As Big East Money Dries Up, UConn Must Create Fresh Revenue Streams (M. Anthony)

[huskymedic]

You're right Medic, I think I missed the ECU game and thought it was away.. 112 a pop then. Yes, there are tix for 150, but why spend that money to sit behind the endzone when you can most likely wind up with seats on the 30 for only a few bucks more going on the secondary market? The donation fee to me is just a slap in the face. Ah, I'm gonna buy 4 tickets at 250, I can swing a 1,000. What? $150 for ticket fees? What? $400 in donation charges? Why does this cost 50% more all of a sudden??? This is a turn off to a alot of potential fans. If you want to charge 300/250/150 per ticket etc etc.. just say the price upfront. If a key metric schools use is to look at season ticket sales and your specific team's have been trending down, something needs to be done to entice fans on the fence to make the jump. If you are trying to attract new blood to the stadium, maybe get some alumni with their spouse and kids to join, or new alum with their group of friends, a donation fee on top of the advertised price is not the way to do it.

6 years of losing and conference realignment has been a drag on season tickets not the seat donation fee. Seat Donation to school has not increased since the Rent has opened in 2003 and is cheap compared to other programs. I would be more upset w/ yo-yo-ing amounts.

Sorry but IMO if you want Mezzanine Chairbacks ($240+$400) you can afford to pay the donation fee (and I don't believe these are seats they have trouble selling). If you just want to buy season tickets to support the program (w/ no bad view really anywhere) there are really sensible and reasonable options available.

PREFERRED SIDELINE (White)
Located on either side of the stadium between the 35 yard line and the goal line. You can order one parking pass for each pair of season tickets ordered. BLUE or GRAY lot parking will be assigned based on priority points, order date and availability. $180 per seat (plus $100 donation) = $280/6 games = $46 per game. (not including $5/game FIT)

RESERVED ENDZONE (Gray)
Located on either side of the stadium behind the end-zones. No seat donation required. Patrons will be seated by priority. You can order one parking pass for each pair of season tickets ordered. Either GRAY or RED lot parking will be assigned based on priority points, order date and availability. $150 per seat/6 games = $25 per game (not including $5/game FIT)

UCONN YOUNG ALUMNI (Teal)
To be eligible you must have graduated in the years of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016. Located in sections 210 and 211. 36% discount on Reserved seat price. No seat donation required. You can order one parking pass for each pair of season tickets ordered. Either GRAY or RED lot parking will be assigned based on priority points, order date and availability. $150 per seat (- 36% discount) = $96/6 games = $16 per game (not including $5/game FIT)

Each his own I guess (preferred sideline denizen since day 1).

 

[J187Money]

Exactly - no excuses.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Top of The Rent gets you season tickets to an FBS Program for $20 bucks a game, no strings attached.

The P/Diaco eras has just erased any equity the program had built up in the fanbase that was earned in the Edsall years.

I think floor is always going to be around 15k-20k in gameday attendance, Edsall getting us bowling and 8+ win seasons hopefully in a couple years gets us back up to 30k, but in the AAC, I don't know if you'll ever see us touching 38k-40k unless the opponent is an attractive draw.

 

[freescooter]

There are really 2 separate arguments that have been conflated into one. First is the question of supporting the program where the donation makes sense. Second is the need/desire to sell more season tickets where it makes less sense. As ConnHusk says the equity the program had has been dissipated by 6 years of losing on top of conference realignment and I would argue a few other things like the cheap rebranding and so forth. The current season ticket base is probably close to the absolute base. Trying to rebuild that base to something more reasonable requires winning but it also requires looking at and whether it still makes sense to require the donation. Is there some other way to generate the donation money? Or can it be offset by selling more tickets? What are the long term advantages vs short term gains? Are you looking to generate cash or expand the fan base first? It is possible to support the program through donations and never set foot inside the Rent and to go to every home game without donating 1cent.

 

[3rdbass]

The irony of someone from Atlanta saying this . . . . possibly the worst sports major city in America.

Well except for Atlanta United. That is a great experience with 40K plus screaming fans win or lose.

 

[thedrowsyowl]

JMO but for whatever time period UConn is in The AAC, Temple seems like the most sensible candidate for a rivalry.

Shared geography, similar program profiles, and recruiting for many of the same players in both football and basketball could all drive a pretty good rivalry. That said it needs to be organic and happen naturally. Nobody wants a contrived rivalry like The ConFLiCT to be forced on them. It also needs to be shared by both fan bases.

That's pretty much how the Temple fanbase feels as well -- "If we're gonna have a rival in this conference, the only one that makes sense is UConn." Neither side has acted upon it yet. As a Temple student from Connecticut, it's definitely a thing in my head!