This irks me on SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS that I’m not even sure where I want to begin….However, in the spirit of being objective, I will take DB’s side on this to show why this is an absolutely wonderful thing for the university of Michigan (having un-sold season tickets) and how they can leverage this “opportunity” to their advantage.
I guess I will fall back to the old numbering system to
logically lay what Brandon has to believe is a “great marketing opportunity”
and I in turn will spell out my perturbed-ness of this mess….
1. “DB” Pro - So, packages of tickets are now
being put together with shirts and refreshments for particular games. The casual fan now has the opportunity to see
the Michigan Wolverines live and in person.
This is great for the many Michigan Fans that never, ever get a chance
to come and enjoy Michigan in the Big House!!!
MMQ Con – Well That’s Fantastic…The LOYAL long time ticket holders get
screwed by having to pay not only for PSL’s and season tix with the likes of
App State as part of the season package, but we also get to fight the
university on any potential re-sale of our tickets for individual games we can’t
attend or don’t want to attend…
RESULT: Pissed off loyal fans
that will quickly figure out that it’ll be better to just dump the regular
season tickets and buy packages for games you want to go to, if for no other
reason than to get out of the PSL’s….
2. DB Pro - Michigan will get to market itself to
potentially new, loyal season ticket purchaser’s and other fans that they haven’t
had a chance to ever sell to before due to the long waiting list that Michigan
used to have….This will present a great opportunity to bring new money and fans
into the Michigan Fold and let them see what the Big-House has become…
MMQ
Con - My guess is that casual fan will see
the product on the field and what they have to go through to get in and out of
Ann Arbor on Football Saturday and without the tradition of “The Tailgate” and
something to do before and after the game, they will quickly figure out that
going to catch the Wolverines live simply won’t be worth it and you will see
them once and they will be happy to stay home and watch them on their 60”
screens…
3. DB
Pro - We will have a whole new mailing
list to send fans requests for contributions and possible season ticket
opportunities…
MMQ Con – Yeah…Sure. You think that a casual fan that is buying a
package that includes a free shirt, hot dog and a coke is going to pony up a
minimum of $150/seat for the “right” to buy season tix and then throw down
another $500 for a single season ticket?
Exactly which casual fan are you hoping to entice with this?
So, you can see how I believe this will be the beginning
of the end for Michigan’s “Continuous Sell-Out” record. Granted, attendance figures have always been fudges
and I’ve attend a couple of “less than 100K” games in my lifetime, even though
Michigan still claims that is a running record due to Season Ticket Holder
sales…Maybe Hoke and company can turn it around and all of this becomes a moot point…the product on the field has always sold tickets and kicked up demand. That’s just the way it is and will continue to be for any sporting event or sports team.
The
FMQ
Yikes…Early
lines are out…They are depressing, but sadly, probably very real. Michigan as
a dog against Michigan State (they are +7.5) and Ohio State (+8). They're only
+3 at the domers, which domer home field and all….
Michigan is a touchdown favorite
against Penn State and –3 against Northwestern.
As for the rest…if they are anything less than double digit favs against what remains of the schedule(well,
except Utah – I expect a tough one at home there)…it will be a sad year indeed…
The NCCA
– O’Bannon Trial
This continues to draw my interest and while I haven’tbeen following as closely as I would like, some of the stuff coming out of itjust makes you shake your head and wonder “who” the entitled people in thisoutfit are…Emmert was making arguments that if you lose “amateurism” in college
athletics, the very fabric that makes college athletics possible by competing
on a level playing field will be gone…and Alabama and SW Louisiana State are
level playing fields???? And this coming
from a man whose salary is $1.6 million annually and he’s making money off
these “amateur” athletes?
Please…I want to throw something at somebody. Of course…that’s probably why I’m not
a judge.Here’s another quote from Emmert:
The lawsuit and other efforts targeting
the NCAA have already had some effect, with the biggest five conferences moving
quickly toward giving athletes more money and benefits. Emmert said he
supported those moves, but said giving athletes more than the true cost of attendance
would cause a free-for-all in recruiting and force many schools to give up
smaller sports…
Excuuuuuse me…But isn’t college “about” studying and getting
an education? It’s only been about
additional sports for men and women since Title IX came about…and who said any
university “HAD TO HAVE” a sports program for field hockey just because someone
else in the conference figured out a way to support one? If the sport can’t pave it’s own way through
ticket sales or private donations…welcome to the "Field Hockey Club" and the pay
to play model.
And the judge also got into the act with Emmert on the
stand. As the plaintiff’s attorney was
wrapping up his questioning, Judge Wilken intervened with some of her ownquestions.
"If
the money was held in trust until the athletes graduated," she asked,
"would that have the same effect?" The last thing the NCAA wants to hear
mentioned in this trial is a post-graduation trust fund. It's an idea that
makes a lot of sense. The money would come from merchandise manufacturers and
television networks, it would not affect college budgets and it would make no
changes in the players' lives on campus. It's also an idea Emmert and the NCAA
will not consider…
…The judge was not done. A few minutes later, she again
turned to Emmert, asking him to explain what he meant when he talked about the
"exploitation of athletes" by commercial enterprises .
"I am talking about third parties who would take
advantage of them, like agents and financial advisers, people who would use
them as shills for products," Emmert replied.
Any payment to an athlete would be exploitation, Emmert
said. (Judge) Wilken, obviously perplexed that additional resources for a college
student could be viewed as "exploitation," was clearly incredulous.
"Do you think it's exploitation of them or something
you don't want happening?" Wilken asked.
It didn't get any better for the NCAA when Isaacson produced
several images of current and past NCAA athletes appearing in promotional
materials for the NCAA men's basketball tournament and other NCAA-sanctioned
events. A photo of Wisconsin's football players appearing at a Rose Bowl news
conference -- in front of a Vizio logo -- also was presented into evidence. So
was a photo of Texas A&M's football players celebrating a bowl victory in
front of a table featuring the Chick-fil-A and Kia logos."And that's perfectly fine?" Isaacson asked Emmert.
"That's fine under the rules," Emmert replied.
"It's not something I'm personally comfortable with."
Back to the MMQ: The
NCAA is sooooooo......F’d here.
I’m surprised they are going to go through with this all the way to the
end vs. getting a directed verdict. But with
a ruling, the NCAA can continue to appeal and drag this mess out and continue
to “waste” money that could be going to student athletes. A lengthy appeals process would go so much
further to protect the NCAA’s little kingdom.
Frankly, I hope Wilken’s ruling is so sound and logical that any appeal
will be automatically thrown out on the grounds that any appeal is in fact ADDITIONAL
EXPLOITATION by the organization that claims it’s protecting the
student athlete FROM exploitation. That….would be perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment