Cost dropping to get new UGA football season tickets
The cost of getting into Sanford Stadium as a first-time season-ticket buyer is dropping.
Two years ago, one had to donate $10,651 to qualify for the right to buy new University of Georgia football season tickets. Last year, the cutoff dropped to $4,205. This year, it will decline again.
UGA associate athletics director Alan Thomas said Wednesday that the final figure won’t be calculated until next week, “but it certainly will be lower than last year.” He declined to speculate on how much lower.
The reasons for the drop: a rise in ticket cancellations and a decline in donations. Georgia attributes both factors to the economy and the team’s disappointing 2009 season.
The way the system works is that all of the previous year’s season-ticket holders retain the right to buy their seats if they make a prescribed annual contribution to the Athletic Association’s “Hartman Fund” — a minimum of $250 per seat, more for prime locations. But becoming a first-time season-ticket buyer in the perpetually sold-out stadium can be much costlier because orders for new tickets are filled from the limited supply of non-renewals on the basis of prospective buyers’ lifetime Hartman Fund contributions, starting with the highest and continuing until no seats remain.
The contribution level of the person getting the last available season ticket becomes the cutoff –- a closely watched figure among some Georgia fans.
In 2008, amid the hype of a preseason No. 1 ranking, there were only 804 non-renewals and so much demand for those seats that the contributions cutoff reached the stratospheric and jaw-dropping $10,651. In 2009, the number of season-ticket seats not renewed almost doubled to 1,560 and the cutoff returned to earth. This year, coming off an 8-5 season in a bad economy, there were 2,021 non-renewals.
Still, there won’t be enough vacated seats to fill all of the new orders that have been received.
“We again will have to refund some season-ticket orders,” Thomas said.
That’s a situation no other sports team in the state, college or pro, enjoys.
“We have more contributors wanting tickets than we have tickets for,” UGA executive associate athletics director Frank Crumley said, “so that’s a great scenario to have.”
Crumley said most of the non-renewals resulted from customers reducing their number of seats, rather than canceling altogether.
“The number of people actually dropping all of their tickets is a very, very small number,” he said. “What [some] may be doing is going from eight to six [seats] or six to four or something like that.”
Thomas also noted a drop in first-time contributions.
“What we did not see this year was as many large first-time gifts,” he said. “We saw some fairly significant first-time gifts but not as many.”
Overall, Hartman Fund contributions this year totaled $22.8 million from 14,002 donors -– the lowest on both counts in at least four years, according to UGA records.
In 2009, contributions totaled $23.3 million from 14,332 donors. In 2008, contributions hit a record $26.1 million from 14,713 donors. In 2007, contributions totaled $23.5 million from 14,396 donors.
The contributions go toward funding the overall athletics program.
Georgia athletics director Damon Evans is confident he knows the reasons for this year’s declines -– “the economy and how we performed as a team” last season -– but said it’s hard to assess the relative impact of the two factors.
Said Evans: “Look back a couple of years ago. We were preseason No. 1 [and] had beaten Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl -– a big win and a great season -– and things spiked up. . . . The support is still there, but I just think when people are excited and when people have a little bit more expendable income, they’ll put more toward their ticket priority. Right now, with the economy and so forth, people are a little bit more hesitant. But we’ll still be sold out.”
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94 comments Add your comment
Gators
June 3rd, 2010
4:02 pm
Chiefdawg
June 3rd, 2010
3:46 pm
Ozzfest, it is schedules like this one that make National Champions. Just look at UF’s the last few years…that and the lousy refing in the SEC..both UF and Bama lost games last year that the refs gave them
gourdhead
June 3rd, 2010
4:07 pm
Just found out last week for sure that we will be paying $1000 more per semester for my daughter to attend UGA. What, and no season tickets for me paying $11,000/yr AFTER HOPE. Sheesh…..my first semester at UGA back in the 80’s was just over $450 per Qtr for tuition ……showing my age…..Class of 88!
LOL
June 3rd, 2010
4:11 pm
With “average” UGA fans now having the chance to buy tix, wonder how the “upper-class wealthy power brokers” are going to like sitting next to the “AVERAGE” UGA fan.
Man, that’ll be a hoot.
Queestion
June 3rd, 2010
4:14 pm
Why…………….(according to state records)………
is the current undergraduate enrollment at UGA:
65%:Female and 35%: Male.
Is there a defined bias, or have the guys gotten dumber over there?
G
June 3rd, 2010
4:25 pm
Looks like many of the people having fun with this didn’t actually read the article – only the headline. Ticket prices and donation requirements for current season ticket holders AREN’T dropping. Only the minimum contribution for new season ticket holders is, and I can’t imagine what kind of seats those people will get. Have fun in the 3rd level and bring your binoculars. By now I’ve contributed about 12K and I’m still in the East endzone (but at least I’m lower level).
Clarification
June 3rd, 2010
4:38 pm
It’s hilarious how Tech fans still quote irrelevant numbers like a game from two years ago, or a couple of baseball games, like anybody cares.
30-24
8-1
15-4(15-1 when you weren’t using ineligible players)
60-37-5
we own you
ugakc
June 3rd, 2010
4:45 pm
“The contribution level of the person getting the last available season ticket becomes the cutoff –- a closely watched figure among some Georgia fans.”
In 2008 my cumulative contribution was $7,600 – so I am thinking the $10,000 was just a figure Damon calculated folks would pay to see Matthew & Knowshon in their last season…
UGA = 2010 National Champs!
June 3rd, 2010
4:47 pm
WE RUN THIS STATE! AARON MURRAY FOR HEISMAN!
MARK IT DOWN!….
This is rich
June 3rd, 2010
5:13 pm
Why does the size of the stadium matter to you Rednecks? Last time I checked, Tech seated 60,000 capacity. It’s not 92,000 but it sells out. Size of the stadium doesn’t make the team nor the Institution. Come off it guys. And UGA=2010 National Champs, give me some of that Kool-Aid son!
Times, TV set for four Georgia football games (UPDATED) | UGA sports blog
June 3rd, 2010
5:31 pm
[...] Also today on ajc.com: Cost dropping to get new UGA football season tickets. [...]
THWGT!!!
June 3rd, 2010
5:34 pm
To all you yella jerkets – the 4 hotdogs, 4 cokes, parking and 4 tickets happens at the tinker toy in Atlanta, not Athens. Your jealousy is showing.
THWGT!!!!!!!
Tennessee Owns The State of Georgia
June 3rd, 2010
6:35 pm
All Time Record UT: 20 > UGA: 16
UT: 24 > GT: 17
National Championships: UT:6 > UGA: 2
UT:6 > GT: 4
Who runs the state of Georgia?
Oh yea… *45-19*
UGA SUX
June 3rd, 2010
6:40 pm
$10,000 to watch Ky,TN and Gators,Oklahoma State(big12 haha) whip ugay!! hahaha
I am a UGA fan
June 3rd, 2010
6:42 pm
got my head up my a** and it smells great!!!
I am a UGA fan
June 3rd, 2010
6:48 pm
gotta take another loan on the double wide just to watch my dawgs win 5 or 6 games…bummer.
I am a UGA fan
June 3rd, 2010
6:51 pm
I own more on loans that what the trailer is worth just to watch my dawgs get beat by vols and gayturds.. obama please bail me out this mess.
Booger
June 3rd, 2010
7:11 pm
As a reminder, 80% of the donation can be written off as a tax deduction. Large donations for football do not make much fiscal sense, but personally, I prefer having prime seats in Athens vs giving more to Obama and the rest of the socialists in DC.
GT breeds terrorists
June 3rd, 2010
7:15 pm
Enter your comments here
barolo
June 3rd, 2010
9:01 pm
UGA has to be the mosst overrated football program in the nation
The Real World
June 3rd, 2010
9:03 pm
Looks like UGA and BP stock is heading in the same direction. Wait till after THIS season!
barolo
June 3rd, 2010
9:09 pm
Real World: That is called a buying opportunity…
The Real World
June 3rd, 2010
11:28 pm
I’d wait till after this season to buy. Might get some free tickets.
Friday morning buffet « Get The Picture
June 4th, 2010
6:55 am
[...] good news for Georgia’s athletic department is that there’s still a cutoff for football season tickets. The bad news is that the non-renewals rose significantly. The school blames that on a [...]
4th Place SEC East
June 4th, 2010
7:41 am
Maybe I’ll buy a few season tickets for my friends and we can all witness the butt-whipping GT is going to put on UGA this year….45-42!!!!!!!!
james T. Kirk
June 4th, 2010
8:38 am
I guess you people will try anything to fill up that glorified high school stadium stuck out in the cow pasture.
2010 = UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS
June 4th, 2010
9:38 am
Get ready folks. Stand up and scream….THIS IS OUR YEAR DAWGS!
Show your true Georgia spirit…..
2010 is the year UGA wins it all….. Mark that down NERDS!
Aaron Murray is gonna throw for 450 yards and 4 TD’s on your sorry D.
National Championship:
UGA 48
Oklahoma 12
4th Place SEC East
June 4th, 2010
10:19 am
That’s a good one 2010=…. but that’s what UGA fans say every year.
2010 = UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS
June 4th, 2010
11:08 am
No it’s not “4th Place”. We didn’t say that last year. In 2008 we did have the greatest UGA team we’ve had in the past 20 years. And they fell short. But that’s due to some bad calls in big games including some against your Jackets. Tech got lucky and is not a good team. UGA is better because they just are so deal with it!
Mark it down in your little notepad nerd….UGA will go undefeated this year and become….
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
Now go join a tickle pile!
4th Place SEC East
June 4th, 2010
11:21 am
Good luck to your Bulldogs…I predict UGA to go 8-5, a loss to GT and back to Shreveport…
2010 = UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS
June 4th, 2010
11:30 am
I cann’t wait until UGA wins the NC this year…all of those young men sweating just turns me on!!
2010 = UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS
June 4th, 2010
11:31 am
Your prediction is WRONG! How could you think that. We destroyed your Jackets last year!
UGA can’t be stopped. We run this state!
30-24
It’s over for Tech. They’ll go 5-7 and PJ will be on the hot seat!
bort
June 4th, 2010
1:16 pm
With the size of PJ’s rear end, I’d say any seat he’s in is the hot seat . . .
2010 = UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS
June 4th, 2010
1:42 pm
I agree bort! PJ is a fat ugly guy! GOOD CALL! HAHAHAHAHA!
On the other side we got Richt…who, I don’t want to sound gay or anything…but he’s a good looking dude…
GA Tech Stinger
June 5th, 2010
12:02 am
Ticket prices down at the university of football in athens? they need to bump up the recruiting quality to get more wins.
Alphare
June 5th, 2010
10:03 am
I am not a UGA fan so I am free to speak out some unbiased opinions:
It seems some UGA fans think your ticket money help UGA academically. Well, not much. UGA athletic department only gives $2million to the university last year. Do you know who get most of your money? CMR makes $3mill a year, Damon Evans makes $0.5mill a year, one of the assist coach $0.7 mill a year. You may pay enough for UGA to reap $80mill a year, but only 3% trickle in to help the university academically.
Remember, UGA athletic department operates independently.
On the other hand, endowment is nearly 100% supportive of a college’s academics. That’s where UGA and Tech differ.
Although Tech is 1/3 of the size of UGA, but Tech’s endowment is twice as big as UGA’s. Endowment is voluntary donation, unlike UGA’s schemed ticket buying/donation program, which fattens most of the coaches and administrators.
messin with......
June 5th, 2010
10:32 am
cmr says “god bless paul johnson!”
Paul Johnson
June 5th, 2010
11:10 am
Maybe my gimmick offense can sellout maybe 1 game. You can come watch us suck then get mugged on your way home
he's like a Fox
June 5th, 2010
11:21 am
95% of Ga fans can’t afford to go to the games…..
INFALLIBLE
June 5th, 2010
12:04 pm
I read that Richt is on the hot seat. How can that be? He’s the handsomest coach in Georgia history.
Dagny
June 6th, 2010
3:01 pm
The unfortunate fact is that unemployment checks don’t pay enough for most UGA fans to buy season tickets. For the ones who are working, MacDonald’s doesn’t pay enough either.
So stay home in your single-wide and watch the games on your 17-inch TV while guzzling down your cheap beer. And root for those illiterate goons and felons in the red and black or whatever colors Richt’s fashion coordinator comes up with this year.
Losers. Really pathetic losers.
Gainesville Gator
June 6th, 2010
3:10 pm
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t
been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago (and just how did that work out?).
Sit back and be grateful for the seven or eight wins you’ll get every year. “Clueless” Mark Richt may take you to 10-2 or even 11-1 occasionally, but Florida will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 15 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans, like Miami and Ole Miss fans, need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its second-rate coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Bulldog Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many
blue chip high school plays go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and
irrelevance.
And keep looking for a job.
Truth
June 6th, 2010
8:09 pm
@Gainsville Gator
I couldn’t agree with you more. I also wonder why is it that so many uga fans cannot see this? Do they include ‘rose-colored glasses’ with season tickets?
CornholeKid
June 8th, 2010
4:53 pm
10k? Really?? Somebody’s gettin’ over BIG time!
Donation level required for new UGA season tickets falls to $1,550 | UGA sports blog
June 11th, 2010
10:01 am
[...] reasons for this year’s continued decline, as reported by the AJC last week: a rise in ticket cancellations and a decline in donations. Georgia attributes both factors to the [...]