Longhorn Foundation Question

Discussion in 'PCL' started by tropheus, Feb 25, 2001.

  1. tropheus

    tropheus 1,000+ Posts

    I have 3 tickets (not LHF) on row 2, West side, on the goal line (actually behind the goal line).

    I am considering joining the LHF in order to get OU tickets, possibly better seats or at least to ensure I keep the seats I have.

    I know the minimum is $150. Is that per seat or per person (no matter how many seats a person purchases). For example, my three seats for $450 or since all three are in my name just $150?

    Those of you out there who know, can you guess as to whether or not I could get better seats... even a few rows up and over would be nice, but I don't want the East Side nor the Upper Deck.

    Should I give more than $150?

    I will call them next week, but I am sure they will tell me to give as much as I can and that they can't guarantee me anything.
     
  2. hopefulhorn

    hopefulhorn 25+ Posts

    suggests that the LHF contribution will almost surely be $150.00 per seat. Not sure on whether your seat location will improve but that seems likely--at least somewhat.

    One of the better perks to being a LHF member that you didn't mention is that you get a parking pass that enables you to park pretty close to the stadium. That is getting to be a bigger deal with more of the games selling out since Mack's arrival.

    As you note, you also get in the mix for OU tickets. So far, ours haven't been very good. But, just being in the stadium for that game stands to be an accomplishment in the coming years.

    If you can kick loose with the cash, I think it ends up being worth it.

    Thoughts from anyone else?
     
  3. PSLonghorn

    PSLonghorn < 25 Posts

    The donation is not per seat and can be used to get up to four seats without diluting your preference. That said, I would not expect to move up much unless you near a $1000 level for next year. In addition, not every foundation member gets OU tickets. The year before last no one who gave less that $250 or so got tickets to OU. I think it was higher last year and will probably be even higher for next year. To ensure OU tickets, you should probably give around $500.


    PSLonghorn
    Hook 'Em Horns!!!
     
  4. MikeUT89

    MikeUT89 25+ Posts

    A donation is good for up to four seats.

    The cutoff donation for OU tix last year was $160. I upped mine to over $200 for this year.

    I wouldn't bother joining the Foundation at this point for less than a grand a year. Just buy scalp tix to the OU game. Join the Foundation next year if the Nasdaq keeps sliding. A lot of "new money" is disappearing from Austin these days.

    MIKE
     
  5. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    If I understood your ?? correctly, the answer is that you do not pay 150 per seat. It is 150 and that covers all your seats but keep in mind that some games are limited to the numnber of season tickets and in some cases to a set number like 4 max.

    Good Luck!
    Hook 'Em!
     
  6. MikeUT89

    MikeUT89 25+ Posts

    I've given $160 for the past six years. That is enough to get me four chairback seats on the west side upper deck. Those seats probably now require closer to $800+ for new members.

    That is just for the Foundation donation. I still have to pay for the tickets at face value.

    MIKE
     
  7. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    Deloss won't give you a break on the price of the tickets.
     
  8. GatePratt

    GatePratt 25+ Posts

    It should be mentioned that there is also a cumulative donation level that needs to be reached for OU tickets. Last year, the cutoff was $160 for the current year and around $600-650 cumulative. So a first year Foundation member would have had to give the $600-650. I expect the $160 figure to go up this year...I'm not sure about the $600-650. At these levels, buying scalped tickets looks more and more attractive, especially to the OU game. Good luck.
     
  9. Hellraiser97

    Hellraiser97 500+ Posts

    You have a better chance of getting better tickets with 2 or 4 tickets than 3. I learned this the hard way, despite myself and the two guys I sit with all donating decent amounts to LF, we couldn't get seats together in the lower deck. Instead they sat us individually! When we bitcehd they put us back together in the upperdeck, although we had worse seats than before!

    This year, we're going to go 2 and 2 and try to get all four together. I doubt it will happen, but we'll see. IMHO, LF is only good for OU, away games, and bowl games, since as long as you renew your season ticekt app, it doesn't matter if you give a dime to LF if you want to keep your current seats.

    Hook 'Em Horns

    Hellraiser 97

    "Ya'll can go to hell, I'm-a-goin' to TEXAS!"
    --Davy Crockett
     
  10. GatePratt

    GatePratt 25+ Posts

    Foundation isn't even that great for away and bowl games. They always get the crappiest seats...I always buy directly from the other team's(or Bowl's) ticket office and get much better tickets.
     
  11. MikeUT89

    MikeUT89 25+ Posts

    Foundation sucks for away and Bowl games.
     
  12. SouthernGent

    SouthernGent 100+ Posts

    JMHO,


    Get in to the Foundation now. The sooner you get in the better. I believe the $150 covers 4 seats but it will hurt you in the standpoint of having 4 seats. I have read in the past when comparing people, if there are 2 different members who each gives $150 and one of them has 2 seats, the other has 4 seats, the one with two seats will get preference since their donation per seat is greater.

    If you give $150 to the foundation I would imagine you will get endzone season tickets since they are adding more season tickets in the endzone this year.

    Once you are in, I wouldn't think about changing unless we go 0-11 or you win the lottery. If you request to move you can actually lose your seats and end up in worse ones.

    --------------------------------------------------
    "I plan to ... give the Ags many headaches at Kyle Field and I have nothing to say to the Sooners. They probably couldn't read it anyway."
    --Rufus Harris
     
  13. Primetheus

    Primetheus < 25 Posts

    Something b/t $175 & $200 total will give you a good chance @ OU seats.

    The cumulative figure only counted toward "tiebreakers" @ the $160 level

    "Never follow good wine with water....unless you are out of good wine."
     
  14. Skip

    Skip 25+ Posts

    Mike

    I started at $1,000 three years ago with 3 seats in 105 but not chairbacks. Last year I tried to get 4 together and I ended up keeping my original 3 with the 4th five rows behind me. I'm in again for a grand this year and I'm going to try again to get 4 together in the chairbacks.

    43-17
     
  15. horn4life

    horn4life 500+ Posts

    You won't gain a thing from joining at this point. UNLESS you need to join to keep the seats you already have.

    A) You will not improve your seats, as nobody is giving up theirs unless they died. Big dollar donors will slide past if that is the case, not $400-600 donors but $1000+ sorts.

    B) you will not get OU tickets. Sorry but that is the fact of the matter as OU tix are distributed on both annual and cumulative donations. You won't be high enough on the food chain for either.

    If you want OU tix then I suggest you save lots and lots of money and buy them from a scalper.

    "&#62;
    ~
     
  16. ticket

    ticket < 25 Posts

    I can't believe how much mis-information is contained in this thread.

    For the last time: Texas-OU game seats are based on your LHF donations for the CURRENT YEAR ONLY. Someone giving $10,000/year for the last five years WILL NOT be going to the OU game if he only gives $150 this year. If that same person gives $1,000 this year, he'll be sitting in the end zone of the Cotton Bowl right next to a first year donor who gives $1,000 this year.

    For home games it's more complicated, but the bottom line is this: If you already have season tickets, it's very hard to improve them without an substatial increase in LHF dues. For example, my seats are in Sec. 31 (goal line), Row 62. It only costs me a $150 donation/year to renew these seats. Others who sit near me, however, have to give $1,000/year for virutally the same seats because they joined the LHF later than I did. This means I could increase my donation to $1,000/year and get the exact same seats. My donation would have to go from $150/year to WELL OVER $1,000/year to get any noticable improvment.

    To me, unless you already have really good seats, the only advantage of having season tickets is the ability to sit with the same people at every game. I've sat near the same people for many years and have become friends with many of them. If you don't care who you sit next to, you're much better off buying tickets on the street on game day.

    bpe3
     
  17. Hou-Tex Horn

    Hou-Tex Horn 100+ Posts

    good point ticket...I sit right in front of you (sec. 31, row 60) and pay 1000 a year to the LHF for virtually the same seats...however, I do get a parking permit right next to the stadium....whoopee~
     
  18. fat ass

    fat ass < 25 Posts

    How the donation works is your total amount divided by the number of seats you request. 150 for 4 seats will not put you ahead of someone who gives 150 and gets 2 tickets. It is also cumulative as mentioned above.

    Sandy, you can't just walk out of a drive in.
     
  19. horn4life

    horn4life 500+ Posts

    I stand corrected on OU tix, I think the cumulative was wishful thinking on my behalf.

    Section 31 RULES!

    I can barely see you guys however from my super premium behind the edge of the goal line seats on rows 38 and 39.

    I was lucky enough to join back in 1996, I had 4 and 4 in different locations. When I jumped to the East Side I had about 15 seats between my sets. The next eyar they got me to where I got the seats overlapping. There is not a single person who sits around me who has not sat there since year one that does not give $1000+ per year.

    I checked on trying to jump the aislle and they suggested $3000+ annually with no guarantees. Makes me pretty friggin happy with my current seats!
    "&#62;
    ~
     
  20. Primetheus

    Primetheus < 25 Posts

    .....and as I said previously: the cumulative total only counts toward resolving "Tie-breakers" at the minimum level.

    This year the min was $160. There weren't enough seats to let everyone at the $160 level get 'em. So the cumulative figure was used here & here only.


    "Never follow good wine with water....unless you are out of good wine."
     
  21. Horn9497

    Horn9497 100+ Posts

    I recently called the Foundation (so take this for what it is worth) and they said to get new tickets anywhere in the lower deck they expect that it will require over $7,000 donation. The problem is that they sold out of season tickets last year and they have a 98% renewal rate.

    They also said that getting lower level basketball tickets will cost even more.

    I guess that I understand--you can't kick people out of seats they have had for 20 years--but it is disappointing for a fairly recent graduate who wants good seats. I can pay $1,500 to scalpers or $10,000 to UT for the same seats--I would pay a little more to support the school but my hands are tied on that one.
     
  22. Trips Left

    Trips Left < 25 Posts

    I just joined the foundation this year with a $350 contribution.(I was getting tickets through a friend for the last few years and that fell through.)

    Anyway, at this initial donation level, what are my chances of getting 4 season tickets and 4 TX/ou tickets? If chances are pretty bad should I ask for two tickets instead of four?
     
  23. MATTerHORN69

    MATTerHORN69 100+ Posts

    I have a friend in the LHF and she told me a few weeks ago that the reality is it would take me at least $5000/yr to improve. I have Sec 2, Row 17 - about the 10 yd line. I got them starting in 94 and joined the LHF in 95. I did $150/yr the first 3-4 years and then increased to $600 last year with no improvement, in spite of a long, name dropping, *** kissing letter pleading my "case". I am in for over $1000 this year, but my friend said that while it was great for my cumulative point total, that it would not help move me about 8 seats torwards midfield, which would be in seats with backs. I am still doing it though, plus sending a check for the Pittman Scholarship Fund.

    Horn4life did call it right on one key thing - unless someone dies, you will not be improving your seats - and I know quite a few people buying tickets for family members that died years ago.

    "Trips left" - chances are not good for the 4 seats at that donation level.



    "Texas, Texas, Yee-Ha"
     
  24. Trips Left

    Trips Left < 25 Posts

    Thanks matterhorn.

    Do my chances increase substantially if I only ask for 2 tickets? Or, do I need to up the ante in the next week?
     
  25. BigL-Horn

    BigL-Horn 25+ Posts

    To me it looks like some people think if they give to the Foundation that pays for their season tickets. A tax-deductible Foundation donation isn't a season ticket purchase, so if you give to the Foundation, that just means that you have priority for season tickets over non Foundation donors.

    Here's all the info you could ever want straight from the Foundation flyer:

    "If you are a new season ticket purchaser, contributions to the Longhorn Foundation do not guarantee specific seat locations, but season ticket orders from Foundation members are filled first. Season ticket seating assignments are based upon availability, the donor's location request, annual point total, and cumulative total. Priority handling of season tickets is limited to up to four per donor."

    "Season tickets are renewed and seating locations are retained by fulfilling the annual donation required each year and by purchasing the season tickets. Location improvement is based on availability, the donor's request, the annual point total, and the cumulative gift total. Improvement of seat locations can only be accomplished when other season ticket holders release their seats. This is RARE. Only a few seats are released each year. Quantity and location of open seats cannot be predicted."

    "Annual donor levels determine seating for away games, post-season events, and the Texas-0U game in Dallas. Season ticket holders may request as many Texas-0U game tickets as season tickets purchased. Texas-0U seat locations are not renewable and are filled each year based on the donor's annual gift on a priority of four seats. Donors who have a cumulative gift total of $100,000 or more with UT Athletics receive first priority for away games, Texas-0U, and post-season game seating in football. This amount is subject to change."

    "Texas-0U game tickets are filled based upon availability and donor's annual gift on a priority of four seats. Cumulative giving totals are tie breakers."

    "The allotment of tickets for the Texas-0U game is 20,000 tickets. With more than 10,000 members of the Longhorn Foundation and 53,000 season tickets sold, supply and demand dictate that some donors will be unable to obtain tickets to Texas-0U."

    BigL

    "Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion." - Major Applewhite
     
  26. The Chancellor

    The Chancellor < 25 Posts

    i have been in the Foundation for many years. i find that scalpers are the better end of the deal. i have gotten 50 yd line a lot of times at the cotton bowl by approaching private sellers, not scalpers. i go to ou every year and have been there for about 20 years.
     
  27. Jamez

    Jamez 25+ Posts

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