i will speak to some things going on at florida as i believe they are happening across the country and see if this rings true as far as tennessee is concerned.
but, i think schools need to pay attention to the following problems.
problem 1A- SEC championship/Bowl tickets. A large reason people are season ticket holders, for whatever sport it may be, is that if the team you cheer for has that magical season, you can get tickets to the playoffs or whatever the event may be (super bowl being an exception). well, a big problem is that people who pay serious cash for season tickets can not get their hands on sec title game tickets. at florida, people who got sec championship game tickets in 2006 were not high enough on the booster pecking order to get them in 2008, only two years later. people don't shell out heavy cash to be locked out of buying tickets to the event when that great season comes around. that ticks people off.
problem 1B- congratulations, you donate enough to get sec title game tickets or national title game tickets. now, here's your reward. you get tickets in the damn nosebleeds. after donating a 4 figures plus (per ticket), you are in the upper, upper deck. that ticks people off.
problem 1C- hey, there are plenty of tickets available for the bowl game (see florida-sugar bowl-2012). but, the tickets the university is given are terrible. that ticks people off.
all of these things cause a problem. why give to the school (Except for pure love of school) when despite donating a nice sum of cash, i still can't get my hands on the big events of the season. or, even if i do, i'm sitting in no man's land.
problem 2: the cupcake games. schools used to be able to sell the returned tickets from the opponent (such as west wyoming tech) to the non-season ticket holder and sell out or come close. now, you must be out of your damn mind if you think anyone is paying $50.00+ for a single game ticket to see west wyoming tech. it ain't happening.
problem 3: it used to be (even if it wasn't true) there was a belief that season tickets were the only way to be sure of seeing the premier games on the schedule. every school has about two home games they are excited about, two or three that are of average interest, and two or three that have very little appeal. people were willing to eat money on the unappealing games to be guaranteed tickets to the premier games on the schedule. the vast majority of people don't believe in that anymore. they know damn well they can get the tickets to the premier games without having to buy tickets to the cupcake games.
throw in the economy and hdtv, etc, etc, etc. and schools need to really think about scheduling and pricing.
and members of the sec need to have a chat about the amount of tickets schools receive for the sec title game. and colleges across the country need to have a chat with the bowls about the location of the tickets they receive. schools can't be on the hook for unsold tickets if the tickets given to the school are crap. there need to be more tickets given to the schools that are in a quality seating area.
a lot of the pricing is because every school is trying to keep up with each other. for that, i will defend the schools. people are pissed about prices but wonder how come they don't have a larger hd jumbotron at the stadium.
however, raising prices only works if you can sell the product. many people are not shelling out cash for a product they can attend at a much cheaper price and get a much better seat.
