Questions about the Bulldog Club

[jamdawg96]

I'm thinking of joining, but I have a few questions in regards of what to expect. I don't make a lot of money, yet. But I'd like to go ahead and join so I can at least earn points and make a contribution, even if it's a small one. I'm not worried about tickets for the upcoming athletic seasons. And I'm not necessarily worried about having excellent seats in the coming years.

BUT, what I'd like to know is: what kind of contributions should be expected to earn lower-level seating at football and basketball games? And also, how much could one expect to spend on an annual basis to maintain (if not improve) quality seating and obtain parking passes? Within a year I'll be moving away from Mississippi and I'd like to have my account in place. But I want to know what to expect so I can do it the right way, and not <17> myself over. So, for those of you who've been donating for years, what's the best way to go about it?

Edited to add:
I realize there is a link on the mstateathletics.com page for most of this info.. I'm just looking for personal input from fans on here.

 

[vhdawg]

...and from what I understand, I could maintain them for as little as $100 a year. I currently give more than that, but that's the minimum I'd have to give to keep my seats.

I don't do basketball, though (12 games a year for football is enough travel for me)....that's a completely different beast.

 

[lake3dawg]

I'm sure you know, but keep giving every year because you get the lifetime points plus you get consecutive year points which all add up. The younger you start the more ahead you will be later.

There is no way you'll ever look back and regret joining the Bulldog Club; odds are very, very strong you are a life-long fan and later you'll be able to give more but you'll be that much ahead because of the time you have been in the BC.

As I tell people all the time, your older self will thank your younger self later.

I know AD Byrne says this all the time, but participating on MSU forums and having a maroon truck and naming your child Sylvester and getting in fights with Ole Miss fans and wearing a Gotta Have More Cowbell tshirt are all great but the only way to actually support the athletic program is to join the Bulldog Club and buy season tickets.

 

[dickiedawg]

Don't expect to get lower level tickets. Consider yourself lucky if you get seats at all.
Football's a different story altogether, of course.

 

[Porkchop.sixpack]

who were giving $1000 per year not getting lower level basketball seats? And I know I recall some people that were Bulldog Club members not getting seats at all. It's hard to say what you should expect, though. When you here the stories about "I give x per year, and only got seats in Y.", you never get the full picture. And the full picture is essentially where they rank in the bulldog club.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

There are thousand dollar donors who barely get in the door for bball.

 

[2thdoc44]

according to a friend from last year in basketball. Not sure what his rank was at the time.</p>

 

[Roy Munson.sixpack]

1300 or so give 4000 plus maxed out in tickets for all sports and we barely got in the door last year....well, all that was left were the top corners and endzones for basketball.

 

[Porkchop.sixpack]

you are giving $4000 per year, you will move up from 1300 pretty rapidly as your lifetime giving goes up.

 

[Roy Munson.sixpack]

we only moved up 25 or so in the last year. I thought the same thing, but i guess the next 2 years or so will let us know. We are kinda in that range where a bunch of folks are giving about the same, and you have to give a significantly larger amount to move a good deal...at least when I played with the numbers it was that way. I keep thinking like you though that we SHOULD move up a good deal over the next 3 to 5 years. We will see...

 

[tommyboy1520]

Is that regardless of how the point system works, you'll get held back if someone with more money than you wants better seats. I think the point system is more or less an incentive program to keep people giving. You think it will help in the long run so you keep doing it year after year. Whether they actually use it to check your status and give you better seats over time remains to be seen. I've given a substantial amount every year for the past 10 years, and haven't moved from my seats in B yet. And I know of at least two people who have better seats than me who only started donating a few years ago, but both gave more than me on that particular year. Based on the point system, I have more than them, yet they are closer to the 50 than I am. It's my opinion that the point system is a sham. I'll bet you anything that a 20 year donor who gives $1,000/year would get bumped if a newbie came in for season tickets with a $5,000 donation for any particular year.

 

[saltybulldog]

[No message]

 

[redfish66]

the money you give in a current year than past years givings. thus if I gave 20,000 over 20 years I would have less points than someone who gave 20,000 this year. It is designed to reward new donations.

I think they changed it last year or the year before.</p>

 

[2thdoc44]

I'm a first timer to BC so my dogtag will be pretty close to what a first time donation will do. The only other points I have is 6 FB tickets this year.
According to the rank estimator on the BC site:
BC Contribution/ Rank #
$2500 = #2477
$5000 = #1745
$10,000 = #1002
$20,000 = #457

And just in case you were wondering:
$50,000 = #122
$100,000 = #55
$1 M = #4
Top two spots were between $2.8-2.9 M

 

[Porkchop.sixpack]

is a bad measure. From what I can see from my own ranking, contributions are up. And they might be up pretty signficantly.

 

[Porkchop.sixpack]

However, I don't think you are right. I know my call for basketball seats came right when it should have come.

It is true that someone with more money can leap you, however. They just have to be willing to give enough in one year to accumulate enough points to leap over someone who has been accumulating points for quite some time.

 

[patdog]

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="lgb">Point Breakdown</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%" border="0"> <colgroup> <col width="30%"> <col width="60%"> <col width="10%"> </col></col></col></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td class="subhdr" align="left">Type</td> <td class="subhdr" align="left">Description</td> <td class="subhdr" align="left"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="odd">Annual Membership Level</td> <td class="odd">.012 points per dollar pledged in the current year to the Bulldog Club Annual Fund, Endowed Scholarships, Club Seats, Intercollegiate Fund and Gifts-in-Kind</td> <td class="odd" nowrap="nowrap" align="right"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="even">Lifetime Giving</td> <td class="even">- .008 points per dollar contributed over the member's lifetime</td> <td class="even" nowrap="nowrap" align="right"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="odd">Consecutive Years</td> <td class="odd">Consecutive years of membership - 1 point for every year of consecutive membership for the first 10 years; 1.5 points for every consecutive year of membership for the 11th through 20th years; 2 points for every consecutive year of membership for years 21 - 30; 2.5 points for every consecutive year of membership for years 31 - 40, and so on.</td> <td class="odd" nowrap="nowrap" align="right"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="even">Season Tickets</td> <td class="even">1 point per priority season ticket purchased for Football, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, or Baseball, with a maximum of 10 per sport per year.</td> <td class="even" nowrap="nowrap" align="right"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="subhdr" align="right" colspan="2"></td> <td class="subhdr" align="right"></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>