Younger?In what has become an annual tradition, Ohio State alumni are once again angry at the allocation of tickets for the upcoming season. Despite the alumni association being provided with more tickets than last season (86,000 up from 79,000), older grads are feeling the pinch as seniority no longer counts in the lottery.
Now, the 2006 graduate has just as good of odds at scoring tickets as the 1980 graduate that has held seats for the past 20+ years. While I can certainly feel for the older alumni, I can't hep but wonder if this will turn out to be a good move in the long run.
Granted, the Shoe is miles away from the funeral wake held every Saturday in the fall in the Big House, but I'm sure each of us has our own "down in front" story to share from games past. Although the intent of this new lottery was to be more fair, the end result will be a younger crowd and younger crowds = a tougher road venue.
Unfortunately for the grads stuck on the outside looking in, getting seats on the open market won't come cheap.
Headed to Chicago: Boeckman, Laurinaitis and Jenkins will accompany the Vest to the Big Ten football media event in Chicago later this month. So there are three of the captains. Will there be a fourth and if so, who?
Comments
Laurinitis and Jenkins will represent the defense. Boeckman is one for the offense. The potential remaining captain from the offense would most likely be from this list:
Alex Boone
Beanie Wells (JL proved Juniors could do it last year)
Brian Robiskie
AJ Trapasso
Ryan Pretorious
My vote is Robiskie with Boone a close second.
I think it is a good move on the university's part. Granted, I may be biased as I'm a relatively recent graduate, but I still think it's good. With the previous system, the same alumni get tickets every year and the only way for new alumni to get them is if the older alumni don't renew/request or they die. The former being less likely now that OSU is in a "golden age" as far as I'm concerned.
Sure, they've spent thousands on the university and have contributed a lot and do deserve their respect. However, give the younger generation a chance, especially since everytime I go there I'm disappointed at the lack of noise coming from those alumni sections (younger people are louder, reference Penn State). If all else fails, OSU needs to add on to the stadium again :) let's shoot for 200,000 seating capacity... is that even possible?
BTW, do they send notices of when to sign up for the lottery? Cause I sure as hell didn't get one. I also read somewhere that only 4,500 people were denied tickets. If that's true, then perhaps OSU could give those 4,500 an extra chance next year (say 2 entries instead of 1). Once they get their tickets, the drop down with the rest of the applicants of 1 entry. So you'd probably stand a good chance of seeing them at least one out of every two years.
One more thing, the older alumni can more easily afford those outrageous eBay ticket prices than new alumni. Either way, it's supply and demand (something I learned at OSU, can you believe it?) and there's always going to be losers and winners. Unless we increase seating capacity to where you actually see some empty seats or the buckeyes start playing like Notre Dame for a few years, demand is just going to increase with the amount of graduates the university pumps out.
As a 1995 grad, I think this is great news. Now I won't have to wait until 2040 to possibly get tickets to a good game (ie. not Youngston St or OU), or at least a Big Ten game. I had already signed up for a class on knitting in preparation for 2040, but now I can cancel since I (most likely) won't be dead when I get tickets to a decent game.
Im happy. I won't have to wait 30 years after I graduate in 2010.
Actually Im going to delay my graduation to ensure those Miami (Fla) tickets that fall.
What's really sad is that so few tickets are given out to alumni for the B10 season. Fewer than three thousand tickets are given to alums for the Michigan game.
I work in a business where all kinds of corporate big-shot types have season tickets as business tools. Not because they are fans, or alums, or even casual fans. They buy tickets because they can. Good for them I guess, but too bad for the rest of us who get Youngstown State and are excited to just make it to a game.
The only thing that pisses me off about tickets. Are the few students and alumni who only get season tickets to sell them for crazy ass prices on ebay. for those who are true buckeye fans and want to get to see a game and can't that's what upsets me. and if you look at ticket brokers online. They have mass amounts of seats. But you may have to take out a loan to go to the Youngstown State game or an OU game not to mention make a house payment for one ticket to a good game. Alumni, Students and Faculty should all have to scan ID's, so they know who is simply abusing the system for profit. I'm not saying they should have to go to every game but if your son or a friend goes to the game they should have to scan your ID. Or if there was 7 home games you would have to scan 5 out of the 7. This would help any one who really wants tickets wither that be students, staff, alumni, or other fans.
Is there a source that shows the ticket allocation breakdown? That would be interesting to see.
86,000 / 7 home games is just over 12,000 alumni tickets per game, or roughly 11% of the crowd. Where do the rest of them go?
brother buck that is a very good question i would like to see the answer to my self. where do they all go? i do know that corporations get tickets because if you donate a large amount of money they will give a company tickets. but after students,and staff and alumni you are still looking at at least 30,000 seats maybe more that are unaccounted for.
I have to point out to you street_corner_barbie that even though we sell our tickets, we have our price. $1,400 dollars is a good price, especially when you're a broke student (who gets raped by tuition and outrageous rental prices for crap on campus) and needs a nice vacation. Yes, I sold my tickets. I think I came out on top. I still saw every home game that season except for one. I can be just as big a fan watching it on TV as I am sitting in the stands.
I still think the new system is the way to go. And I'd also like to see that breakdown of where they go. If anything, alumni shouldn't be pissed about the lottery, they should be pissed about the corporations and ticket brokers who buy them all up. Alas, OSU Football is built on money these days. It's a spreading trend in college football. It hurts even worse, though, because Columbus is home to several major corporations.
It hurts even worse, though, because Columbus is home to several major corporations.
And it's the only game in town. (Sorry CBJ.)
2010 is definitely going to be a high-demand year. We get Miami, Penn State, and Michigan all at home. Good chance the first two will be 8:00 starts. It will by Pryor's second year under center, and, if things stay on there current pace, will be another championship run.
I graduated in 2007 and got Penn St. I am needless to say happy with the system. I did see that 70% of tickets went to the 3 non-conference and only 7% went to penn st and michigan games.
I really don't think this actually changes a whole lot, I know recent graduates who were able to get tickets last year, as well as this year, and like many have said, the % allocated to "good" games is always really small. That's partially because of the corporate hold, and mostly because 20-30,000 students get tickets which are usually the Big Ten games. In fact, so many students are requesting tickets that a large portion of the freshman class didn't get them this year! That's unheard of.
Overall, the song remains the same: you gotta know someone who's got tickets in order to get tickets.
But now that we're in the HD age, does it really matter?
Excuse me?
RE: Selling your tickets meaning you aren't a true fan...
Since when does making a %300 profit run afoul of fandom? I went to college, dammit. I know a deal when I see it. It'd be a betrayal of my education to forgo such a windfall. WTF are you, an American Studies major? :P
The other captain has gotta be Beanie. That's a lock.
I think its BS. The seniority counted only if you bought your tickets EVERY year and not cherry picked the good games. I graduated in 1996 and as I bought tickets almost every year my games got better. if I missed a year I got one of the 3 non-conference games and had to start over in climbing up the "good ticket ladder". I got to see Indiana 2 years ago, and Wisconsin last year. PSU and Miami of Ohio were also some of my games.
10% of the alumni didn't get tickets this year and there are a fair amount of students who didn't get them as well. My feeling is that as alumni you shouldn't be allowed to sell your tickets.
You should be drawn, quartered and shot as a student who sells their tickets. There is simply no excuse short of needing some life-saving medical procedure. Don't talk about being poor college student. Get a job like everybody else if you need money. Give plasma, get student loans, sell a kidney, but don't sell your most prized possesion as a student @ OSU. You never will be able to buy tickets that cheap again.
Last chance to buy them that cheap, or to get such a great return on your investment?
Keith - in response to your question: "BTW, do they send notices of when to sign up for the lottery? Cause I sure as hell didn’t get one" - this is just a guess on my part, but you have to be a card-carrying member of the alumni association to get into the lottery. Basically, you have to have paid your fees or be in the process of paying your fees to the alumni association to even get a chance at tickets. So, if you aren't a member of the alumni association, but just an alumni - you don't get tickets.
I wouldn't trade any reasonable sum of money for the four years I was able to experience OSU football as a student (particularly 2002). I just don't think a couple thousand dollars is a good trade-off for seeing and supporting your team in person.
Katie-You do have to be a dues-paying member to get a ticket app. I read in the Dispatch that they aren't giving first-year alums the opportunity this year to buy tickets because you get your first year in the alumni association free.
Both methods are equaly "fair". One was based on senority and the other on a lottory but within the confines of each system the distribution was fair. The old way rewarded loyalty and new grads understood the ground rules, keep buying and move up the list. The new one is also fair as everyone has an equal shot at tickets. The problem comes from confusion over the change and people used to the old system suddenly face a learning curve.
As for selling tickets my father sold his '05 Texas tickets to pay for airfare to the UK for my wedding on the next weekend (San Diego St.). I told him he was crazy.
After all... I might get married many more times... Texas in the Shoe is probably a once in a lift time.