



go4rube said:
I called in a couple times before the season ticket deadline to talk with reps there and at first they were trying to sell me on making the donation now too and then moving during the adjustment period. I didn't bite, didn't renew and am now waiting for the adjustment process to start to get lesser donation zone tickets. I had to respond with an email stating I was giving up my seats and acknowledge I was getting into the adjustment process. They assured me that I would be ahead of all new season ticket holders and anyone with a lesser seniority and donation than I. They stated the adjustment period would be starting in the middle of May. Commence the waiting game.
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Nope.
 


this year they did allow me to have 4 monthly installments to pay the tickets and the donation
 


LesBolstad said:
Any news on renewal percentage?
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I called the ticket office out of curiosity and was told that they’re still in the process of renewing season tickets but they’re “close” to last year’s number. I asked if that meant renewals by last year’s season ticket holders is close to 100% and I was told yes, close to 100%. Not sure exactly what that means but I would think at least 90% and probably more like 95% or higher. This surprises me a bit given this and other threads where it seemed like a fair number of people reduced the number or dropped altogether their tickets. Apparently the silent majority on GH and the non-GH crowd are renewing their tickets and it is just a few of us who reduced or dropped our tickets. If in fact true, year 1 of the new pricing plan is working out very well for the U.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I called the ticket office out of curiosity and was told that they’re still in the process of renewing season tickets but they’re “close” to last year’s number. I asked if that meant renewals by last year’s season ticket holders is close to 100% and I was told yes, close to 100%. Not sure exactly what that means but I would think at least 90% and probably more like 95% or higher. This surprises me a bit given this and other threads where it seemed like a fair number of people reduced the number or dropped altogether their tickets. Apparently the silent majority on GH and the non-GH crowd are renewing their tickets and it is just a few of us who reduced or dropped our tickets. If in fact true, year 1 of the new pricing plan is working out very well for the U.
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Close to 100% could mean a lot of things. And a 10% reduction in your season ticket base is still pretty significant when there is not a waiting list of fans waiting to get season tickets. All that said the real test on the pricing plan comes in years 2 and 3 because the first year jump was not all that significant. It will be interesting to see what the official numbers look like when the U gets around to releasing them.

As long as the team keeps winning and showing progress the # of lost season ticket holders won't be massive, if things plateau or go backwards on the field things could get ugly as the prices go up.
 


yeah
I don't think the tickets guys have the actual numbers, and if they did would not be authorized to tell people those. With that said i have to imagine right now they are out prospecting to fill in the gap between the drops and new season ticket holders

I for one would expect nothing less than the ticket office giving new season ticket holders priority in seat selection for incentive for the upcoming season. its kind of like the ping pong balls....who really knows what goes on behind the closed doors
 

Magic said:
I have been checking this site every so often just to read the posts of other fans. I dropped my four Sec 111 (50 yard line) and four in Sec 108 (20 yard line). I was a Season Ticket holder for over 20 years (started in Dome under Wacker). I really loved this years schedule and was planning on hanging on one more year (no chance of renewing with the three year price hike). Anyways, the Rep told me they were at 80% renewal rate and he sounded like he didn't really care if I renewed or not? Well, my money is now going to Ziggy. Good luck Norwood, I hope your gamble works out regardless what numbers you tell the fanbase or the Press.
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LOL, the self-righteous bit was going so well, too.
 


Magic said:
What is self-righteous about spending my money elsewhere? Assuming you have a job your more than welcome to pickup my dropped tickets (I even provided the location for you)
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he's is saying that some of your post might be baloney.
 

Magic said:
What is self-righteous about spending my money elsewhere? Assuming you have a job your more than welcome to pickup my dropped tickets (I even provided the location for you)
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Nothing wrong with spending your money where you choose but I am not sure I understand your logic. You imply the reason you are dropping your Gopher tickets is due to the price increase. I assume that you will be investing in Viking season tickets? If so, how can that be of better value? I know people who are dropping their Viking season tickets at the new stadium for the same reason you are dropping your Gopher tickets. Unless you have season tickets to both and are now in a position to choose one over the other. If that is the case..........
 

Magic said:
I have been checking this site every so often just to read the posts of other fans. I dropped my four Sec 111 (50 yard line) and four in Sec 108 (20 yard line). I was a Season Ticket holder for over 20 years (started in Dome under Wacker). I really loved this years schedule and was planning on hanging on one more year (no chance of renewing with the three year price hike). Anyways, the Rep told me they were at 80% renewal rate and he sounded like he didn't really care if I renewed or not? Well, my money is now going to Ziggy. Good luck Norwood, I hope your gamble works out regardless what numbers you tell the fanbase or the Press.
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Anytime you can make a decision about something you've had for 20 years because of the impression you got from a representative on the phone, I agree that you TOTALLY have to do it! :rolleyes:
 


Magic said:
The Rep guy was not rude or anything? I said he sounded indifferent and he was not the reason I dropped my seats. I was on the fence for just this year? By the way, Vikings tickets will only cost $50/game with a $500 Seat License. I am done posting on this subject. Good luck Gophers I wish you well.
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#NextFanUp
 


Magic said:
The Rep guy was not rude or anything? I said he sounded indifferent and he was not the reason I dropped my seats. I was on the fence for just this year? By the way, Vikings tickets will only cost $50/game with a one time $500 Seat License. I am done posting on this subject. Good luck Gophers I wish you well.
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Your post seems somewhat disingenuous. You drop your lower level 50 yard line seats due to price increases. You then talk of buying cheap Viking tickets instead. I'm afraid if you do any pricing comparison for Gopher/Viking tickets over the next three years you're going to need to come up with a new rationale.
 

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