This. 1000% this. But you have alum like me and alum that don’t know or care about one sportsball from the next. So - can a program remain, forget thrive - w the Aging Boosters of NU world?
Here come the PSLs
- Thread starter ParisCat_rivals
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Or the quality of the product. Or the stubbornness and quality of the coaches.
Don’t know 100%, but from what I know assistant salaries are probably par for the course at best. NU used to be way WAAYYY behind, caught up in recent years.
What the **** does “interest responsibility on pledges” even mean?
Somewhere on these boards, someone claimed that major donations are not instant but at death. The school in turn borrows using the pledge as security but has to pay the interest on the loan. If that information is true as it pertains to Ryan, then all these upgrades will carry some sizable interest payments. And that means the school needs the revenue from the ‘revenue’ sports. As such, driving fans away would become a problem. Therefore, financial implications might finally have strong influence on coaching decisions.
At least I have athletic capabilities. Go spend more time in front of the boob tube, noob.
No clue if that’s legit (was literally way above my pay grade), but plausible in that it wouldn’t require the donor to liquidate large positions and likely incur significant tax burden. That said, it would also be plausible for NU to be able to PIK or otherwise defer at least a portion of the interest so it is also payable at loan repayment rather than over time.
Either way, gate revenue and concessions is not a terribly significant portion of NU’s football budget. That’s derived mostly from BTN distributions.
I think the increased number of games for teams that dont fill large stadiums on a regular basis has had to be a pain. The incredible number of coaches and personnel dedicated to sports now. Probably no way to walk that back but the NCAA has certainly not done most college teams any favors...Seems to me tv and media sources are going to need to give a bigger piece of the pie....I believe they are making a good piece of change... ....they draw people out of the stadium on to the coach...where they rake in the cash...while the schools on their own dime have to build the production set, pay the actors, directors etc....we are a long way from the U.of Chicago Maroons hopping the L to come up to NU (loyola for that matter back in the day) to play the Cats while the fans stood on the sidelines......hope they dont kill the golden goose.
You two really ought to get a room on Saturday night and work all this out the old fashioned way.
If gate revenue isn't a big deal, begs the question why the big price jumps. Also, I think there is revenue from local radio coverage and advertising around the facilities. I would also expect merchandise licensing to be a factor. And all these require fans that want to care and to spend.
They’re trying to extract as much as possible from the die-hard folks who are more likely to show up regardless of the price, which is why the survey was primarily a fishing mission to determine how much existing season ticket holders would be willing to pay for various seats.
Radio, advertising, and merchandise licensing are all drops in the bucket for NU compared to the BTN television revenue.
Quoting P.T. Barnum? It's a gamble, do you pay the money before or after the winning? Currently there is no winning, and what's to guarantee it in the future?
I am using the quality of play as an excuse to not come to games. I have to fly in and NU football is less entertaining than clearing airport security. I didn't take the survey but seat licenses or a dramatic increase in season ticket prices will end my ST renewal. I have great seats and if NU wants to extract premium prices then they should field a consistently entertaining and successful team.
Here is a suggestion , NU comes out with an achievement based plan:
1. $1,000/seat every 5 year cycle if NU wins a B!G title
2. $1,000/seat every 10 years if NU has a B!G West title or a greater than .500 B1G cumulative record
3 Feel free to suggest your own achievement criteria
This plan could add $25 million every cycle if NU performs. Maybe this would give admissions the incentive to allow selected recruits enrollment and the HC to critically evaluate his staff's performance
Here is what Season Tickets Cost to LSU by way of comparison -
Add 500-2000 dollars for parking.
Here is the secondary market for the next upcoming game.
Not just that, I think that football in general isn't that big of a draw for the younger generations, unless they go to a SEC, ACC, or Big 12 school. The BIG is included as well, but NU currently is playing on a AAC level.
Yeah, the Big 12. They are football fanatics, almost as crazed as SEC fans. Besides, there isn't much to do in Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.
I’m not sure I totally agree with that as part of being a fan is supporting the team.
But it certainly is much harder to do…
My biggest concern with "market pricing" for seats in a renovated stadium is that it creates an adversarial relationship between us (the fans) and them (the administration). Look no further than Wrigleyville where you could buy seats behind the dugout for $10 to a Friday night game by mid-August...the "loyal" fanbase is more than willing to abandon the team when the ownership seeks to "maximize its investment." The difference: attendance at baseball games doesn't really matter.
As it stands, I will continue to buy my tickets without interruption even if the team were to fall into Dark Ages-adjacent woes - I love Northwestern football and I'm here to support the team in good times and in bad.
I don't mind moving from my 35 yard line seats over to the 20s or 10s, but who you gonna get to take my old seats? And if you're going to squeeze me for every penny you can, then I'll just go to 2-3 games per year, never buying directly from NU because I will ALWAYS be able to find better prices on the secondary market (which is true today and in years/weeks when we're ranked), and I'll take my savings from HALF of just one season under a new pricing structure to upgrade my 65" TV to 85" with surround sound and just watch at home. Maybe I'll open the windows to simulate the elements.
This is where bringing in some rando AD who's "just doing what any program would do" will steer this whole thing in the wrong direction.
As it stands, I will continue to buy my tickets without interruption even if the team were to fall into Dark Ages-adjacent woes - I love Northwestern football and I'm here to support the team in good times and in bad.
I don't mind moving from my 35 yard line seats over to the 20s or 10s, but who you gonna get to take my old seats? And if you're going to squeeze me for every penny you can, then I'll just go to 2-3 games per year, never buying directly from NU because I will ALWAYS be able to find better prices on the secondary market (which is true today and in years/weeks when we're ranked), and I'll take my savings from HALF of just one season under a new pricing structure to upgrade my 65" TV to 85" with surround sound and just watch at home. Maybe I'll open the windows to simulate the elements.
This is where bringing in some rando AD who's "just doing what any program would do" will steer this whole thing in the wrong direction.
Comparing NU football to any SEC fan base is a straw man argument - totally different product, totally different fan base. I say this as someone who lived in Louisiana for 8+ years - the entire state shuts down on Tiger Saturdays. Very different than NU's footprint in Illinois.
Having said that, I think it is reasonable to expect an increase in ticket prices in a rebuilt Ryan Field. I do think the amounts that were being used as examples in the survey were unreasonable - I don't think a 3-4 fold increase in the ticket price of my tickets in section 130 is warranted, especially as someone who has to drive 3 hours to make it to a game. I am willing to pay more, and I would even consider some of the premium options, particularly ones that might make it more feasible to bring my daughters to more games (more comfortable seats, protection from the elements, etc). But the value proposition has to be right.
PSL’s, mandatory donations, higher ticket prices. Whatever plan they use to try to raise more funds, we still have the smallest fan base in the Big Ten. And it will become smaller with hefty price increases, regardless if the name they give it.
A rise by any other name is still an unrealistic price gouge.
A rise by any other name is still an unrealistic price gouge.
It may not be a PSL but it acts in the same way as it’s a mandatory cost. You don’t own the seat in perpetuity as long as you buy tickets.
regardless. Anything more than $75 per tix is overkill