Bowl ticket email

[John Lewis]

On 10/16/2016 at 10:18 AM, jjlovecub said:

I'm not worried about getting seats. Others disagree and that is fine but to me both should be rewarded (loyalty and current giving) but the fact that in my case 20 years as a season ticket holder and 16 years of giving is given less priority then someone who gives a level up from me for the first time doesn't seem right. 

I certainly understand where you, and others, are coming from on this and I am also in the same boat as some of you on this board (20 year donor an season ticket member).

However, there are examples of where the priority point system was not beneficial to those who were/are loyal to annual giving. There was a donor who gave 2 gifts (1 on the 1980's and 1 in the 1990's) which exceeded $50,000. This donor never had purchased season tickets of any kind, but because of their priority points from the 2 gifts they would be ahead of just about every single donor we have had. That was a huge flaw with that system.

Under our current model we can keep up with the inflationary cost of running a Division 1 athletic department. The current model has enticed many accounts to upgrade their seats to better areas while paying less than the old model did. Moving up a level will have other benefits aside from tickets, parking, etc., and that is mainly helping fund the scholarships of over 470 student athletes. 

[El_Toro_86]

Not to hijack the thread but I figured I'd ask since John Lewis checks in.

If the AAC championship game is played at Ray Jay, how will the seating priority work?  Will season ticket holders be able to keep their same seats for the championship game or will there be a new priority system?

 

Edited October 19, 2016 by El_Toro_86

[bullsmeanbusiness]

15 minutes ago, El_Toro_86 said:

Not to hijack the thread but I figured I'd ask since John Lewis checks in.

If the AAC championship game is played at Ray Jay, how will the seating priority work?  Will season ticket holders be able to keep their same seats for the championship game or will there be a new priority system?

 

That is a great question! Better to clear it up sooner than later.

[Dogma]

I disagree with the whole priority points only system.

If I donate a respectable amount, why should it be valued less than if someone had donated far less for a longer period of time?  Why should I be penalized just because I am younger?
 

IMO, It should be based on cumulative total.  Yes, if someone was grandfathered to pay only $100 for $1000 seats (VERY unfair) for 10 years should  be behind someone who just this year decides to donate $11k.

The whole grandfathered seating system was a big mistake by USF

 

The whole thing reminds me of arguments/complaints about college football conferences.

I hope the people upset about being there from the beginning aren't the same people that complain about some of the "P5" teams being in "P5" conferences rather than USF, just because those teams were there since the beginning.

[CousinRicky]

On 10/17/2016 at 5:53 PM, Triple B said:

Don't like it too much either but I'm waiting to see where my seats are for the Memphis game to see how affected I am by it. My Nippert seats sucked ...

What yard line were you located?  

[CousinRicky]

1 hour ago, John Lewis said:

I certainly understand where you, and others, are coming from on this and I am also in the same boat as some of you on this board (20 year donor an season ticket member).

However, there are examples of where the priority point system was not beneficial to those who were/are loyal to annual giving. There was a donor who gave 2 gifts (1 on the 1980's and 1 in the 1990's) which exceeded $50,000. This donor never had purchased season tickets of any kind, but because of their priority points from the 2 gifts they would be ahead of just about every single donor we have had. That was a huge flaw with that system.

Under our current model we can keep up with the inflationary cost of running a Division 1 athletic department. The current model has enticed many accounts to upgrade their seats to better areas while paying less than the old model did. Moving up a level will have other benefits aside from tickets, parking, etc., and that is mainly helping fund the scholarships of over 470 student athletes. 

About 7 or 8 years ago my wife and I thought that priority points meant and would mean something. The deal, at the time, was that if you donated to facilities you got 5 points, instead of 2 points, per $100??? if I remember correctly.  So we donated $5k to the facilities fund and then added another $5k over a couple of years to name a row in the baseball stadium.

The result was that we jumped up to low #200s in priority point ranking.  Turns out the priority point thing isn't worth a heck of a lot. Even though we were as high as we were in priority seats we couldn't get MBB seats on the club side because we were not $2k annual donors.  We've since increased our level and are now over there.  

My point is that the change from priority points being the 1st item they look at definitely had an affect on us.  

[Boomer]

1 hour ago, El_Toro_86 said:

Not to hijack the thread but I figured I'd ask since John Lewis checks in.

If the AAC championship game is played at Ray Jay, how will the seating priority work?  Will season ticket holders be able to keep their same seats for the championship game or will there be a new priority system?

 

I was going to say that I bet for seating they treat it like a neutral bowl game site and we all put in for seats, but I just found this article from last season addressing this to Houston season ticket holders:

Houston Football season ticket members will have the first opportunity to secure their seats for The American Championship. On Wednesday, the Houston Fan Experience Headquarters sent all season-ticket members an email with instructions on how to purchase or turn back their seats for The American Championship and members are encouraged to submit their decision as soon as possible.

http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112715aaa.html

That makes it sound like you can retain your seat to me.  It goes on to mention that you can keep your parking location as well.

[John Lewis]

2 hours ago, El_Toro_86 said:

Not to hijack the thread but I figured I'd ask since John Lewis checks in.

If the AAC championship game is played at Ray Jay, how will the seating priority work?  Will season ticket holders be able to keep their same seats for the championship game or will there be a new priority system?

 

If we host (knock on wood), then season ticket members will have the right to their same seats.

[El_Toro_86]

Just now, John Lewis said:

If we host (knock on wood), then season ticket members will have the right to their same seats.

Awesome!  Now let's get it done in Philly.

[Triple B]

7 hours ago, Boomer said:

I remember thinking how great it was to get front row 50-yard line seats at Nippert until I got there and realized you were basically at field level in that row staring at the players backs.  That's when I realized why the visiting fans are given those seats.

It was a perspective I'd never had so it was kind of neat to see all the stuff going on the bench up close but once is enough ..... and you would have thought UC would have upgraded their video board with the latest renovations.