There are several threads about Skip Bertmans TigerVision plan. The overwhelming majority of posters on this forum support it. I am for it too. I can afford the "donation" per ticket to keep my seats. I might have to give up a few nights of eating out at a good restaurant and other things to pay the extra cost but I'll do it if it means LSU uses the money to get the football program into the elite group of teams who compete for all the marbles year after year. I have seen some posts on this topic that essentially say "Screw the people who don't want to pay the $400. Let them watch it on TV" A friend of mine's parents are in their mid 70's. They have had 40 yard line seats since the 60's. They go to every game and have been loyal Tiger fans since forever. These people live on a fixed income and won't be able to afford to pay the required "donation" to keep their tickets. I would hate to see people like that be stripped of their tickets. Is there any way the TigerVision program can be modified to allow people like that to keep their tickets? Like grandfathering in senior citizens who have been season ticket holders for 20 or more years with an exemption from the donation or assessing a greatly reduced "senior citizens donation?" These folks won't live forever and the donation fee can be assessed to whoever gets their tickets at a time when they die or or no longer able to attend the games. There are a hell of a lot of people in Louisiana with moderate incomes who are big time Tiger fans. While I support the TigerVision plan I think it would be a big mistake to make a night in Tiger Stadium affordable only to the people with upper middle class to wealthy incomes. Doing that would alienate the grass root support that LSU has had for years among the working class citizens of Louisiana.
Nope, no way. That's life. Sounds like an sad story, but what about the people who want to go games now to start a new tradition, but can't because these folks have been in their seats for 40 years at prices FAR below market value? I have no sympathy for those that have held LSU's growth and success hostage to their right to have cheap seats. Everyone deserves an equal shot to get the seats. Loyalty is fine, but not reason to deny others the opportunity to be loyal.
I would agree with Ole War Skule, although I think maybe he was a little harsh. We've got to raise revenue from seats, that's a given. So what we need to have in place, and what the Vision plan is trying to accomplish, is a gradient in prices. There's no reason the people BengalB was talking about, and other people just like them, can't get other seats w/o the $400 surcharge. Like everyone's been saying all along, nobody wants to price people completely out of the stadium, but some people are gonna have to move. And as far as that goes, I totally agree with Ole War Skule - you don't have the right to sit on the 40 yard line for $36 a ticket just because you've been there forever. You may have to move to the endzone or an upper deck.
Why didn't these "great fans" buy tickets when I did when Hallman was killing the team? Now that the Tigers are winning these "great fans" want to jump on the bandwagon. It costs more to ride the bandwagon. I've been a season ticket holder since 94 and the only reason I didn't get tickets before that is because I had a weekend job. Once I got a real job, I bought tickets and often sat alone in the south endzone while LSU lost. Where were the "new tradition" fans then? I only have to come up with $85 next year, so I'll have no problem, but if I had to come up with $400, I would gladly give up my seats to these "new tradition" fans, or as I call them, bandwagon fans. What happens if the Tigers start losing again?
Moving all those people would be a hard job. What about seniority? Does that count for anything anymore?
No, seniority does not count for anything. Ask a recruit next time: You see Mr. All American, we at LSU have fans with seniority, so we can't get maximum revenue for their seats, so we don't have a weight room as good as Vanderbilt's, but we DO have loyal fans. Would you come play football here?
I think the athletic department tried its best to balance the needs of a major program in the early 2000s with the financial wherewithall of the broad fan base in creating the Vision. From what I understand, they listened to the ideas and concerns of many before developing this plan. There is a need for more revenue, regardless of what that NCAA study released yesterday claims. But, the administration does not want to alienate fans that have been loyal for many, many years. While I agree that they have not been paying face value for their seats, they haven't really been asked to do so previously. They are now. No one is being priced out of Tiger Stadium. They may be priced out of their seats, but the last time I checked there are 91,600 seats in the stadium. There are some terriffic fans in the south endzone and west upper deck. Some of the longtime holders of tickets between the 25s just might have to become a little more intimate with them.
That is sad, and I am truly sorry that diehard fans have to move, or even worse, give up their seats. But that is the way things work. When you get older and retire, unless you saved up a TON of money when you worked, you cut back on your spending to adjust to your new lifestyle. Your plan is kind of like saying, "Well I have driven a BMW for my whole life and have always been loyal to BMW, but now I am retired and dont have as much money to spend anymore for my new car. I could take a step down and buy a Ford Taurus, but I think that I since I have always been loyal to BMW they should give me a senior price discount - say the same price you charged for a BMW in the 60's." I am sorry for your friends parents but this is long overdue, LSU needs this revenue to stay competitive in the future. And if they make this exception now, then they will have to make it for every senior citizen in the future.
The BMW analogy is a good one. People have got to realize that they've been driving BMWs for a while now, at Taurus prices. I don't think anyone is philosphically opposed to the concept of a "senior citizen exception" to be applied to cases like the one Bengal B is talking about, but any kind of system with those sorts of individual assessments, and special case scenarios creates all kinds of problems. If you tried to institute something like that you'd have all sorts of people trying to figure out a way to find a loophole, and go get some "qualified" person to purchase tickets in their name. It would be more of a nightmare than it already is, and, more importantly, it would defeat the purpose, because we're trying to raise revenue here. I think what they've done is a good plan. Ruffled feathers are inevitable, of course, and that's understandable, but I think the proposed plan ruffles as few as possible.
This whole revenue increase is to keep up with the Jones'. The problem here is LSU is trying to become a Jones overnight. I'm not crazy about the plan but realize LSU needs to raise prices to make improvements. And I get popped good.....$400/seat. Is it my fault we had a dumbass admin that priced sideline and nosebleed seats the same, no. Do I think it is stupid to have these seats priced the same, absolutely. Do I think it is ridiculous to raise prices 1,200% over night, yes. Couple of thoughts to ponder: 1) Assume LSU is half-ass this year or down right awful(hope not), what kind of repurcussions would that have. 2) What if Saban were to leave soon........this would probably be more devastating than #1.
