Not all Dogs fans are fat cats
My attention was caught by a quote near the end of a recent Loran Smith column in the Athens Banner-Herald profiling the folks who run Jim’s Restaurant in the little northeast Georgia community of Bowman, between Elberton and Royston. Chris White and his family are all big Georgia Bulldogs fans. They wear Georgia T-shirts most days at the restaurant and, Smith says, the two main social events in their lives are Sanford Stadium on Saturday and church on Sunday.
“We had season tickets for a while,” Chris White says, “but I just couldn’t afford the contribution that is required to purchase them. I hung on as long as I could. We hate dealing with scalpers, but that is our only option.”
As Smith puts it: “What does this say about the big business of college athletics? We should not forget the folks who can’t give us money, and reserve room for those who can give us their heart.”
That’s about as close as you’ll ever see Loran come to knocking the UGA athletic establishment in print.
But the point is one that’s bothered me for a while. I remember a time when you could actually buy season tickets to Georgia football games without having to make the Bulldog Club contribution. I knew folks who did it. They had to wait until after all the Bulldog Club ticket requests had been filled, but the opportunity was there.
No more. In fact, for most Bulldogs games at Sanford Stadium, few if any single-game tickets even go on sale to the general public. Oh, the seats are there. You see the tickets offered by scalpers, both professional and amateur, on nearly every street corner within a couple of miles of the stadium. So that’s what folks like Chris White have to do if they want to see a Dogs game in Athens.
Combine that with the fact that recent UGA grads can’t get into the Bulldog Club ticket pool unless they’ve got $10,000 they can contribute up front, and that UGA has to conduct a raffle of student tickets because there aren’t enough seats for all the students who want to go to the games.
I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Any student who wants to go to a home game ought to be able to buy a ticket. I think one of the reasons Sanford Stadium crowds tend to be less vocal than at some other schools and provide less of a home-field advantage is because there are too many older alums who prefer to mostly sit and watch. The students, meanwhile, stand and shout for the entire game.
I’m not sure what, if anything, can be done about this situation the way things are currently. I wish more tickets could be made available to students first and the general public second, but as a season ticket holder, I certainly don’t want the pool of tickets available to Bulldog Club members reduced. That would give the athletic association license to boost the minimum contributions even more.
Eventually, though, the seating capacity of the stadium will be increased again. And while I know the temptation to load up on suites and other high-price seats to raise more money will be great, I hope at that time the athletic bosses will increase the students’ ticket allotment and perhaps reserve some seats for the general public.
It shouldn’t always be about who can afford to pay the most.
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123 comments Add your comment
WTF???
July 13th, 2009
2:14 pm
Add on to Sanford Stadium. Go up about 5 more sections & try to seat about 180,000…….
Corrine Brown
July 13th, 2009
2:24 pm
Thank You Michael Adams
Class of '98
July 13th, 2009
2:34 pm
I used to buy season tickets without making the contribution. I liked it. I got different seats, and a different view, every season. I can’t afford it now. I buy tickets from scalpers for the big games.
I’ve never fully understood why Sanford seemed a bit quieter than other places. Your theory is as good as any, Bill. I kinda enjoy standing and shouting no matter where my seats are, ESPECIALLY if it annoys old fogies around me that sit on their hands the who game.
Those are the same old farts that want every game to start at noon.
RxDawg
July 13th, 2009
2:35 pm
I agree completely, but the times change man. I love going to games, but the allmighty dollar just makes it so it’s better for me to catch them at home sometimes. This could dissapoint me to no end, but instead I suck it up and realize I still enjoy them on TV. The trick is to watch the game with a lot of people. It’s a small substitute for the crowd
Such is the price of having a successful football team. It beats having a traditional 4-8 team and have them giving away season tickets.
I can still catch the occasional ticket from season ticket holders. And I never, NEVER pay much over face value. I’m a huge dawg fan, but I have my priorities.
And what is wrong...
July 13th, 2009
2:38 pm
…with starting every game at 1pm?
DLR
July 13th, 2009
2:45 pm
As long as the courts force almost 60% of athletic scholarships at UGA to go to women, football will be forced to push for revenue since it’s the one sport that can pay for it all.
SuperB
July 13th, 2009
2:53 pm
It’s way past time– to enlarge Sanford Stadium.
Island Dawg
July 13th, 2009
2:54 pm
Uhh, a grand a year for two tix is not that unfair, Bill. The program is extremely expensive to run, and sorry but market forces do weigh in. Maybe a Soviet-style lottery ration? Sorry a couple folks in Bowman have to resort to buying from scalpers. The stadium only can hold so many. Do agree with the sitters point; they are awful and know better than to ask me to not block their view by now.
JP
July 13th, 2009
2:54 pm
What’s wrong with starting at 1pm?
It’s really freaking hot and it ruins tailgating. FTW.
Island Dawg
July 13th, 2009
2:54 pm
DLR, WTF?
Island Dawg, if we have to explain...
July 13th, 2009
3:01 pm
…Title IX to you, then you would not understand to what DLR is referring and thus probably do not understand what is meant by “football will be forced to push for revenue since it’s the one sport that can pay for it all”.
And it is true!
LawDawg
July 13th, 2009
3:04 pm
Recent grad here (undergrad and law), no way I’ve got $10,000 to throw the UGAAA’s way any time soon. Sure would be nice to attend a game this season, but I don’t see it happening.
As an aside, the ticket office changed it’s student ticket policy this season. Now there are no physical tickets for students, but rather the ID’s will be scanned. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the student sections. As someone who has spent every home game for the last seven years in those sections, I can attest to the fact that at least a 1/4 of the “students” are not UGA students, but rather students at other state institutions or recent grads (yep, the old ID’s worked like a charm if you scalped a student ticket). Will we see empty seats in the student sections this season? Time will tell.
Huh?
July 13th, 2009
3:05 pm
I’ve sat with some of those old fogies up top that have had season tickets longer than I’ve been alive. BOR-ING. I think most of them are just there to keep up appearances.
Season tickets are a waste. I could give two craps about sitting in 90 degree heat watching us blow out Georgia Southern and Central Michigan. You can have your season tickets. I’ll take air conditioning, a cold brew, and a fat HD flat. You can always go to the big games if you’re willing to pay the right price. Over the long haul, its cheaper to shell out a few hundred for a big games here and there than to take out another mortgage on your house for season tickets. What a joke.
Can't Blame 'em
July 13th, 2009
3:05 pm
I am a recent grad (’06) and cannot afford to put up the money to get into the ticket pool. I agree that the primary reason Sanford doesn’t have the homefield advantage of a place like LSU or Florida is that it limits the number of tickets available to students and recent grads. My freshman year I was given two ticket options that contained 3 games each.
But on the other hand, I am not going to blame the Athletic Department for going about their business the way they do. The fact is, people are willing to pay extraordianary amounts of money for season tickets. And a ticket is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If this means that UGA is making more money than the vast majority of teams, I am all for it.
BTW – I still go to just about every game for the tailgate atmosphere, and I do make it into a number of games each year.
The younger alumni will only have to wait...
July 13th, 2009
3:09 pm
…their turn – if tickets CANNOT be willed to a family member (other than a spouse, per Hartmann Fund rules, then there should be about 35,000 tickets available in the next 10 years when approx. 6000 donors, who control approx. 36,000 season tickets, die! Once this happens the contribution level will be reduced immensely, unless, of course, the “fat cat” contributors are not subject to the “no will” rule, which, in raality, is likely to happen.
swimdawg68
July 13th, 2009
3:09 pm
I guess I’m one of the “old Farts” that attends every home game, sits in the club level and pays $2,500 + the ticket price for the priviledge. I have been making a contribution to UGA since before I graduated. I stand and cheer for the dawgs with the best of them but I have no desire to stand up for the entire game. I did that when I was a student.
I have given up my country club membership and my entertainment dollars now find their way to UGA. Fortunately, in the club section we have very few that choose to stand for the entire game, if that were to occur they would be asked to sit down politely. We stand and cheer at the appropriate times, fortunately those times are often.
You can thank Title 9 (womens sports) for the contribution requirements. Our athletic department is forced to support many “non revenue producing sports” and they are not all women’s sports. This is the case for every major university in Division 1, and they all have a contribution requirement for season football tickets. When was the last time you walked up to the ticket window in Jax. to purchase a GA-FLA ticket? It hasen’t happened in my lifetime and I doubt it will ever happen. It is just the facts of our time.
Island Dawg
July 13th, 2009
3:10 pm
Title iX has nothing to do with football ticket prices. It’s called supply and demand. Go pick up an economics for dummies book.
When you realize that...
July 13th, 2009
3:11 pm
…there are only 15000 members in the Hartmann Fund, then you will see that those people control 98% of the season tickets! Thus, something is very wrong with this picture!
Dang, Island Dawg...
July 13th, 2009
3:14 pm
…you really do not understand Title IX and its impact on the whole athletic department! Nor, do you understand the basic premise of college athletic funding, where football funds 90% of the other sports. Basketball is basically self supporting (at least at most D1 schools – UGA many be an exception at this time).
FDawg
July 13th, 2009
3:14 pm
Bill and Loren,
I agree…completely. Love the Dawgs and Athens on Saturday nights in the fall but with 3 kids and all their activities, that 10k is used in other areas. They’ve priced alot of people out of the ticket pool…and I believe that’s what they were trying to do in the first place.
Otto
July 13th, 2009
3:17 pm
Can’t Bame ‘em 100% I agree going up to every game is alot of fun. If I could afford to buy season tickets I would be there for 90 degree weather against Central Michigan. However, the $10k buy in forces me out of the market and forces friends to sell off some of their tickets to be able to keep season tickets. I also agree with Can’t Blame ‘em if the market will support the prices you can’t blame the AD for doing what any good business would do.
Bill, yes I agree many of the old fans do just sit there now. I also think making the stadium a full bowl would increase the noise but the view from the bridge is something every UGA fan enjoys. Adding 20k more fans in the stratosphere will increase revenue but will not increase noise by any mentionable margin.
Slaw Dawg
July 13th, 2009
3:23 pm
I’ve got plenty of money. How much do you need ?
jimmy
July 13th, 2009
3:27 pm
just some more ADAMS bs and i don’t mean the degree
By the way...
July 13th, 2009
3:30 pm
…once you are in the “club” after making the initial contribution (whatever level that is) you only have to pony up annually the current “seat price” – which ranges from $250, to $375, $400, $625, $1000, or $2000 per seat ticket. So, if you sit in the $250 seat area, and have 2 season tickets, you have to contribute $500 to the “club” on an annual basis in order to renew, and pay for, your 2 season tickets. So, you do NOT have to mortgage the house every year.
Adams has nothing...
July 13th, 2009
3:32 pm
…to do with this – every D1 school has this arrangement.
OZZFEST
July 13th, 2009
3:33 pm
My wife & I make $150K+ and we can hardly afford our upper deck endzone seats. The system wins.
Ali Akbar Allah
July 13th, 2009
3:34 pm
You guys can have your 10k buy-ins. No worries on my end, sometimes I even get a coke and a hot dog with my ticket.
Saint Simons
July 13th, 2009
3:39 pm
45-42!!!!!!!!!!! hahaahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ramble On!!
July 13th, 2009
3:40 pm
The funny thing is our stadium is half the size of Sanford, yet we can’t fill our crap hole of a stadium!
It’s tough being a nerd!
SC Dawg
July 13th, 2009
3:41 pm
It’s the way of life in college athletics. They are going to take care of those fans who take care of them. That is how seats are assigned. That is how road game tickets are distributed. That is how parking spaces are allocated.
RxDawg
July 13th, 2009
3:42 pm
LawDawg, thats probably a change for the better. In school there are many students that could care less about attending football games. However, they still recognize how valuable their tickets are. So they buy them up, and scalp them. It’s not right sense it was causing other students that wished to attend games to be denied due to demand. This change was long overdue.
mdc
July 13th, 2009
3:42 pm
I am a season tix holder (4 seats) and have been since the early 90’s and I for one think that the recent grads are getting screwed….10K…wow. I am almost to the point that I am going to drop my tix request as my kids don’t care anymore and it is a huge investment of time. Alot of the folks I go with are now questioning the rationale of buying when the first 2-3 games are so hot and so many drunks are passing out etc…..Don’t know the answer but I think Copr Am has taken over college sports as well. The only thing Athens has going ofr it is that it is a college town and you can relieve some of your youth. With HD and EPSN etc it is much better to stay home with a party…
Bryan G.
July 13th, 2009
3:43 pm
I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic, but to buy a pair of season tickets it’s a 500 dollar donation and then about 500 for the seats. That’s $1000. That’s really not THAT much.
The $10K deal from last year is a bit skewed. I got my tickets in 2005. That year everyone who donated got tickets. In 2006, the cut off was something like 800 bucks. 07 and 08 were just off the charts (like 3000 and 10000, I think).
It’s not that freaking much, people.
RealDawg
July 13th, 2009
3:43 pm
I agree, kinda. With football being the only sport that actual makes money, it is a big load given the facility demands and athletic costs. I can’t really ask them to make less money. That being said, it is tight some years making the contribution. Going to the games and spending this time with family and friends is priority for us. We love our seats ways from the old codger area.
My recommendations would be:
Hold out a select number of season tickets or individual game pairs for new graduates at a reduced contribution rate.
Reduce the number of “exta” award tickets high paying contributors get. A large number of these are the ones scalped to cover their contribution. I know for one that the years we had to sell our FL tickets we more than paid for our contribution. Sell these tickets at a higher rate than the face high paying contributors pay but on the open market. This would mean more money up front but less award for high paying contributors.
When tickets are available, charge more for the games people really want to see. You don’t pay the same to watch karaoke as you do Britney. Both are lip synching but one is much higher demand.
It is a shame so many get left out but there are always tickets available before the game. Only rarely is the cost higher than my actual ticket cost plus contribution which should be the real face value since most all tickets come from season ticket holders.
shane#1
July 13th, 2009
3:44 pm
DLR, At UGA the Ladies do pretty well for themselves. The GymDogs are second to football in the amount of money they bring in and Andy Lander’s girls usually do well, at least, better than men’s b-ball. Some sports just do not produce the amount of money that football does. Now, if you say there is a problem in men’s basketball, which SHOULD be a big money earner, then I would agree with you. The amount of money required for donations doesn’t bother me but the “points” system does. I feel like a buzzard waiting for some old DGD to die before I can get seats in the UGA section at Tech. Corporations can donate enough to get ALL privlages reserved for the fat cats with a one time, tax deductable, gift. That, I do not like!
Chris
July 13th, 2009
3:46 pm
I enjoy watching the games at home on my large HDTV. No lines for the restroom. Food adn Beer from Publix costs $12. I can see the replays just fine and my Lazyboy is much comfortable. Having fellow alumni over or going to their place is fine too. And last, no traffic to worry about. Yes life is nice watching from home.
mdc
July 13th, 2009
3:50 pm
Enter your comments here
Sorry, Shane#1...
July 13th, 2009
3:51 pm
…but the Lady Dawgs b-ball team, at $25 per season ticket, does not come close to paying for itself. You are correct re: the Gym Dawgs; and the men’s b-ball team does come close to breaking even, even as bad as they have been the last 5 years.
dawgstephen
July 13th, 2009
3:54 pm
As someone who sits in the lower level, and pays my 325 per seat to have the right to season tickets I say to all of you who are griping, shut up. I make small contributions over the year in place of other hobbies. I have had season tixs since 2000 and that is ALL. Now mind you I do purchase 8 tickets so i am high enough on the list that i am now gettin some road game privilege. Anyway, im sorry that the threshold has been set so high, but with another addition then the minimum to get in on the season tickets will be lower. remember the minimum to buy is based on the CUMILATIVE total….since 1965…..go dawgs
J Smurf
July 13th, 2009
3:57 pm
Ditto, Chris. However, 1 or 2 games a year is a must.
TaDawg
July 13th, 2009
4:01 pm
I get sick of hearing about the view out of the West end zone. It is not bad, but it is only an very, very small part of the game and gameday experience. How long can you stare out at the landscape. Watch the game and the pageantry surrounding it. It would be worth closing in the West end zone with two more levels (200s and 300s), because any loss would certainly be compensated by the improvement of the in-stadium experience from a larger and more focused crowd.
uuugh.
July 13th, 2009
4:04 pm
Hmmm more and more people graduate from UGA each year…yet they only expand the stadium every 15 years. A single year of graduates outnumber the seats in each stadium expansion. Seems like the rules of economics are at work to me. There would probably still be a shortage of tickets if nobody graduated for the next 10 years! How do you decrease demand? Raise prices that’s how. All the complaining about high prices won’t change a thing.
Cuz
July 13th, 2009
4:04 pm
Let’s get Congress to fix this mess right after they fix the BCS.
uuugh.
July 13th, 2009
4:06 pm
You could also kill off some old folks but that is bad publicity–plus who will pay the players salaries then?
swimdawg68
July 13th, 2009
4:08 pm
Saint Simons needs to check in somewhere for some help. 7-1 hahahahahahaha! put that on your ring.
DwagGal
July 13th, 2009
4:08 pm
How many tickets in Sanford go to corporate donors? Hartman fund contributors are not getting 98% of tickets.
Hopefully scanning IDs this year (like a lot of other major university athletics programs do) will allow more students to get in over the course of the season.
What was the contribution cutoff for new donors this year? Has it been announced?
Renegade
July 13th, 2009
4:08 pm
Closing in the West endzone is inevitable. Sitting on the hill or the railroad tracks was much more nostalgic, and expansion happened anyway. But, closing in the stadium would not be completable during one off-season, and therefore would make gameday during the interim pretty lame. Incorporate the bridge into the new construction and move the opposing team tickets to the upperdeck of that section and expand the student section to fill in the space vacated by the visitors. Everybody wins.
hey swimdawg...
July 13th, 2009
4:10 pm
You are right that b/c of title 9 that the football team ends up paying for the majority of the women’s sports. But even without title 9, football would still be paying for all kinds of men’s sports that cannot financially support themselves.
However, the cost of football tickets has absolutely nothing to do with title 9. The athletic department is simply making the most money it can from selling football tickets. As was said earlier, the tickets are worth what people will pay for them.
Fort Worth Dawg
July 13th, 2009
4:12 pm
I am still shocked that student tickets are rationed (and for half the games at that). Expand the Stadium and allocate a good chunk to students. I like the scanned student ID plan – it also eliminates the concern of lost & stolen tickets. I hope that there is an option where students who will miss one or more games can put their seat in a pool for other students to buy or use (same for non-student tickets). Finally, I love LSU’s first-come-first-served policy for student tickets, ensuring that the loudest, craziest fans get closer seats.
Cuz
July 13th, 2009
4:14 pm
Not all Dogs fans are fat cats. No I am a fat dawg.