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I'm starting a new thread on this because I do think it deserves some discussion. Perhaps this discussion is best put off to the offseason, I don't know, but it came up in another thread and I don't want to threadjack that one. Here are the comments that sparked my thinking:

Drago wrote:On another note, the crowd will be interesting to see tonight. I'm not expecting much, but by game time they will just be handing out free tickets. I feel kinda dumb for buying season tickets. Next year I may just buy them game by game to wait for all the deals.

FalconTurf wrote:And I'm dumb enough to respond so here it goes:

I will continue to buy my season tickets because it means I don't have to worry about sellouts, I am given priority for away tickets and bowl game tickets and along with my Falcon Club membership (modest as it is) I feel good about supporting BGSU, the university I love.

Loyal donors can provide the means to improve the finances and ability to grow the program. We must be loyal and encourage loyalty from others. Discounts are for those we are recruiting those to be loyal. Don't be jealous of the recruits, embrace and encourage them.

Hope I didn't again waste my time......

I guess I'm like FalconTurf in that I'm not just dumb enough to respond, but I'm also dumb enough to make an entirely new thread for this subject. Oh well, here it is.

Like FalconTurf I will continue to purchase my season tickets. I have had a pair of tickets for the past few seasons and I look at it as a way to support the university. By owning a pair of them I also have an extra ticket that can occasionally be used to bring somebody new to a game. Hopefully they'll become addicted to Falcon football as well. Either way, I like knowing I've got the tickets for all the games, knowing which seats I are mine, and knowing that I'm supporting the program. Like FalconTurf mentions, I'll also get priority for away and bowl game tickets if I want them. In general though, I do it because I love the program and I like to support the program.

Now that all being said I do think there is definitely something to what Drago posted above. The value of season tickets to the games is largely limited to supporting the program and the ability to get bowl/away game tickets as well. We all know that anybody with the cheapest ticket in the house can pretty much sit wherever they want. Maybe it's a little trickier in the chairback sections, but overall I think the cheapest ticket could get you pretty darn close to where most of us sit for our season tickets.

Like Drago pointed out every year there are tons of promotions and whatnot as the year goes on that really make you question why you purchased season tickets. From a PURE "what are you getting for the money?" standpoint, we season ticket holders largely get the shaft, as far as I'm concerned. I know that we're desperate for attendance, but sometimes when I sit back and think about it I do sort of get annoyed that I could have probably sat in my same seats for every game for a FRACTION of what I paid as a season ticket holder. I don't really care, I'm in a strong enough financial situation that it's not an issue and I like supporting the program, but that doesn't mean that the athletic department shouldn't care. For every person like FalconTurf & I who will happily pony up the bucks to support the program, largely realizing we're not seeing the best value for our buck, I bet there are countless others who DON'T feel this way. I realize this website is largely going to be those of us that don't mind paying to support the program, but still I think it's something to think about.

As to what the Athletic Department can do, I'm really not sure. I know that I went years post-graduation without season tickets largely because cheap tickets were always so easy to come by. But that is a battle for the Athletic Department because they get to these late season games and need to get the attendance where it is, but by doing so they devalue the tickets. It cannot help season ticket sales from year to year when we all know that by late in the next season there will be so many promotions that we could likely have gotten in for a fraction of the cost.

One thing that they did last year, and I absolutely LOVED it, was the Doyt Dollars. That was a FANTASTIC idea, and I really think they should bring it back. That promotion made me not only want to renew my season tickets, but to do it as quickly as possible to get the maximum value. For the first time they did something that really encouraged me to go out of my way to get season tickets. I was VERY disappointed this year to see they didn't continue with that promotion to season ticket holders. I do love the look of this year's season tickets, they were gorgeous, but unfortunately that doesn't last as you tear them off and they get used.

I really don't know what more the department could do, but there is no doubt that there is some truth to what Drago has pointed out here above. From personal experience, I went 5 years after graduation before I decided to buy season tickets. I think I only missed one home game in that span, but I just never had a reason to purchase season tix. I always found somebody who had an extra, or there was a buy one get one free or something to make it cheaper to just wait. The only reason I buy them now is to support the program.

I agree that they need to find a way to put value back into the season tix, and Falcon Bucks are the way to go. My in-laws are UT season ticket holders, and for I believe $50 per seat they get a $5 voucher for concessions (each game), and a $25 gift certificate to the gift shop/bookstore. They love it, and they usually end up spending $20 bucks on concessions, and they bought well over $100 bucks in UT merchandise.

It was also good they had one premier opponent in Zona this year playing at home. If BG could do something like this I would be happy to buy a set of tickets even though I live 9 hours away. It would be nice to give them to friends in the area, and convert them. This deal would only work if you have one spotlight game that could be a potential sellout. (Boise, Minny, ect.)

daspollak wrote:I agree that they need to find a way to put value back into the season tix, and Falcon Bucks are the way to go. My in-laws are UT season ticket holders, and for I believe $50 per seat they get a $5 voucher for concessions (each game), and a $25 gift certificate to the gift shop/bookstore. They love it, and they usually end up spending $20 bucks on concessions, and they bought well over $100 bucks in UT merchandise.

It was also good they had one premier opponent in Zona this year playing at home. If BG could do something like this I would be happy to buy a set of tickets even though I live 9 hours away. It would be nice to give them to friends in the area, and convert them. This deal would only work if you have one spotlight game that could be a potential sellout. (Boise, Minny, ect.)

You are fortunate to have such GREAT in-laws!

h2oville rocket wrote:

daspollak wrote:I agree that they need to find a way to put value back into the season tix, and Falcon Bucks are the way to go. My in-laws are UT season ticket holders, and for I believe $50 per seat they get a $5 voucher for concessions (each game), and a $25 gift certificate to the gift shop/bookstore. They love it, and they usually end up spending $20 bucks on concessions, and they bought well over $100 bucks in UT merchandise.

It was also good they had one premier opponent in Zona this year playing at home. If BG could do something like this I would be happy to buy a set of tickets even though I live 9 hours away. It would be nice to give them to friends in the area, and convert them. This deal would only work if you have one spotlight game that could be a potential sellout. (Boise, Minny, ect.)

You are fortunate to have such GREAT in-laws!

I have never used the tickets, and only once have I ever worn an article of UT clothing. We were at my wife's family reunion, and my 6 month old son decided to spit up on me. I had no change of clothes and was starting to smell like spoiled milk. My father in-law only had a UT t-shirt for me to change into. I decided I rather smell like spoiled milk, but my wife strongly objected. In the end I had to wear the shirt.

I still wouldn't mind BG copying that type of scheme to get folks to buy season tickets.

Love my season tickets. Love sitting in my same seats every game/year. Love sitting next to the same people every year.

daspollak wrote:

h2oville rocket wrote:

daspollak wrote:I agree that they need to find a way to put value back into the season tix, and Falcon Bucks are the way to go. My in-laws are UT season ticket holders, and for I believe $50 per seat they get a $5 voucher for concessions (each game), and a $25 gift certificate to the gift shop/bookstore. They love it, and they usually end up spending $20 bucks on concessions, and they bought well over $100 bucks in UT merchandise.

It was also good they had one premier opponent in Zona this year playing at home. If BG could do something like this I would be happy to buy a set of tickets even though I live 9 hours away. It would be nice to give them to friends in the area, and convert them. This deal would only work if you have one spotlight game that could be a potential sellout. (Boise, Minny, ect.)

You are fortunate to have such GREAT in-laws!

I have never used the tickets, and only once have I ever worn an article of UT clothing. We were at my wife's family reunion, and my 6 month old son decided to spit up on me. I had no change of clothes and was starting to smell like spoiled milk. My father in-law only had a UT t-shirt for me to change into. I decided I rather smell like spoiled milk, but my wife strongly objected. In the end I had to wear the shirt.

I still wouldn't mind BG copying that type of scheme to get folks to buy season tickets.

If you were wearing BG stuff when your son spit up on you I love him, too! Yeah, the FanPLan has been a real boon to UT fandom. The nearly empty upper deck has been pretty full this year and people at work who had neer been to a game before pass these things back and forth every week depending on who cna get to the game that week. A lot of first timers have come in -it would have been great to put a better product out there but it hasn't necessarily mattered since those people seem to still be around at the end of games, win or lose. We did the same for hoops and I anticipate with a new coach, new team and the FanPlan, as well as some quality opponents at home in the opening tournament, we'll have some near sellouts at Savage.

I suspect BG might fare better with that sort of option than just giving tickets away. When youhave $5 for concessions you WILL go to the concession stand and probably spend 15. If you don't have the free 5 you probably don't go at all. I remember the days when Anderson and Doyt were pretty much filled-not sure why that's no longer the case but it would be fun to have that atmosphere again for UT-BG games.

By the way- its $55 for the tix which exactly matches the concession vouchers and gear coupon. Basically a wash until you decide to spend more or bring extrra friends etc.

I see some great points in here.
1. Doyt Dollars
2. Gift card to Bookstore
3. 1 Quality non-conf. opponent that sells the place out
4. Other neat things, not mentioned, have been available but not usually in my schedule like the season ticket holder reception/open house at the beginning of the season.

These are quality items that would encourage others to purchase packages. At the same time I see the value of the discounts to get new blood. Some of the faces I always saw at basketball and hockey games are 20 years ago are probably long gone. Unfortunately, these faces that you saw so many weekends that you felt you knew them when you saw them around town, have not been replaced. And you need an avenue to bring new faces into the fold.

BGSU has tried different things such as I recieved T-shirt one year and a mini-helmet another year. New ideas are needed but so are new fans. That's why I'm not bitter but I do have high hopes some new ideas will extend both ways - to the loyal and the new.

In the hypothetical world would it be nice to have chair seating between the 20's for season ticket holders with bleachers for game day purchases. Maybe our 24,000 seats should have been laid out differently with bleachers wrapped around each endzone so that location of seats and comfort would be the best benefit.

I buy season tickets each year but I haven't gone to a home BG game since September 2007 It's my way of showing support since I can't make it.

I see people like Drago's point though. Some people are going buy tickets based on their value.