So annoyed with the UConn administration

[todbo]

So we went to the Final Four. Well, to the semifinals. The UConn ticket office offered no help in getting tix (even though we've been UConn contributors for some 15 years). The staff at Amalie Arena, however, was most helpful.

And yesterday, we got an invitation to a celebration of the season. $75 per person for appetizers and desserts, with a cash bar. The good news: the offer includes discounted parking. No. Just no.

Not good PR overall. We do love our Lady Huskies and will continue to attend their games when we can, despite the lackadaisical-at-best efforts of the UConn officials.

 

[VivaLsVgs]

I don’t understand what you are disgruntled about? The “Celebrate the Season” event has been going on for at least 5 years now and has always been $75, although the first year beer and wine were included.

It’s a great event with the opportunity to
mingle with the team and coaches and also take photos. You certainly can’t expect something like that to be free in this day and age??? Maybe super donors get comped tickets but I doubt anyone else does.

 

[Zanzman]

How were they supposed to help you get tickets?

 

[meyers7]

I'm sure there are plenty of things to be annoyed by UCONN's administration about, but these ain't one of them.

Oh, and 15 years and you're still using "Lady Huskies"? Really? (somebody was gonna say it, might as well be the resident @ss)

 

[Argonaut]

I've never had any luck with the UConn ticket office for away games. Every year they've played South Carolina since I've moved down here I've called for help with tickets and have always been told there is nothing they can do for me.

 

[oldude]

Each FF team is allocated a set number of tickets. For some reason, I think the number is about 300. At UConn, those tickets likely never make it to the ticket office. I’m sure they are dispersed through the AD & Coaches to various boosters, alums and, in the case of Tampa, to a young pg from Croatia who attended the FF.

So the only options for the general fan is to buy tickets early from the NCAA/venue and hope your team gets in, or pay whatever the going price is on the secondary market.

 

[JeannoCT]

Each school used to be allotted a lot more - I always got my tickets through UConn, until they cut the number way back. It was fun - the tickets were all in the same section, and it was fun to be with other fans cheering. Now the tickets thru the NCAA are dispersed all over the arena. It's just different.
Just wait till they implement the women's season tickets like they are doing to the men this year. Go read that thread on the men's board. It involves paying "seat licenses" to get the better seats. They are not implementing it for the women this year, but I'm sure it's coming.

 

[Husker Husky]

I've never had any luck with the UConn ticket office for away games. Every year they've played South Carolina since I've moved down here I've called for help with tickets and have always been told there is nothing they can do for me.

I called UConn 2 years ago when the Huskies came to Nebraska. I was asked if I was a donor/contributor. When I said no, they said nope. I was able to get a ticket from Nebraska. It was a near sell out, but I was dismayed to see the empty seats in the UConn section. I thought it was pretty arrogant of UConn. But, I enjoyed the game/win anyway.

 

[Argonaut]

I called UConn 2 years ago when the Huskies came to Nebraska. I was asked if I was a donor/contributor. When I said no, they said nope. I was able to get a ticket from Nebraska. It was a near sell out, but I was dismayed to see the empty seats in the UConn section. I thought it was pretty arrogant of UConn. But, I enjoyed the game/win anyway.

That's a bummer. Do you think they were seats that were put aside but no one claimed? Or people had them and didn't come? I wonder if I could get them through some of my friends who are still working on campus (and, honestly, I need someone to move to athletics instead of being in silly departments like the Honors College).

After sitting in the middle of a group of SC fans at the regional in Greensboro, I don't think I could go if I wasn't sitting with a UConn crowd.

 

[Husky40]

I understand your frustration. We've had season tix for women for 25 years (men almost as long, as well as football and men's and women's soccer). We are NOT wealthy, but UConn athletics is our primary form of entertainment. We rarely take vacations other than to visit family (scattered around the country), and we've foregone other things such as a bathroom reno that should have been done years earlier -- all so that we could buy decent seats for UConn basketball. We're not "big" donors, but we've given a moderate amount consistently over all those years (and have taken advantage of employee matches for many of those years), which has built up our point total enough to put us in the middle of the donor level. If it makes you feel better, we did get tickets through UConn for the FF last year, however, we had to wait while UConn searched for them on the open market, and even then we were in the nosebleed section with a bunch of Mississippi State fans. (Yes, we also miss the days when the participant schools received more tickets. We can blame the NCAA for that.)

We knew it was just a matter of time before UConn men's basketball would go to seat donations (aka seat licenses) since many of the other schools have been doing it for several years. (Maryland is one of them.) I have no inside info, but I would be surprised to see the women's program do this since there are no other women's programs doing it or even showing interest in doing it.

UConn Athletics has seen a huge drop in donations this past year, mainly due to the change in federal tax laws for charitable contributions, and they're hoping to offset this deficit with the seat donations so that they won't be forced to cut any of the non-revenue sports. This is something we feel strongly about. While women's basketball is my favorite UConn sport, I would hate to see any of the other sports cut. UConn has and continues to field awesome soccer, baseball and field hockey teams, but they don't bring in $$ and never will. Heck, field hockey is an elite program with several (recent) national titles and the winningest coach in NCAA history, but they'll never make money. But that, IMHO, is not what it should be all about. It would be a shame to see these or any other sports teams cut for that reason.

We didn't go to UConn and none of our family members did either -- we just get immense enjoyment from watching these teams perform. It is a lot of $$, but for us it's worth it. Go Huskies!

 

[HuskyNan]

Oh, and 15 years and you're still using "Lady Huskies"? Really? (somebody was gonna say it, might as well be the resident @ss)

You ceded the title of resident ass a couple seasons ago. In fact, it’s not even close

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I've never had any luck with the UConn ticket office for away games. Every year they've played South Carolina since I've moved down here I've called for help with tickets and have always been told there is nothing they can do for me.

For normal away games, teams receive a set number of tickets located behind the bench. These are team comps, I doubt the process has changed. Each player and coach has a certain number of "guests" and enters their name and signs next to it (um, not exactly - the signatures are entered ahead of time, and the "guests" are whoever in charge of that area decides it should be). As Rutgers fans and givers in the day, we sometimes got team comps at away arenas - the criteria was "as long as we don't need them". Likewise, when Rutgers won the WNIT at El Paso a few years back, we got comps. Those 2 rows were the only RU fans in the building.

So, unless they want to include you on the team comps (and for UConn, I would be shocked if they were not usually taken and besides, they probably have "rules" since they would be highly in demand), there really isn't anything they can do for you. A couple of times (historically) the Rutgers ticket office helped the fan club purchase a bunch of tickets together, but with very few exceptions they were not prime seats.

And yes, a shame about the NCAA - there were large contingents of Rutgers fans that purchased tickets through Rutgers and all sat together. At Cleveland in the Final Four we had almost the entire floor section behind the bench and the section in the balcony above it, where we happened to be in the 1st or 2nd row. The late referee Bonita Spence actually sat in our section in Cleveland.

I would have thought large sales through the school would be a win-win for the NCAA, but I guess not, or maybe some school that couldn't sell as many tickets complained about other schools getting "more" - as well as delays in getting those tickets allotted "turned back" to sell.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Each school used to be allotted a lot more - I always got my tickets through UConn, until they cut the number way back. It was fun - the tickets were all in the same section, and it was fun to be with other fans cheering. Now the tickets thru the NCAA are dispersed all over the arena. It's just different.
Just wait till they implement the women's season tickets like they are doing to the men this year. Go read that thread on the men's board. It involves paying "seat licenses" to get the better seats. They are not implementing it for the women this year, but I'm sure it's coming.

Seat licenses are old hat. We (Rutgers) played Wisconsin (away) in the early 2000's and someone sitting near us - we went to a lot of away games - explained that at Wisconsin, at the time, you paid a seat license and that was your seat for Men's and Women's Basketball and Men's Ice Hockey. You could buy it or not for each sport, but you "owned" the right to it.

Moving forward, we pay a seat license for our court seats at Arizona Women's Basketball, although they use the term "priority". Our season tickets (2) were under $200, but we paid $100 additional "priority" each for the seats. We will have the opportunity to buy those seats every year, although if they became in demand they could raise either the "priority" charge, or conceivably say you had to be a certain donor level to buy them. We will enjoy them while we can.

FWIW Arizona also charges a seat license "priority" to sit in the infield for Softball - $70 a seat. Our football priority if $600 for 2, but tix are only $25 a game. Women's Volleyball doesn't have priority seat giving and I don't know what Men's basketball charges are, but I've heard they are way out of my budget.

 

[ScarlettB]

My sister and I are season ticket holders for RU wbb (we have 4 front row center court seats across from the benches) She has been one since before they played at the RAC and is a contributor. We have always been able to get tickets through RU for the NCAA's when RU has made the tournament and our seats were in the RU section, including this year. I honestly believe we are still able to do that because we have a much smaller fanbase than teams like Uconn at this point. As for seat licenses, we have been paying them since RU joined the B1G.

 

[Oldbones]

So we went to the Final Four. Well, to the semifinals. The UConn ticket office offered no help in getting tix (even though we've been UConn contributors for some 15 years). The staff at Amalie Arena, however, was most helpful.

And yesterday, we got an invitation to a celebration of the season. $75 per person for appetizers and desserts, with a cash bar. The good news: the offer includes discounted parking. No. Just no.

Not good PR overall. We do love our Lady Huskies and will continue to attend their games when we can, despite the lackadaisical-at-best efforts of the UConn officials.

How did you do with the 2011 UCONN-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl football tickets? I heard that there were plenty to go around...…………………….

 

[CL82]

we've foregone other things such as a bathroom

I know right? Sometimes it can be tough to wait until the under 2 minute time out.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Are all residents of Connecticut privileged and entitled?

So we went to the Final Four. Well, to the semifinals. The UConn ticket office offered no help in getting tix (even though we've been UConn contributors for some 15 years). The staff at Amalie Arena, however, was most helpful. And yesterday, we got an invitation to a celebration of the season. $75 per person for appetizers and desserts, with a cash bar. The good news: the offer includes discounted parking. No. Just no.Not good PR overall. We do love our Lady Huskies and will continue to attend their games when we can, despite the lackadaisical-at-best efforts of the UConn officials.

 

[biobioprof]

My reaction to this thread is that I clicked on it thinking it would be related to something I think of as part of the University administration, not the ticket office.

But that reflects my username...

 

[UConnNick]

I understand your frustration. We've had season tix for women for 25 years (men almost as long, as well as football and men's and women's soccer). We are NOT wealthy, but UConn athletics is our primary form of entertainment. We rarely take vacations other than to visit family (scattered around the country), and we've foregone other things such as a bathroom reno that should have been done years earlier -- all so that we could buy decent seats for UConn basketball. We're not "big" donors, but we've given a moderate amount consistently over all those years (and have taken advantage of employee matches for many of those years), which has built up our point total enough to put us in the middle of the donor level. If it makes you feel better, we did get tickets through UConn for the FF last year, however, we had to wait while UConn searched for them on the open market, and even then we were in the nosebleed section with a bunch of Mississippi State fans. (Yes, we also miss the days when the participant schools received more tickets. We can blame the NCAA for that.)

We knew it was just a matter of time before UConn men's basketball would go to seat donations (aka seat licenses) since many of the other schools have been doing it for several years. (Maryland is one of them.) I have no inside info, but I would be surprised to see the women's program do this since there are no other women's programs doing it or even showing interest in doing it.

UConn Athletics has seen a huge drop in donations this past year, mainly due to the change in federal tax laws for charitable contributions, and they're hoping to offset this deficit with the seat donations so that they won't be forced to cut any of the non-revenue sports. This is something we feel strongly about. While women's basketball is my favorite UConn sport, I would hate to see any of the other sports cut. UConn has and continues to field awesome soccer, baseball and field hockey teams, but they don't bring in $$ and never will. Heck, field hockey is an elite program with several (recent) national titles and the winningest coach in NCAA history, but they'll never make money. But that, IMHO, is not what it should be all about. It would be a shame to see these or any other sports teams cut for that reason.

We didn't go to UConn and none of our family members did either -- we just get immense enjoyment from watching these teams perform. It is a lot of $$, but for us it's worth it. Go Huskies!

God bless you all. I wish we had more UCONN fans like you folks.

 

[meyers7]

You ceded the title of resident ass a couple seasons ago. In fact, it’s not even close

Geez, now I'm just a regular nice guy?? I'll have to work on that.

 

[Artifact]

Hey! It all comes down to this, 'No Money, NO Honey' !

 

[psconn]

I'm sure there are plenty of things to be annoyed by UCONN's administration about, but these ain't one of them.

Oh, and 15 years and you're still using "Lady Huskies"? Really? (somebody was gonna say it, might as well be the resident @ss)

Pure evil...

 

[Big Mick]

I'm sure there are plenty of things to be annoyed by UCONN's administration about, but these ain't one of them.

Oh, and 15 years and you're still using "Lady Huskies"? Really? (somebody was gonna say it, might as well be the resident @ss)

You ceded the title of resident ass a couple seasons ago. In fact, it’s not even close

HEY, I thought name calling was off the table....

 

[meyers7]

HEY, I thought name calling was off the table....

Depends on the table.

 

[dogged1]

Depends on the table.

Hey, wait a minute. If your not the current, undefeated resident ass champion, then who has taken your title? I'm in your corner @meyers7. We want a rematch @HuskyNan!