Season Tickets, Boosters, Clubs and Mandetory Donations

[Entropy]

UNL's....


https://admin.xosn.com/pdf9/5464640.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=100

To add context, I also had 4 seats on the 40 yard line of the west stadium... row 6.   I was not paying 2K for each ticket.   I had those since 2003 or so and was grandfathered in... So this is net new ownership pricing.  

[utee94]

Badge,

Part of the delay (part of it) in the student section is the method by which the students are allowed in. Madison was always a big party.

To Utee's point, one of the real shames of this is that these big money interests forcing people out also breaks down the community that built up around these games for decades. The breakdown of community is a real issue that impacts our national character. Seriously. This is just one tiny example of death by a thousand cuts, but membership in all kinds of community organizations and clubs is down throughout the nation--and a lot of money is made in all kinds of ways that threatens these organizations and the communities that form around them. This country has historically been rare, if not unique, in the strength of our community organizations, but we are losing it.

I'm not a bitter old man--this isn't a foregone conclusion, and there are lots of things that are better than ever--but this is something I worry about; and it is something that seems to be playing out in our national politics, too.

Agree.  The relative anonymity of the internet and social media are also contributing to the breakdown in civilized communication.  We see it most directly in politics, but it's occurring all over the place.

[utee94]

UNL's....


https://admin.xosn.com/pdf9/5464640.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=100

To add context, I also had 4 seats on the 40 yard line of the west stadium... row 6  I was not paying 2K for each ticket.   I had those since 2003 or so and was grandfathered in... So this is net new ownership.   Not everyone is paying these prices.

Yes, we too were grandfathered in so our seats would never get WORSE even if we maintained the same donation level.
However, what IS affected by annual donation level, is access/priority to TX-OU tickets at the Cotton Bowl, and bowl game seats.  As net new donors came in paying higher donations than I was, my priority for TX-OU seats diminished.  At one point in the early 2000s, there were enough net new donors that I actually didn't get TX-OU tickets and had to buy on the secondary market.  I had to increase my donation level just to get in the door, and even then, my seats got progressively worse, season after season.
Many of the net new donors were corporate interests. So I was effectively competing directly against corporate dollars for priority/access to our most important game of the season.  This was not by accident, it was absolutely by design of our then-AD DeLo$$ Dodd$.   This was the willing tradeoff the department was making for corporate dollars instead of fans.  Once they started treating me like a customer instead of a fan, my response was predictably to treat them as a vendor instead of my alma mater.  And now here we are.

[847badgerfan]

Badge,

Part of the delay (part of it) in the student section is the method by which the students are allowed in. Madison was always a big party.

The way they are allowed in hasn't changed much over the years. Just need to put the bottle down a little earlier and get their asses to the stadium. I know. Too much to ask.

[Entropy]

Yes, we too were grandfathered in so our seats would never get WORSE even if we maintained the same donation level.
However, what IS affected by annual donation level, is access/priority to TX-OU tickets at the Cotton Bowl, and bowl game seats.  As net new donors came in paying higher donations than I was, my priority for TX-OU seats diminished.  At one point in the early 2000s, there were enough net new donors that I actually didn't get TX-OU tickets and had to buy on the secondary market.  I had to increase my donation level just to get in the door, and even then, my seats got progressively worse, season after season.
Many of the net new donors were corporate interests. So I was effectively competing directly against corporate dollars for priority/access to our most important game of the season.  This was not by accident, it was absolutely by design of our then-AD DeLo$$ Dodd$.   This was the willing tradeoff the department was making for corporate dollars instead of fans.  Once they started treating me like a customer instead of a fan, my response was predictably to treat them as a vendor instead of my alma mater.  And now here we are.

Our stories feel soooo similar.   I called it becoming a number.   
I feel dirty we are bonding like this...

[847badgerfan]

Yes, we too were grandfathered in so our seats would never get WORSE even if we maintained the same donation level.
However, what IS affected by annual donation level, is access/priority to TX-OU tickets at the Cotton Bowl, and bowl game seats.  

Absolutely. And don't forget neutral games for those of us non-helmets. Being a season ticket holder allows you the "opportunity" to purchase these seats at a very steep price. My donation dollars have held up in the Badger Fund such that I'm still in the top 10 percent. But it's those in the top 1 percent that get all the real perks. I'm not willing to go there.

[847badgerfan]

Our stories feel soooo similar.   I called it becoming a number.  
I feel dirty we are bonding like this...

Screw you.

[Entropy]

Screw you.

?

[847badgerfan]

Just trying to bond.

[Entropy]

LOL....  

[847badgerfan]

Me too.

[utee94]

Screw all you jackwagons!

And a Happy New Year to all.

[847badgerfan]

That's the spirit.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I suppose one advantage of moving 2000 miles away from campus is that I don't have to worry about all this stuff...