U of M athletic office announce price drops in tickets for 2019-20

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Probably a question that is brought up a lot, but do donations from football tickets count towards basketball donations or are they mutually exclusive?
 

UST_Gopher said:
Probably a question that is brought up a lot, but do donations from football tickets count towards basketball donations or are they mutually exclusive?
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mutually exclusive.

Is this a late April Fools joke? Did they not think people would see their increased donation would offset any ticket deduction?
 

UST_Gopher said:
Probably a question that is brought up a lot, but do donations from football tickets count towards basketball donations or are they mutually exclusive?
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They would never do that...too fan friendly and outside the box thinking.
 


Bad Gopher said:
My thought, too. Our net season ticket cost went down by $10 per seat, which is just a shift from ticket price to donation. I agree with whoever said that this is a way to draw in single-game ticket buyers. So remind me: why would anyone want to buy season tickets and incur a "donation" charge nearly two times the face value of the ticket?
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Might also increase 3 Game packages sold, which is the route I go. As it is 18-20 games is just too much of a time commitment for me on top of football season tix.

I would possibly be interested in a half season/flex package if that were ever made available.
 


Damn, wish I lived closer to the cities. I'd definitely take advantage of this.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Conveniently not mentioned in the release is "per seat contribution" went up significantly (at least mine did), so it comes out as a wash. My per seat contribution (chairback upper deck) last year was $100 per seat, now it's $400. It's disingenuous not to mention that important fact in the news release.

2018-19: 2 tickets for $1280 + 2 "per seat contributions" totaling $200 = $1,480

2019-20: 2 tickets for $680 + 2 "per seat contributions" totaling $800 = $1,480.

So yes, the ticket prices went down significantly, but the significant not-mentioned "per seat contribution" increase took me right back to what I paid last year, and actually, I'll pay > $100 more this season because of my employee discount. That's wacked.
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I cannot believe they don't realize that the average season ticket holder doesn't care how much the season ticket is and how much the contribution is... all they care about is what the final amount is.
 

My 2018-2019 cost per seat: $640 for the ticket + $250 for the optional mandatory donation = $890 per seat
My 2019-2020 cost per seat: $340 for the ticket + $550 for the optional mandatory donation = $890 per seat

Yay! More to not be able to deduct cuz tax laws changed!!!
 

MNfootballfan said:
I cannot believe they don't realize that the average season ticket holder doesn't care how much the season ticket is and how much the contribution is... all they care about is what the final amount is.
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It's pretty clear the changes are specifically to move tix of the inventory they had available, namely bench seats in the Upper Deck. Those are a heck of a deal at $340, so less than $20/game. When I was looking for tix for the Wisconsin/Purdue games those were for sale at $55. My hunch is they will be much cheaper and thus more in demand going forward.
 



Maybe I'm a pessimist, but it would appear that reducing the ticket cost and increasing the donation the same amount is a very thinly-veiled way for the UofM to reduce the sales tax liability from a ticket sale.
 

Ope3 said:
It's pretty clear the changes are specifically to move tix of the inventory they had available, namely bench seats in the Upper Deck. Those are a heck of a deal at $340, so less than $20/game. When I was looking for tix for the Wisconsin/Purdue games those were for sale at $55. My hunch is they will be much cheaper and thus more in demand going forward.
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100%. I will be one of those people and this option is a great deal.

Instead of spending $300 or so on select individual single game seats, I will pay $340 and have a season ticket in the upper deck.
 

So, a little math...

$190 less per season ticket...assume 10,000 season tickets...7% sales tax rate

The U just pulled $113,000 out of thin air for basketball alone!
 

brucekaupa said:
My 2018-2019 cost per seat: $640 for the ticket + $250 for the optional mandatory donation = $890 per seat
My 2019-2020 cost per seat: $340 for the ticket + $550 for the optional mandatory donation = $890 per seat

Yay! More to not be able to deduct cuz tax laws changed!!!
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I received an elated text from my son about prices going down.
Really aggravating. More disrespect of the season ticket holders. Which I should expect.
 



Moonlight said:
I received an elated text from my son about prices going down.
Really aggravating. More disrespect of the season ticket holders. Which I should expect.
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I preface this as I do not have skin in the game as a basketball season ticket holder (I do have football tix), but what exactly is disrespectful? Season Ticket holders with chairbacks are paying the same thing. Those willing to sit on the upper deck benches, good deal.
 

Ope3 said:
I preface this as I do not have skin in the game as a basketball season ticket holder (I do have football tix), but what exactly is disrespectful? Season Ticket holders with chairbacks are paying the same thing. Those willing to sit on the upper deck benches, good deal.
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Trying to trick people with a headline is disrespectful.
 

brucekaupa said:
Trying to trick people with a headline is disrespectful.
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You're right, they should have said "Gopher fans looking for the least desirable seats in the house, we gots a deal for U". Those with knee/back issues, no need to click.
 

alltimetwinsfan said:
Almost every section saw a price decrease. Here is the pricing map:
View attachment 6107

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
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Our section appears to have a drop in price with a big increase in required donation. Save about $30 total, it appears, although someone from the ticket office "assured" one of our group that we were in the pale green area of 217, making us a no donation area. Not sure it's true though.
 

Holy Man said:
Our section appears to have a drop in price with a big increase in required donation. Save about $30 total, it appears, although someone from the ticket office "assured" one of our group that we were in the pale green area of 217, making us a no donation area. Not sure it's true though.
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The pale green section of 217 has not changed. It was $0 before, it's $0 now.

The bit of 217 in the gold was $250 before and has increased to $550.

Isn't the delineation in the balcony seats vs. benches?
 

brucekaupa said:
So, a little math...

$190 less per season ticket...assume 10,000 season tickets...7% sales tax rate

The U just pulled $113,000 out of thin air for basketball alone!
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Well, if you're no worse off, is that anything to get upset about?
 


brucekaupa said:
Didn't realize I expressed how upset I was, Jack.
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You didn't, just seemed like you were implying a sinister motive. With the tax changes, that really is the only benefit to them doing this shift, so good thought. They may also hope that the deduction for donations will be allowed again soon. I suspect there is a hard lobbying effort for that.
 

How is the "balcony club" being handled. That didn't used to exist, did it? According to my map, that's former Zone 1 territory. Are those people just SOL if they don't want to pay?
 

howeda7 said:
You didn't, just seemed like you implied a sinister motive. With the tax changes, that really is the only benefit to them doing this shift, so good thought. They may also hope that the deduction for donations will be allowed again soon. I suspect there is a hard lobbying effort for that.
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Which is an excellent point...too bad they didn't do this from the start back in the summary of 2012.
 

Moonlight said:
I received an elated text from my son about prices going down.
Really aggravating. More disrespect of the season ticket holders. Which I should expect.
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Disrespect? How so? Your season tickets, in sections that are mostly sold out and obviously have a lot of demand, didn't go up at all. And they are trying to sell more tickets in sections with little tickets sold on a regular basis, which would help fill the arena, making your experience better. How is that being disrespectful to you. The entire press release is very clear where the dropped prices are located. They NEVER said all ticket prices are being reduced. No trickery. Do disrespect. Just people like you b!tching about anything they can.

And the percentage of your season ticket going higher for the donation portion does help with taxes. I don't believe the states eliminated the donation tax benefit.
 

DLguy said:
Disrespect? How so? Your season tickets, in sections that are mostly sold out and obviously have a lot of demand, didn't go up at all. And they are trying to sell more tickets in sections with little tickets sold on a regular basis, which would help fill the arena, making your experience better. How is that being disrespectful to you. The entire press release is very clear where the dropped prices are located. They NEVER said all ticket prices are being reduced. No trickery. Do disrespect. Just people like you b!tching about anything they can.

And the percentage of your season ticket going higher for the donation portion does help with taxes. I don't believe the states eliminated the donation tax benefit.
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Some of the seats near to me are NOT season tickets.
The 'donation' is NOT tax deductible. That division/distinction is currently meaningless for tax purposes.

I have other season tickets where they respect me by having actual perks for my loyalty. Most of my tickets have basically zero resale value.

Otherwise, I do think lowering the prices elsewhere is a good, reasonable and overdue move, and will hopefully help them build a fan base. We pay more for our tickets that the rest of the Big Ten which impedes new season ticket holders.
I'm a small business owner, and while you see it as poopy people like me who just want to cry about everything, the U has not managed to use good business practices to support and build their program. They've squandered a ton of goodwill.
 

DLguy said:
Disrespect? How so? Your season tickets, in sections that are mostly sold out and obviously have a lot of demand, didn't go up at all. And they are trying to sell more tickets in sections with little tickets sold on a regular basis, which would help fill the arena, making your experience better. How is that being disrespectful to you. The entire press release is very clear where the dropped prices are located. They NEVER said all ticket prices are being reduced. No trickery. Do disrespect. Just people like you b!tching about anything they can.

And the percentage of your season ticket going higher for the donation portion does help with taxes. I don't believe the states eliminated the donation tax benefit.
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She's 100% right. You can be a season ticket holder in the gold section and have to pay $890 and go a row or two back on the same sight lines and pay a fraction of the amount. Committing to the whole season (including games against Saint Francis of Assissi) should offer a discount, not a penalty for being a sucker. They were smart to cut the prices of seats that have not been getting filled, but wrong to try and take the decrease in one area out on loyal customers in another.
 

Moonlight said:
Some of the seats near to me are NOT season tickets.
The 'donation' is NOT tax deductible. That division/distinction is currently meaningless for tax purposes.

I have other season tickets where they respect me by having actual perks for my loyalty. Most of my tickets have basically zero resale value.

Otherwise, I do think lowering the prices elsewhere is a good, reasonable and overdue move, and will hopefully help them build a fan base. We pay more for our tickets that the rest of the Big Ten which impedes new season ticket holders.
I'm a small business owner, and while you see it as poopy people like me who just want to cry about everything, the U has not managed to use good business practices to support and build their program. They've squandered a ton of goodwill.
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The U needs to re-brand the donations as "advertising" and give you a nice 5 second "ad" on the video board in exchange for your "donation". Boom. Deductible. I'm surprised schools aren't already doing this.
 


bga1 said:
She's 100% right. You can be a season ticket holder in the gold section and have to pay $890 and go a row or two back on the same sight lines and pay a fraction of the amount. Committing to the whole season (including games against Saint Francis of Assissi) should offer a discount, not a penalty for being a sucker. They were smart to cut the prices of seats that have not been getting filled, but wrong to try and take the decrease in one area out on loyal customers in another.
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Are you kidding me? Every single pricing zone in every stadium in the country for every sport has a cut off where someone 1 row behind another is going to be paying a lesser price. They are called price zones for a reason. Cannot believe I am having to explain this! And can you like this next year's single game ticket prices for your section for each game? Otherwise, you are not sure yet if you will be getting a discount or not.
 

DLguy said:
Are you kidding me? Every single pricing zone in every stadium in the country for every sport has a cut off where someone 1 row behind another is going to be paying a lesser price. They are called price zones for a reason. Cannot believe I am having to explain this! And can you like this next year's single game ticket prices for your section for each game? Otherwise, you are not sure yet if you will be getting a discount or not.
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Cannot believe you think this post is intelligible! lol
I'm nowhere near the 'gold section' and, as I said, at least half of my tickets have zero face value resale value. So they should be 100% 'donation'. I can't even GIVE those tickets away for free without throwing in delivery!
 

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