I Renewed My Season Tickets

Discussion in 'In The Stands' started by Texas Taps, Mar 11, 2015.

  1. Texas Taps

    Texas Taps 5,000+ Posts

    Over the years I've donated more than what was required to retain my seats. This year, because of the new points system I planned to raise my donation. Since we now have to pay for reserved parking, I've dropped my donation to the minimum amount. I don't feel good about it at all. It's a no win situation. :(
     
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  2. IvanDiabloHorn

    IvanDiabloHorn 1,000+ Posts

    I also donated more than the required amount each year and this year reduced to the minimum which means Texas will get less (Tickets/Donation/Parking) overall than they got from me last year. I rejected the 30.9% increase (includes parking). I also don't feel good about reducing my donation, but a 30.9% increase is arrogant.
     
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  3. Orangeblood

    Orangeblood 1,000+ Posts

    I dropped my donation to my minimums to retain tickets. A 4 figure drop in revenue for them.
     
  4. dang-str8

    dang-str8 1,000+ Posts

    I may not even renew... doesn't feel right. I'll just buy a tickets for whatever game I'm able to go to.
     
  5. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Bluff all I did before about not renewing because of team performance, this years policy really bugged me. Same donation amount as grandfathered but the ticket price increase, along with parking fee really, and I mean really, ticks me off. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! I think Patterson has gone too far. This may well be my last year. On my retirement income it is just going to be hard to justify going forward after this year, especially because I think the program just doesn't give a rats butt about the fans.
     
  6. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    I have not received an e-mail or a letter. Should I be worried?
     
  7. Badass

    Badass 2,500+ Posts

    If you have to raise prices despite the LHN influx of money that no other program has, you have the wrong AD ...
    just sayin
     
  8. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    We went 6-7 last year. Attendance was down, on average, 4,000 a game. Regardless about whether or not we think we are going go have a good or bad season, you do not implement numerous measures that will reduce attendance like Patterson has this offseason.

    Attendance for the Rice game might be the worst since the stadium expansion if we lose to Notre Dame. These policies almost guarantee that, even if we beat Notre Dame, it will be lower than it should be. I am tired of having an empty stadium in football and basketball. Since we already make plenty of money, I wish we had an athletic department focussed on increasing attendance. We did not have that under Dodds and it certainly appears we will not under Patterson. Maybe Oliver Luck would have been better... I do not know. I am extremely disappointed because I was really happy with the Patterson hire at the time. Also, no, winning does not cure everything as we had attendance problems when winning. It's just ridiculous to double down on these polices before we have started to win again.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2015
  9. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Like others, I have never donated the minimum. This year will be the first time in 45 years. Why give more?

    Nash, Patterson has just gotten started. You think you are unhappy now? Just wait.

    HTown, not a criticism, just curious. Why were you happy with the Patterson hire? As for Oliver Luck, comparing Patterson to Luck, is much like comparing White Castle to Edd Hendee's best steak at Taste of Texas - can't be done.
     
  10. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    Sabre, most of what I read about him seemed good. Arizona State seemed to have solid football, basketball and baseball programs. The reporting when he was interviewing was positive. He went to UT undergrad as well as law. He was also a basketball guy and I was hoping he would fix the serious structural problems in the program. I would not have believed he would actually increase the structural problems (if the report about building a stadium south of the colorado is true) with basketball. I am surprised anyone would raise the football ticket prices like this without winning. If I had known "the rocketman" at games was part of his platform, I would obviously not have been excited.

    While I would still have been happy with Luck and wish we had him now, there were some reasons at the time I was unsure about him. They really were nothing big though and I was not anti-Luck. I actually thought both were good and was happy we were choosing between what I thought were two good options. I was never a Dodds fan (am still not) and personally had a pretty low bar for the AD due to Dodds. I also thought both had to be better than Dodds. Like I said, so far very disappointed.

    If Andrew Hamilton of Oxford is made the next president of UT, it seems unlikely Patterson, for better or worse, goes anywhere. My gut feeling is that as an Englishman, Hamilton would have little interest in American college athletics and would leave Patterson alone. Such a policy could be great with a great AD or terrible with a terrible AD. I would like to note this paragraph is nothing more than mere speculation. We'll see how it plays out.

    All in all, the consensus seems to be that Patterson has not made good moves so far. Hopefully Patterson will do better.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
  11. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Htown.

    I wish your hope would come to pass, but nothing in Patterson's history indicates anything positive will happen, starting with his affiliation with KornFairy. His father made the Rockets and helped get the overpriced, underused, worthless Toyota Center crammed down the taxpayers throats. $350 million for a building only filled by a few concerts each year. Let's just say it would be easier to guess the winning lotto numbers than to find anyone in Portland that likes the guy.

    Arizona State is laughing their *** off at us, but very grateful we took him away. Remember, he had little or nothing to do with the current status of ASU athletics. As much as I'd like to blame him for Graham being there, that was done before his arrival. I guess you could give him credit for keeping Graham there for a couple of years, since the guy seems to have his resume on the desk of every AD at a major program.

    I shall totally agree with you on the "new president". Guy likely could care less about athletics except golf and polo. We certainly wouldn't want a man with THREE degrees from Texas. The third finalist is out of Berzerkley, and we all know how well our last Berzerkley president worked out. I would submit to you that no school president in the country has done a anywhere near the job Richard Romo has done at UTSA. In this time of turmoil, one of our own, who loves athletics, would certainly be nice.
     
  12. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    Read the Romo bio on the UTSA website. He certainly looks better to me than any of the other candidates (assuming he is not related to Tony Romo :smile1:). UTSA really has had vast improvement under his tenure academically as well as athletically.

    I was kind of shocked at the three finalists that were actually named. I thought we could do better as far as candidates go. Too early to judge as none have been hired yet, just none are very exciting. Still, some among the group are better than others.
     
  13. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Htown,

    Don't be shocked. read the bios of the Board of Regents DUMPED on us by Governor Goodhair. Our Chairman went to Baylor, gave them something like $50 million, gave Tech $25 million, and Texas how much? Another has contributed a total of less than $500 in his lifetime. Yet another is an Aggie, with a Houston law degree. While Stillwell was Burnt Orange, and I've always believed he was associated with T Boone Pickens magnanimous gift to the school, Abbott has replaced him with David Beck, undoubtedly the best regent we have or have had since Perry moved into the Governor's office. Maybe Dacid can someway get appointed Chairman and neuter the other problem children.
     
  14. Dogbert

    Dogbert 500+ Posts

    I just retired last August and over the years saw UT help make alumni and season ticket holders feel like part of the family. As a UT graduate and Lifetime Texas-Ex, I think that taking the "force the old people out" approach is not the inclusive spirit UT Athletics has embraced in the past. This is a shame.
     
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  15. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Okay, this is all screwed up. First, I haven't received anything in the mail. Second, I just made my normal Longhorn Foundation contribution online. Now, when trying to buy my season tickets, I see they want me make my Foundation contribution again plus grandfathered seat contribution. The odd thing is that the LF donation that I just paid happened to equal what they are asking for LF donation+grandfathered donation. Just a coincidence I know, but there is no recognition that I just paid something.

    Called my rep. Left a message.
     
  16. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    What does grandfathered per seat contribution mean? If a value of $300 is shown, and I have 2 seats, how come my requirement isn't $600? Only $300 is carried to the bottom. This thing is so confusing.
     
  17. PecosBill

    PecosBill 1,000+ Posts

    Is the $300 your minimum LHF donation?
     
  18. PecosBill

    PecosBill 1,000+ Posts

    The top section is for Renewals which shows Regular Cost of season tickets and season ticket discount.
    next is your current seat locations that you are renewing.

    Everything after that is for additional items like more seats, etc
    Renewable Items


    Description Quantity Price Amount
    2015 Football Season Ticket

    Regular Cost of Season Tickets: $1800.00
    Your Season Ticket Discount: $0.00
    450.00 1800.00
    Seat Location
    Level Section Row Seat(s)
    UDW XXX - XX -XX-XX
    Special Requests

    Additional Items

    [​IMG]
    Please note these season tickets are in addition to the season tickets you are renewing, which are listed above. If you only intend to renew your same season tickets, and do not want additional season tickets, simply close this box and continue your renewal.

    PURCHASE ADDITIONAL SEASON TICKETS CLOSE
    2015 Football Season Ticket
     
  19. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Yes. Also, I donated $600 earlier today on the Longhorn Foundation site like I do every year.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
  20. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    No. I have additional items such as grandfathered per seat contribution ($300) and additional longhorn foundation donation ($300).
     
  21. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Okay. Finally got hold of rep. All settled. Here's what I learned:

    - Longhorn Foundation donations (if paid on their webpage) will synch up with the ticket renewal webpage in a few days.

    - The "Grandfathered per seat Contribution" is a misnomer. It isn't "per seat" but really "for your seats".

    - The value shown on the webpage is the same as the minimum payment you have seen in past years.

    - The suggested additional LF donation is the excess amount over the minimum that you paid last year (which I gather people are balking on due to parking charges and ticket resale policy.)

    In summary, don't do as I did (paid the LF donation first) and assume the new ticket renewal system was smart enough to handle it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
  22. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    It wasn't a coincidence. The total values were the same per design.
     
  23. sphinx

    sphinx Guest

    I donated zero.

    They are giving away tickets to games at DKR-TMS at this point. Season tickets? Wow talk about getting ripped off.
     
  24. BananaChipBettor

    BananaChipBettor 100+ Posts

    Who is they? Your friend or business associate might give you a free ticket, but nobody else will. With the new grandfathered sales policy, you'll see a dramatic decrease in supply. Randy Cohen and TicketCity will be hit, Stubhub and Ebay will be hit, and people will be leery of selling their tickets around the stadium. The full money contributors, paying $600+ a seat/game for prime seating, aren't going to sell their tickets.

    If we start winning, coupled with the drop in supply, watch out. Like I said in another thread, we could lose every game this season and a decent Notre Dame ticket in 2016 will still cost you $500 on the secondary market.

    There is more to it than just money. You are supporting your school, it's convenient, 80% of your donation is tax deductible, you're in the same seats, etc.

    After reading your free seats posts and your thread about changing the uniforms to become a powerhouse like Oregon, you're a troll.
     
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  25. PecosBill

    PecosBill 1,000+ Posts

    For fun I used to fish, hunt dove, turkey, deer and hogs, go to the coast, gamble in Vegas, ski in Breckenridge CO and Lake Tahoe, lay on the beach in Mexico and attend UT homes games.

    Today attending a UT home game as an LHF season ticket holder is by far the cheapest of all of these.

    And still worth doing!
    :hookem:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  26. TXLonghorndad

    TXLonghorndad 100+ Posts

    I am doing the same. Did you let the LHF staff know what you are doing? Also, do you know what Patterson will be charging for parking?
     
  27. BananaChipBettor

    BananaChipBettor 100+ Posts

  28. BlueStar

    BlueStar < 25 Posts

    I've purchased 2 faculty/staff season tickets every year since 1998. I don't know if I'll renew this year as the cost for the tickets has increased by almost threefold.

    I realize that the faculty/staff ticket prices were far below what the university could charge the general public. However, I thought that the steep discount was basically a perk for university employees. The faculy/staff section is a good one -- tier one in the current scheme. It is true that there are faculty members who are well paid and can afford higher ticket prices. However, a good number of the staff are not well paid, and I'm concerned that many of these folks will not be able to afford tickets now. By my calculations, a staff employee who purchased four season tickets, let's say for his family, must pay approximately $1200 more for the tickets under the new pricing scheme. When you're making 40K a year or so, $1200 is a very significant amount of money.

    Maybe Patterson is hoping that many faculty/staff ticket holders will not renew and the university can profit from selling more tickets at market value. I don't pretend to understand his motives. It does seem to me that the price hike is excessively drastic and unnecessary given the financial status of UT athletics.
     
  29. Texas Taps

    Texas Taps 5,000+ Posts

    Yep, I sent an email to my rep. His reply:
     
  30. Texas Taps

    Texas Taps 5,000+ Posts

    I'm not here to defend Patterson, but during a segment on the LHN he said that UT had studied what other universities and the NFL were charging for season tickets and that UT had been pricing below the market.
     

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