Football Tix Renewal?

[Dogma]

 

 

 

 

As a fellow USF Alumni I just want to say thank you for holding onto them as long as you could Mike, and anyone else who is/was holding tickets living out of state and not even able to go to the games. Being out in AZ it's commendable that you even held them and paid the donations once you left!

That being said

Should long time season tickets holders be/have been treated a little better than new ones? Maybe offered some better incentives? IMHO..yes, they should be catered to a bit more than those of us who have only had them for a few years.

Should they be offered seats for a fraction of what everyone else is paying? No.

I can understand the frustration as nobody wants to pay more for things...that's life. I got kicked out of the staff section in 138 that required NO DONATION at all! All I had to pay for was the tickets! It is what it is...

As Senator Russell B. Long once said, "Don't tax you, Don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree!"

They haven't given you the opportunity to retain those same seats??

I'm in the same section (#138)

We can sit in the same seats, but now our price has gone up since before the change, we didn't have to pay a donation AND the tickets were discounted on top of that!

I'm not complaining about the increase as well. I was already planning on upping my donation anyways.

Just was wondering if they were really kicking people out like when they expanded the student section. Your new total price, with the alumni discount, is $210/ticket, right?

From looking at it, there is no longer a faculty and staff section. You pay the donation and get a 20% discount on your ticket price. I dropped my tickets a couple of years ago when my second son was born, but this isn't doing a very good job of convincing my wife I should buy them again. If it means more money for USF, then that's the AD's call. I don't like it, but this move isn't for me and it seems to make other people happy.

 

 

Yes.. there is no longer a faculty/staff section.

But we do get to retain our seats just like every other season ticket holder.

 

Trip.. yep.. just checked, and the renewal price, with the 20% discount, is $210 per ticket  (already paid my deposit on Sun to get the discount.)

 

Now just contemplating whether to move sections for better sun protection.

[MikeG]

Not everyone who had grandfathered seats was paying only $100 donation. I upped mine to $250 from 100 when I added the great mid field seats. For the first two years, those seats weren't even next to each other. Eventually I got them just how I wanted them and by then the donation level was 10 times what I was giving. At the time, USF announced what the new levels would be starting very soon-- and that gave me the incentive to buy more tickets in a higher donor section. I would not have had those seats any other way as paying that much would have been more than I could stomach-- especially when I didn't sit in them for the first 4 or 5 years (on the field all the time taking pictures).

 

So like Cyber -- I always looked at my entire ticket package as a donation to the football program. I certainly didn't need more than one ticket that whole time but bought four. I did not mind losing money selling them or giving them to friends over those years. I am not the typical season ticket holder in that respect. When it comes to this stuff-- it is best to look at it from the perspective of what you can give to the program. You cannot treat this like buying professional sports tickets where you can demand that the team get better (or else?) -- well you can but with a grain of understanding that these are young men who are playing their best to represent your school. That attitude does not extend to administrators or coaches though.

 

I think we need to acknowledge the long standing season ticket holders for being there through all the good and bad times. Most of them had to know that this situation was eventually due for a correction. Many of us took advantage of a program that was set up to encourage the building of a fan base. With the new plan in place, the situation is reset. They can take the previous years "savings" and apply them forward (or not). I think I would endorse this plan even if I were planning on paying for the tickets this year (no need now to keep my grandfathered status though).  

 

Personally though-- the program has never been the same since they canned Leavitt. I don't know if it will ever feel like that again.

[MaltLiquorBull]

I've been a season ticket holder of 8 seats since day one. I understand that some folks are upset at the change but you can't make everyone happy.

for me at least, I have always viewed my season ticket costs as a donation to USF. I was surely not paying Green Jacket level fees for the pleasure or value of watching USF play Hofstra or Southern Piss back in the early days. Instead I have always viewed my combined ticket costs and donation as doing my part to grow USF football. My years of 'loyalty/patience' paid off during our 'glory days' in the mid to late 2000s and that prompted me to increase my donation as my income and disposable income grew. Nobody forced me to do this, instead I did b/c I believed/believe that this football program was worth investing.

Bottom line should be simple: if the new plan makes sense for you great...take advantage of the opportunity and go to as many games as possible. If it doesn't don't feel guilty or angered by the changes. IMHO, the new administration is trying undo the damage, neglect and sheer incompetence of the last AD....while trying to sell a product that is not very good on the field....right now...and playing in a lesser conference situation. The biggest thing is if you want this program to rebound and recapture it's huge potential of just a few years ago..then everyone needs to go to games. you don't need to buy season tickets...just simply show up on game day get your ticket from the box office or scalper and cheer on your Bulls. Taggart and company need to turn it around ASAP....but we need fans old and new to do their part as well.

my $0.02

Well said, sir.

[Skingraft]

I've been a season ticket holder of 8 seats since day one. I understand that some folks are upset at the change but you can't make everyone happy.

for me at least, I have always viewed my season ticket costs as a donation to USF. I was surely not paying Green Jacket level fees for the pleasure or value of watching USF play Hofstra or Southern Piss back in the early days. Instead I have always viewed my combined ticket costs and donation as doing my part to grow USF football. My years of 'loyalty/patience' paid off during our 'glory days' in the mid to late 2000s and that prompted me to increase my donation as my income and disposable income grew. Nobody forced me to do this, instead I did b/c I believed/believe that this football program was worth investing.

Bottom line should be simple: if the new plan makes sense for you great...take advantage of the opportunity and go to as many games as possible. If it doesn't don't feel guilty or angered by the changes. IMHO, the new administration is trying undo the damage, neglect and sheer incompetence of the last AD....while trying to sell a product that is not very good on the field....right now...and playing in a lesser conference situation. The biggest thing is if you want this program to rebound and recapture it's huge potential of just a few years ago..then everyone needs to go to games. you don't need to buy season tickets...just simply show up on game day get your ticket from the box office or scalper and cheer on your Bulls. Taggart and company need to turn it around ASAP....but we need fans old and new to do their part as well.

my $0.02

Well said, sir.

Agreed

[Triple B]

Now just contemplating whether to move sections for better sun protection.

To put it bluntly, you'd be a fool to not try and move. We were in the same location you are but at the other end, Sec 133, after the move from the Big Sombrero. I think we lasted only a year before moving over to 214. I thought I read that you were planning to up your donation level to Bronze, which means you could move to ANY section on the West side if you have 5 seats or less. Plus, you'll have the Club available to hit if you get some unwanted sun over there.

[El_Toro_86]

Here's my situation.

 

I have 3 seats in section 217 and paid $765 plus the $100 donation last year.  Granted that was for 7 games and this year there are 6, however, this year there is no donation fee in section 217 and the cost of the 3 tickets was $315...an over 50% reduction.  Needles to say I came out good with the new structure.  I wanted to move to better seats but the wife likes our seats.  We are at the bottom of section 217 and there is no one on either side of us, so I was overruled.  Since we're staying in our same seats, I may make an extra donation.

 

God, I hope we see some winning football at RJS in 2015.

 

Go Bulls!!!

[Dogma]

 

Now just contemplating whether to move sections for better sun protection.

To put it bluntly, you'd be a fool to not try and move. We were in the same location you are but at the other end, Sec 133, after the move from the Big Sombrero. I think we lasted only a year before moving over to 214. I thought I read that you were planning to up your donation level to Bronze, which means you could move to ANY section on the West side if you have 5 seats or less. Plus, you'll have the Club available to hit if you get some unwanted sun over there.

 

 

Ha.. thanks!

 

Ive heard/noticed that the west section was better sun wise.

One detail I was wondering about was the sun/protection difference between the upper (200's) and lower (100's) sections

[WoolyBully]

 

...I think we need to acknowledge the long standing season ticket holders for being there through all the good and bad times. Most of them had to know that this situation was eventually due for a correction. Many of us took advantage of a program that was set up to encourage the building of a fan base. With the new plan in place, the situation is reset. They can take the previous years "savings" and apply them forward (or not). I think I would endorse this plan even if I were planning on paying for the tickets this year (no need now to keep my grandfathered status though)....

Absolutely.

 

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who was grand-fathered in who didn't know that eventually, one day, the original deal is to be revisited. Like I said earlier, this was the arrangement that the University and I agreed to. This could have been revisited anytime during the previous seventeen years, and based on the deal, would have moved forward or would have ceased. I am, however, surprised that it lasted this long. I don't have any issue with the new plan. 

 

Still, it's going to be interesting to see what season ticket sales numbers are like this year. Good to hear from you MikeG! 

[libby_arts]

Rule of thumb on shade and seating on the west side. The higher seats get the shade first. Row T becomes shaded before Row N in level 200 seating. Thus, the lower you go and closer to the field the longer you sit in the sun. Believe me there were days when I was timing the shade as it was coming my way wishing it would go faster. Shade is good, trust me.

[bullz97]

Anyone think this could be the first truly bad move of Harlan's administration? We can't give away seats right now and we're going to make long-term fans pay more?

This kills me. After all these years being loyal, having the grandfather deal head over my head then ripped away.  I was told when I went from 8 to 6 tickets if those seats are dropped I can't get those seats back unless I pay the present donor level ($1000) for those seats. So in the VooDoo five article about people adding seats at the grandfathered level can't be correct because I was told more than once by USF tickets reps that I could not add more seats with my grandfathered donation could only add seats at the current donation level.