University of Michigan student body president calls for more collaboration following new football seating policy
University of Michigan's new student body president told the school's Board of Regents that he and other students are not happy about a new seating policy that will be introduced at home football games in the fall.
Instead of seat placement assigned by seniority, seating in the student section at Michigan football games will now be first-come, first-serve.
"The students are upset to say the least, they feel that the athletic department broke its long-held social contract with the students," said Michael Proppe, Central Student Government president for the 2013-14 academic year.
The Michigan Student section during a 2011 game.
Proppe asked for more collaboration between students and university leaders during a Thursday public Board of Regents meeting at U-M's Dearborn campus.
The athletic department changed the student seating policy to encourage students to show up earlier for games. Student turnout has been a challenge in recent years, with particularly low turnouts for kickoff at noon games.
U-M athletic director Dave Brandon approximated that at Michigan's home game against Northwestern on Nov. 10, 2012, 7,000 of the 22,000 student ticket holders didn't show up for the game at all and even more were late.
"It's just a downer for our team to charge out of the tunnel and see the student section half-empty," he said at an April 29 faculty senate committee meeting. "I'd like to believe that they're all studying but you and I have been up and down State Street enough to know that our students have a lot of choices."
Several Big Ten schools use a general admission practice for student seating, including Michigan State University and Penn State University.
Proppe said while he understands Brandon's reasoning, he thinks students should have been consulted on the change.
"I wish the first step had been going to students and saying 'how can we get you to show up on time?'" Proppe said. Brandon has been informally encouraging students to show up early since the 2011 season.
Proppe asked the board and university administrators to seek student opinion in future initiatives. He mentioned the upcoming presidential search to replace Mary Sue Coleman, who is retiring in July 2014, as an example.
"The university is going through some significant changes in the coming years," he said. "Central Student Government as the voice of the students would like to set a precedent of student input."
Along with changing the seating policy, the athletic department also increased student ticket prices from $32.50 to $40 per game.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
SchellBelle
Mon, May 20, 2013 : 9:06 p.m.
As a PSU alum who dealt with GA for four years and inflated pricing-the world goes on and your entry to the game becomes an adventure trying to guess where you might end up. The seats will still be empty when the team runs out-the students will be in line in the stadium for their ticket along with the others who think that you can just stride right in, and there is no fix to that. People will still come when they want.
Stuart Brown
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:38 a.m.
Would like to think the students show some spine and start boycotting the games (and demand that the tickets be free to students as well.)
Brad PTA
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 5:59 p.m.
OUr volunteer group works consessions in the student section and we get time to hang with the ushers as the students are coming in (because they don't buy anything!). From what I see they do come in before kick-off but they come at the same time and sometimes the 1st quarter is half done before the line is gone. This new policy is going to be a headache for the ushers in the student section. The students are already packed in because they hand off their tickets to their friends from other sections now it's going to be a total free-for-all! This should be a fun season because the ushers are going to QUIT!
Audion Man
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.
It's almost like the students are there for the benefit of the athletic department. And not vice-versa. Tells you everything you need to know about UM.
Kellie Woodhouse
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:09 p.m.
My MLive Colleague Kyle Meinke posted an article this morning where Brandon defends the general admission seating change. In the article, he quotes Brandon saying: "If we're going to sell you a ticket at a substantial discount, we want you to be there. And hopefully, the changes we made will facilitate that. I don't think it'll solve the problem completely, but hopefully it'll start moving us in the right direction." http://www.annarbor.com/mi/wolverines/2013/05/dave_brandon_student_attendanc/ Brandon's perspective here is interesting. He says every student who wants season tickets can get them, but he wants those students to attend.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:19 a.m.
I know it is off topic, but I hate the fact that 'sports' article require readers to register on another entity to comment. Not doing it.
a2citizen
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 7:45 p.m.
And if I want to comment on that article I have to go to MLive... 10 minutes ago a had no sympathy for the students...now I think I'm starting to see how they feel.
Usual Suspect
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:51 p.m.
Students, if you want to drink, then go drink. If you want to go to the game, then go to the game.
Audion Man
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:35 p.m.
If it were truly either/or, the Big House would be a much emptier place.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
I understand Domino's Pizza is instituting a new policy. If you don't eat your whole pizza within 20 minutes of delivery the next pizza will cost you more and your not allowed to pick your items.
Nicholas Urfe
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:36 p.m.
There are students who show up early for every game, and wouldn't miss one. Unfortunately for them, this is change is incredibly lame. As for the others, distracted by sleep, beer pong, or whatever, I still haven't seen any suggestions on an alternative approach. One wonders if the change will be rolled back if it does not work.
Mr. Me
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:37 p.m.
It seems like a good policy for the students who do show up early anyway. They'll get great seats.
OLDTIMER3
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:25 p.m.
If as most think it is just to make more money.Why reserve any seats anyway unless they have season tickets?
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:16 a.m.
Student tickets for football are sold on a season basis only.
Pete Warburton
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:10 p.m.
For the past three decades, the Athletic Department has been trying to discourage students from going to the Big House . They would like to get folks paying $ 95.00 per seat not $ 40.00. I am surprised so many students still show up....they sure have not been made to feel welcome.
OLDTIMER3
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
It is hard to believe there are that many people willing to pay $95 for a seat. I myself wouldn't pay the $40 the students have to pay.
hail2thevict0r
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
In case you haven't noticed, they are charging pretty close to $95.00 a seat for regular tickets. I think the student tickets are still around $35 a game....people still buy tickets, there is still a waiting list and regular people come because they want to. Throwing out $35 that your parents paid is a lot easier than throwing out $90 that you paid on your own.
lugemachine
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:31 p.m.
This makes perfect sense... but don't single out the students. Do it for EVERYONE. Get your butt in a seat early and you can sit right up front. If you're among the thousands who are still sauntering in (and it's not just students... it's all across the stadium) after kick-off, then it sucks to be you! I typically get in my seat about 20-30 minutes before kickoff and it drives me NUTS as all the late-arrivals continue to stream in over the course of the entire first quarter... blocking my view... squeezing their ample bellies past me as I try to actually watch the game.
Usual Suspect
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.
There's a reason some people call it, "Darwinian seating."
Brad
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:17 p.m.
Yeah, let's go "festival seating" for 110,000 people. Now that's something I'd go watch!
Brad
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:12 p.m.
He's just laying the groundwork to eliminate some student seating in favor of increased "high priced" seats. There is a buck out there that he doesn't have yet, and he's going after it. Hail!
cantwait
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:01 p.m.
"Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" Perhaps Michigan football isn't as relevant or important to the current student body.
Kellie Woodhouse
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:54 a.m.
Something that should be noted is Dave Brandon agreed to meet with the student body in the fall semester to discuss what the changes were made.
Kellie Woodhouse
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:48 p.m.
Sheila. He is going to talk to students THIS Fall. I'll try to cover when that happens.
Sheila Parsons
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:43 p.m.
. . . and how many students showed up? Sheila Class of '65
Brad
Fri, May 17, 2013 : noon
Here, I'll give you the short version: "It's for the greater good!". The "greater good" being loosely equivalent to "the bottom line".
meddler76
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:49 a.m.
The student body vs. Dave Brandon in a PR battle? I think I know how this will go.
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:42 a.m.
personally I would move the students out of the prime seats and into each end zone to give the football team a true home field advantage. bunch of pampered whiney little jerks nothing would have changed if you all would have gotten your sorry drunk butts into the seats your momma and daddies paid for by noon.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.
I haven't attended a game since App State but last time i knew the students didn't have prime seats. They were in the corner of one end zone.
mlivesaline
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:39 a.m.
This is an outrage that people aren't getting to their seats before kickoff as they are spending a little more time in the Alumni tent or at tailgates..what's that?, oh we were only talking about the students not showing up on time to the game. I love how all these commenters here puff they're chests out and say how right this policy is. To hell with the students. But turn that policy to include everyone and EVERYONE would be crying bloody murder. All these people who side with the athletic department, aren't directly affected, if they were their tune would change in a heartbeat. I'm sure in the back of someone's mind has been the thought .. if the students don't want to pay then we'll make more money selling to someone else. And this is sad.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:12 a.m.
blue They are given discounts because they are students, not because they are expected to be arrive at any particular time.
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:44 a.m.
the students pay, or to say it correctly their parents pay half price for tickets they are not being denied tickets, they are being given an incentive to arrive early to the game. crybabies.
Ghost of Tom Joad
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:11 a.m.
fill up the student section before kick off and you can start talking about "fulfilling the social contract."
GoNavy
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:11 a.m.
Welcome, students, to another University of Michigan-sponsored lesson on the intersection of idealism and corporatism. Seating is first come, first serve. Waters are $5.
semperveritas
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:08 a.m.
it has come to this in the brandon regime----STUDENTS are no longer integral to the university. then why does the university exist? we have become a publicly held corporation without bothering with an IPO. it is not just about meeting expenses; it is about fattening the bottom line. don't expect unsold student allocated tickets to go to the often mentioned 'waiting list', but they may find their way to stub hub to be sold at vastly inflated prices. my university----a place where students are secondary------doesn't seem right.
M-Wolverine
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:29 p.m.
So the hospital should do what's best for the students, even if it hurts the product they produce? I mean, it's not separate and all....
heartbreakM
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:13 p.m.
The AD works FOR the university. Though the budgets may be separate, they are one and the same, and the thought they are separate entities is just plain wrong. Even if the President of the university or deans of the various academic departments want to think otherwise. Is the business school separate? How about the hospital?
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:45 a.m.
the AD is seperate from the U they pay their own way and part of doing that is having a full house when the TV camera's show the crowd at kickoff. it's called marketing, take a class
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:59 a.m.
"It's just a downer for our team to charge out of the tunnel and see the student section half-empty," alrighty then.....lets just take the scholarships away from players who can't perform if there are only 103,000 people instead of 110,000 people watching them.
Greg
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:46 a.m.
This isn't a sport, it is a big business. Millions of dollars are involved and anyone who expects the "management" to be concerned with the students as a high priority is dreaming.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:08 a.m.
??? It's not a sport? Really? Despite the fact that is has become a big business, it is still a sport, at the University of Michigan, an institution based around the concept of students.
trespass
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:34 a.m.
Why not a compromise? Keep the same seating priorities but make a policy that if you are not in your seat 15 minutes before the kick-off, its up for grabs.
Kyle Austin
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 11:21 a.m.
I like this compromise, but I wonder how enforceable it is. And would kids have to go to their assigned seats, and then change once the 15-minute mark comes? Another compromise that was floated out when I was talking to students about this earlier is grandfathering in kids that have priority seating seniority, and starting new ticketholders in general admission. I thought that seemed reasonable.
deputydwag
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:26 a.m.
Not aware that "social contracts" have anything to do with business. Remember, athletics is a business and is being run as one. When a product doesn't sell, a business will either drop it or change it. The product here, "wanting a full student section at a football game" wasn't working. I guess the product needed to be changed. Remember Brandon's mission is Michigan Athletics, not what fans think. If what fans think counted, unhappy fans wouldn't come to games. Then revenues would be down. Then that would get attention. I don't see that happening.
Stuart Brown
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:23 a.m.
It's a business? Tell that to the NCAA! If it is a business, then the players should be able to get whatever the free market price is for their skill set.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.
Like it or not the world is full of 'social contracts'. To say that a business of any kind is totally exempt from the concept is the kind of thinking that is reflected in the now-popular idea that businesses are exempt from most commonly accepted ideas of fair play, as long as it generates more profits.
smokeblwr
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 9:51 a.m.
These UM students don't seem to realize they are hurting the "Brand" by not loving football as much as they are supposed to. The Brand must be protected because a lot of people are making a lot of money off it.
Blue Marker
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.
I remember an America where once you paid for your ticket you could come and go as you please. But I guess that wouldn't help the "Brand" now would it? I wonder if Dave "Brand"on changed his name?
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11 a.m.
bam
Leslie Cypert
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:01 a.m.
My work study student had to go to work on some Saturdays. (yes, some students are on State St working at their work study jobs, or studying or whatever). With that said, she couldn't give her ticket to someone, because you need to have your id with the ticket. With that said, as a single mom (who works for rather low university wages) the 32% increase in ticket prices makes it hard for us to afford to buy her a tickets. WIth that said, I would like to see the football team show up for all the student run theater and art performances, because it is pretty disheartening to work your butt off in the performing art so no athlete shows up. Yep, my rationale is not coherent, kind of like Dave Brandon's.
a2citizen
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 8:14 p.m.
Leslie, perhaps you should see if Brandon would schedule football games around your student's work schedule.
hail2thevict0r
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 7:32 p.m.
Leslie, it still doesn't matter. She's getting a discount on tickets and she knows full well that she may not be able to get to the games at all or on time. The discount students get on tickets comes with some responsibility - 1. show up 2. stay 3. be loud. That's it. If she can't fulfill that, or may not, then she's either going to get bad seats and deal with it, not buy tickets or find a way to show up on time. If Athletes were getting discounted ticket prices for performances at the theater, were buying tickets and not showing up, and there was a demand for the tickets, I suspect they would change their ticket policies.
M-Wolverine
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:26 p.m.
Well, that was said.
Leslie Cypert
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:03 p.m.
Bluemax. She doesn't know her schedule each week. She works for another ticket office. And she bought tickets in June before she got her work study. Thanks for the input, you just responded without all the information.
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:49 a.m.
if you know your going to work saturdays why buy tickets? they are going up $8.00 a game if you can't afford that then watch on TV.
A2comments
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:57 a.m.
She can sell her ticket to any other student or the buyer can pay to upgrade the ticket to a non-student ticket.
Krupper1
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:33 a.m.
Let's be real folks. . . this isn't because the students arrive late. This allows the athletic department to oversell seats in the section (just like the airlines) anticipating a percentage to be "no-shows". Sell 120% of seats = more money!
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:51 a.m.
NO it IS because they arrive late or not at all. they have been trying different things the last few years and nothing worked our student/fans for football have turned LAME
PittsfieldPerson
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:56 a.m.
Without a big home game in the 2014 season, and with the new seating policy, there is no incentive for students to buy season tickets that year. There will always be some tickets available and you can sit wherever you want anyway, They should consider instead modifying the policy by class - give the seniors the best section, juniors next etc.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:59 a.m.
Pittsfied That has been the policy regarding seating. That's why it is such a big stink to change it. Those that have been 'putting in their time' are now treated the same as incoming freshmaen.
hail2thevict0r
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 7:27 p.m.
Not true at all, it's possible if the student demand decreases, that section could be shrunk. It's been increased because of student demand and there's enough public demand that they could just release those tickets back into the general ticket pool.
Blue Marker
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:32 p.m.
You wait; in 2014 Dave will charge a "premium" for PSU. You know, the school that's currently on near death penalty probation. The 2014 home schedule is as bad as I've ever seen.
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:51 a.m.
this actually does make sense.
a2citizen
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:08 a.m.
"...modifying the policy by class..." I thought that was the reasoning behind the luxury boxes.
Tag
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:14 a.m.
Seems like the athletic departments policies are working quite well for basketball. Students show up well in advance for games. Attendance is based both on how many people not only show up but also "paid attendance"
dave2458
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.
Dear student's, if you think that Dave Brandon cares at all about you your sadly mistaken. If he doesn't care about season ticket holders why would he care about you.
OhioStater
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:50 a.m.
Next time I'm partying my face off, I'm just going to say that I had "a lot of choices".
Charley Sullivan
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:45 a.m.
There are plenty of people who aren't there at the beginning of the game, not just in the student section. There are even more who leave with about 10 minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter, mostly not in the student section. If you've bought a ticket, you get to decide when you arrive, and your seat should still be there. This should be no less true of students. There is an arrogance afoot in all this.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:55 a.m.
Charlie You make an excellent point. Students are notorious for crowding in all their friends together, therefore making the 'full' areas quite full, and also making more empty areas. On the other hand, the other fans really don't do any squishing. How often have latecomers had to take 4 or 5 minutes just to get people to separate and let them have enough room to get in? Walk around the stadium before kickoff, and you will see lines at every section entrance.
bluemax79
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 11:53 a.m.
and you have a choice to arrive early and get better seats OR arrive late and get poorer choices pretty much like a movie theatre. seems pretty fair to me
glenn
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:46 a.m.
It's all about money only money. If enough students don't buy the tickets then Brandon will sell those tickets for higher prices and make more money. Brandon doesn't care about the students. Brandon doesn't care about the football players coming out on the field and looking up in the stands. Brandon cares about money. What is a shame is that the average fan has to be wealthy today. Going to a football game at Michigan cost easily $200 bucks for a family of four. Is there anything average about that?
Blue Marker
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:26 p.m.
Sorry, but a family of four can't see a game at Michigan Stadium for $200.00. Tickets for a horrible opponent will run you $75.00 a piece. Now add parking and God forbid you want bottled water. Did I mention seat fees? I guess that' why I show up on time. For that amount of money you have to make it a whole day event.
Tag
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:33 a.m.
Dave Brandon cares about having a balanced budget across ALL sports and having a self-sufficent athletic department. Dave Brandon is NOT the Honey Badger. Michigan Football ticket prices are NOT out of line with other average universities across the country. The following is a sample of a few average ticket prices: OHIO $75, Penn State $70, Little Brother $65, Nebraska $75, Texas $70 (Note: Texas charges as much as $110 for its game vs. Oklahoma) Southern Cal $75, (Note USC charges up to $100 for its game vs. UCLA and charges $45 for student guest tickets)
annarboral
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:46 a.m.
Student President? Like who cares. Student government does not really represent anyone but the handful of people that find their identity from getting fancy titles. Real students are too busy studying and partying to ever give student government a random thought
a2citizen
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:38 a.m.
"...7,000 of the 22,000 student ticket holders didn't show up for the game at all ..." The published attendance for that Northwestern game was 112,510.
a2citizen
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
I know what attendance is based on...in spite of the 3rd quarter announcement: "Once again ladies and gentlemen, you are part of the largest crowd to witness..."
hail2thevict0r
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.
The attendance is based on tickets sold for the game, not actual people who come to the game. There was a big hoopla about this when the Big Chill happened because the record was not based on the number given by the AD, it was the one Guinness ended up counting from actual tickets scanned.
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:51 a.m.
I used to go to a game a year. Either with my former boss or he would throw me his tickets. Always a less desirable game but the tickets were free. But my point is every time I went there were several no shows in the immediate area we sat. People just expand out a bit and you don't see "empty seats" in the bench style seating. So while the stadium may look full it isn't. Under NCAA rules a ticket sold can count toward attendance whether the ticket holder shows up or not.
David Briegel
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:37 a.m.
There ya go, troubling Davey Brandon with facts!
Dcam
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.
I think no student is as rabid a college football team backer as the non-students. Whether it's alum or just plain Joe and Jane booster, they're the ones with silly hats, painted faces and over the top tailgating parties. And it happens in every major college town.
Tag
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
Sorry students but this is just whining. If you (the students) don't fill your allotted seats I'm sure the university can sell them to someone that's willing to pay a non-discounted price. 10,000 people (at least) are on the season ticket waiting list. You don't think Dave Brandon sees that as a gold mine. Support the team, support the team, support the team.
jcj
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 10:45 a.m.
Thinkingone ? Read this post. The topic has NOTHING do do with the amount of noise generated! Your comment has nothing to do with the topic of this particular post. Wow! I had no idea the wave was such a hot button topic.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:49 a.m.
jcj Your answer about having nothing to do bears no relation to the amount of noise you - and those around you - generate v what the student section generates. Example: When the wave is going around the stadium, you can close your eyes and easily tell when it is in the student section and when it isn't.
jcj
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:04 p.m.
luge No I just bought 4 season tickets for the last 35 years because I did not have anything else to do.
lugemachine
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:20 p.m.
Have you been to a game? You are aware that the students make about 90% of the noise in that stadium, correct?
jcj
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 3:15 a.m.
I supported the team for 35 years. Not anymore. Tickets are gone.
Hailmary
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 10:50 p.m.
Dave Brandon seems like a smart fellow and he strikes me like everything is about the bottom line. I understand his thinking and why he thinks like this. I don't like it to the extent I believe he is taking it but, it seems to be the mindset these days and if one guy can't get it done, fire him and find someone that will. I don't see this mentality changing anytime soon. Sorry !
jj45678
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 10:27 p.m.
If they don't like it perhaps they should have showed up on time for the football games. This policy was created because the now whining fans couldn't be bothered to show up before kickoff.
ThinkingOne
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 1:44 a.m.
Hail I don't know if your rebate-based solution would help, but at least it's an IDEA rather than a radical revision of past practice. Another idea would have been to try either the rise in price OR the no reserve seat policy. Or to announce that if the attendance at kick-off doesn't improve then the reserved seats would be gone next year. Or to allow juniors and seniors to keep their seniority and let freshman and sophomores go to general admission. Or to charge on a sliding scale for better seats. Maybe require returning students to actually go to the box office and select seats rather than just doing everything on-line - which is so easy that those not motivated to get just as good a seat as those that are motivated. Etc etc etc. To just change the seating priorities that have been in effect for at a minimum of 40 years seems to be a little dramatic. Also, how exactly is the no-reserved seat policy going to fill things up any earlier? Its not like there were random seats all over the student section. The sparseness is always up in the corner and deep in the end zone - exactly where the late-comers are most likely to end up now. Very few empty seats were in the junior and senior sections.
hail2thevict0r
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
Brad, the athletic department really has nothing to do with being a student at the University. As sad as some may find that, it's just the way it is. The fact is, those students are getting a serious discount from what regular season ticket holders, and alumni, like myself pay. There are certain expectations to having that discount, one of them is that the majority actually show up. If that's not happening, then they don't deserve the discount and the guaranteed seat in row B. There are two issues hear, the seat increase and the general admission. I'm not so much for raising the cost of the games but something does need to be done about no one showing up for them. My plan would be to charge the students what they're charging for a season, stamp their ticket when they go to a game, and then if they have all stamped at the end of the season they get a portion of their ticket cost back.
Brad
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:16 p.m.
Who knew that football games had tardiness penalties? Maybe you should just send them to detention like they were in junior high. Or - you could use it as a lame excuse to change ticket policies and increase revenues. ding ding ding
hail2thevict0r
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 11:20 p.m.
ding ding ding
heartbreakM
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 10:25 p.m.
It's an insulting price rise to students who are already pretty strapped (based on average stats of what student debt is upon graduation, and rate may go up July 1 if Congress doesn't act, to 6.8% or so). Brandon is right in that students should show up on time, but he is forcing a charge on them which is in line with his other policies of rising prices to the fans. Some claim that he is doing this to fund the other sports--such as softball, swimming, gymnastics, etc--though the record profits that UM is showing each year is thought provoking about the need for this. It is a shame that Mr. Brandon doesn't really care about the costs for the average fan anymore
B2Pilot
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 10:09 a.m.
I truly believe he wants the 'REAL' fans to show up and maybe get rid of the "POSERS" who buy tickets because it gives them one more option for the weekend.
jcj
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 10:24 p.m.
"It's just a downer for our team to charge out of the tunnel and see the student section half-empty," Give me a break! Does Mr money grabber think it's not a "downer" when every year he changes long standing policies, only to make more money?
David Briegel
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 1:40 a.m.
Which cute little outfit shall they choose from their vast wardrobe. Certainly nothing uniform!
garrisondyer
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 12:40 a.m.
And also a downer when long-time fans turn on the tube to watch their favorite football team only to see a bunch of silly dress-up costumes on them instead of their great maize and blue uniforms.
hattrix
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 10:16 p.m.
If "their" all studying, THEY'RE all going to need to study more!!
a2citizen
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 9:44 p.m.
A "social contract"? That's a good one. Took a couple weeks to dream up that rationale. If you don't like it there is a simple solution - don't buy the tickets. The only thing worse than 7,000 empty seats for a game is 22,000 empty seats for a season.
smokeblwr
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 9:55 a.m.
The University is there to perpetuate the University and those whose careers and financial abundance depend upon it.
Leslie Cypert
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:11 a.m.
Hello, the University is there for the students. Oh, didn't you know that?
ligrasp
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.
A 32% increase in ticket prices?!!! These are students--who can afford to pay this for a ticket?
jdmb03
Sat, May 18, 2013 : 3:34 a.m.
Student loans
alan
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 4:22 a.m.
Check your math. It's not 32%.
joejoeblow
Fri, May 17, 2013 : 2:47 a.m.
Who can afford to pay this for a ticket? The same people who pay for the luxury condo, the car, gas, insurance, health insurance, tuition, and party money. As hail2thevict0r said, they're parents! Insert rant of how I paid for college on my own that no one will read.
hail2thevict0r
Thu, May 16, 2013 : 11:19 p.m.
Their parents...