Why does Rutgers have to give almost 20,000 tickets away for free for each of its home games? | The Boneyard

Why does Rutgers have to give almost 20,000 tickets away for free for each of its home games?

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That's a very puzzling move. Even for this UConn "sellout" they are giving away 20,000 tickets to a stadium that seats 52,000.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/despite_success_on_the_field_b.html

"This year, roughly 59 percent of the fans bought a ticket, down from 76 percent in 2009. And despite a liberal use of complimentary tickets, the team still played in front of thousands of empty seats this year, even though it went into its final home game with a chance to win its first Big East title. "

Admittedly, old fashioned concepts about supply, demand, equilibrium price and all of that probably have no bearing on the athletic department at Rutgers (it and Maryland vie for the title of most bankrupt, with Rutgers usually coming out ahead). It just seems strange that:

"
As a result, 42 cents of every dollar Rutgers spent on athletics last year came from student fees, tuition dollars and other nonathletic revenue, among the highest ratios in the nation, the analysis reveals."

While I always thought that teams sell tickets to games, I was flabbergasted that Rutgers takes a different tack and gives tickets away. (Maybe they're overrun by communists??) Now, I understand why no one would actually pay a premium for a Rutgers athletic performance, but to pay nothing just seems a bad way to run a railroad, football program or athletic department.

One of the things that I decided to do to was research the athletic accomplishments of Rutgers. I thought maybe their athletic accomplishments have something to do with their bankrupt athletic department? After spending a whole three minutes on Google, I was armed the results of my research. Actually, that's a little bit of a fib. I didn't do the research myself. I had my 3 year old son do it for me, seeing how he can count easily up to ten. It was a good decision on my part as it built confidence in my kid. Because armed with that task, he was able to count the number of Big East championships that Rutgers has won since they have been in the league on his one tiny hand.

Yes, my toddler's wee little hand can fit all of the rings that Rutgers has won since 1995 (1991 f0r football)! That total is three. Women's basketball, baseball and soccer have one Big East championship apiece.

Now keep in mind this is not national championships (which Rutgers has only one of, in fencing, egads), but just Big East championships.

Being a very academically focused parent, I then had my child count to two, which is the total number of Big East championships that UConn has won in football alone (co-championships of course). I didn't want to hurt his ego so I studiously avoided having my son count the number of national championships that UConn has won across multiple sports (15). Needless to say, having him count the number of Big East championships would take us well past his bedtime and skill-set, so that thought never crossed my mine. (I believe 86)

I then had the hardest time having him learn the concept of zero. So I chose Rutgers as a point of learning. I asked him if a football team like Rutgers sucks and their teams can't win in anything, how many championships in football do you think Rutgers has? My heart fluttered when the answer came, "Zero," he said. He had learned the concept of Rutgers football and of Rutgers athletics!!!

 
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Your first sentence is completely factually inaccurate. There have also been numerous inaccuracies pointed out in that article from last year and that writer has been re-assigned.
 
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That writer counted students as giveaway tickets. There are two options for students, before the season starts they can buy a student season ticket package for 11 dollars a game. The other option is to claim a "free" ticket each week. These tickets are indirectly paid for under athletic fees I believe it is called in tuition, just like it is at most state universities. His numbers were completely off for the majority of the article. I'm trying to find the rebuttal now.
 
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That writer counted students as giveaway tickets. There are two options for students, before the season starts they can buy a student season ticket package for 11 dollars a game. The other option is to claim a "free" ticket each week. These tickets are indirectly paid for under athletic fees I believe it is called in tuition, just like it is at most state universities. His numbers were completely off for the majority of the article. I'm trying to find the rebuttal now.

So you're saying that students can either buy tickets or they can claim a "free" ticket each week that is basically paid for by tuition. So you're saying in order to fill your stadium you actually force students to pay for tickets ahead of time and call it tuition?
 
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So you're saying that students can either buy tickets or they can claim a "free" ticket each week that is basically paid for by tuition. So you're saying in order to fill your stadium you actually force students to pay for tickets ahead of time and call it tuition?
You obviously don't understand how this works. It is included in student activity fees in tuition just like most schools, google it. South Carolina does this as well as many other schools. Nobody is forced to do anything.

Here's what I found on the Northwestern site.....
Full-Time Undergraduate Students who have paid their tuition will have an opportunity to attend all home Northwestern regular-season athletic contests with presentation of their valid Northwestern WildCARD ID.
 
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That is such a BS that the writer was suspended and later reassigned. Every school gives away some promo tickets for the most part..but that was a made up 2011 figure.
 
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That is such a BS that the writer was suspended and later reassigned. Every school gives away some promo tickets for the most part..but that was a made up 2011 figure.

Yeah and I'm sure that the school didn't exaggerate a waiting list to justify the millions to expand the stadium. I just didn't know that the tickets in that section were on the house. No wonder your school color is red.
 

blitz8ru

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you guys are idiots... seriously... consistently misinterpreting facts, forever repeating falsehoods, and continually demonstrating ignorance and stupidity...

Included in the tuition is a $550/semester student fee that covers ALL student entertainment options from student recreation to concerts to festivals to guest speakers to football games etc. Part of that fee goes to the athletic department (about $9mill/yr out of close to $30mill/yr in annual collected fees) for student recreational facilities construction and maintenance, recreation staff and equipment up-keep and purchase, all sporting events tickets (all "free" to each full time student) etc. MANY universities around the country also do this for their students... nothing earth shattering unless you are just plain stupid... smh...
 
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you guys are idiots... seriously... consistently misinterpreting facts, forever repeating falsehoods, and continually demonstrating ignorance and stupidity.....

perfect description of your fanbase!
 

Waquoit

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They had to give away tickets to have a reason to snub the UConn band.
 
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you guys are idiots... seriously... consistently misinterpreting facts, forever repeating falsehoods, and continually demonstrating ignorance and stupidity...

Included in the tuition is a $550/semester student fee that covers ALL student entertainment options from student recreation to concerts to festivals to guest speakers to football games etc. Part of that fee goes to the athletic department (about $9mill/yr out of close to $30mill/yr in annual collected fees) for student recreational facilities construction and maintenance, recreation staff and equipment up-keep and purchase, all sporting events tickets (all "free" to each full time student) etc. MANY universities around the country also do this for their students... nothing earth shattering unless you are just plain stupid... smh...

Does the 550 also cover the cost of the medication for the STDs contracted during sexual entertainment?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
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They had to give away tickets to have a reason to snub the UConn band.
What don't you understand? UConn returned tickets to Rutgers!! They are not going to reserve a section for the UConn band when the UConn fans don't buy all of their allotted tickets and especially since revenue can be generated for those seats since demand is high right now.
 
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you guys are idiots... seriously... consistently misinterpreting facts, forever repeating falsehoods, and continually demonstrating ignorance and stupidity...

Included in the tuition is a $550/semester student fee that covers ALL student entertainment options from student recreation to concerts to festivals to guest speakers to football games etc. Part of that fee goes to the athletic department (about $9mill/yr out of close to $30mill/yr in annual collected fees) for student recreational facilities construction and maintenance, recreation staff and equipment up-keep and purchase, all sporting events tickets (all "free" to each full time student) etc. MANY universities around the country also do this for their students... nothing earth shattering unless you are just plain stupid... smh...

Yet even with $9M in extortion....err, activity fees, Rutgers is still sitting in the middle of the pack from a sports revenue standpoint. If you subtract that $9M from your 2011 revenue figure, that puts you somewhere near the bottom. Doesn't that seem odd that this juggernaut so many people root for is so unable to loosen their wallets?
 
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What don't you understand? UConn returned tickets to Rutgers!! They are not going to reserve a section for the UConn band when the UConn fans don't buy all of their allotted tickets and especially since revenue can be generated for those seats since demand is high right now.

Wrong... The UCMB was told that they could not perform on the field because SUNJ is recognizing too many groups that day. Q
 
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Included in the tuition is a $550/semester student fee that covers ALL student entertainment options from student recreation to concerts to festivals to guest speakers to football games etc.

So... This is where the money came from to pay the esteemed Snooki her honorarium to speak???
 

blitz8ru

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So... This is where the money came from to pay the esteemed Snooki her honorarium to speak???
yes... they paid 30K from part of the $30mill in student fees (the purpose of which is to fund student entertainment) to get snooki to open her big fat mouth... other guest speakers have included hillary clinton, oliver sacks, dali lama among others... pretty much every mass student activity/gathering is funded with this money be it marathons to concerts to bloc parties to carnivals, athletic events etc...

The administration doesn't have much control on what the money is spent on... The RU student association (obviously made up of students) is in charge of spending the money each year with a couple of faculty advisers looking over their shoulder (just so they don't hire strippers or something)...
 

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yes... they paid 30K from part of the $30mill in student fees (the purpose of which is to fund student entertainment) to get snooki to open her big fat mouth... other guest speakers have included hillary clinton, oliver sacks, dali lama among others... pretty much every mass student activity/gathering is funded with this money be it marathons to concerts to bloc parties to carnivals, athletic events etc...

you forgot the friday night field trips to karma to fistpump the out of bitches
 
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Rutgers has over 30k undergrads. Their debt-riddled stadium is at least on campus.

To have to give away such a volume of tickets, or to have to extort/force their student body into supporting such a pathetic athletic department, no wonder NJ is up in arms over the revenue woes of their athletic department.

To suck so bad, so long, so consistently across so many sports, my gosh that takes major league talent in suck-ass.
 
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So... This is where the money came from to pay the esteemed Snooki her honorarium to speak???
Ugh. Snooki was booked by RUPA, a student entertainment organization. They book comedians/concerts/whoever, whatever.
 

blitz8ru

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Rutgers has over 30k undergrads. Their debt-riddled stadium is at least on campus.

To have to give away such a volume of tickets, or to have to extort/force their student body into supporting such a pathetic athletic department, no wonder NJ is up in arms over the revenue woes of their athletic department.

To suck so bad, so long, so consistently across so many sports, my gosh that takes major league talent in suck-ass.
smh... it's like speaking to a brick wall... we have college students at games because it's a COLLEGE football game... we didn't give those tickets away... they were paid for through student (entertainment) fees... fees the AD gets back from the University at the year end (though it is labeled as "university subsidy" in the accounts even though that revenue was rightfully the AD's revenue) this is a similar practice in MANY other universities... wake the *k up!!!

The ONLY tickets we give away are to player families, NJ emergency personal, school officials, local peewee teams etc... which probably number 5K MAX... that's to generate good will and future fans and future season ticket holders (it's an investment for the future of the program)... Students are encouraged to come because that also grows our season ticket holder # (right now it's about 25K season ticket holders with another 10K that pick and choose games with 12K students and 5K comps)...

Rutgers graduates over 10K students annually... if only 10% upon graduation buy 2 season tickets upon graduation that's 10K new season ticket holders after 5yrs... thus growing our season ticket base... it's all about growing the program... 10yrs ago there were probably only 5K season ticket holders... now there are 25K... in another 10yrs there could be 45K season ticket holders...

So having 12K students with tickets paid for by their student fees and 5K comps (around 17K tickets) helps build the fanbase... it helps fill up the stadium providing a great 12th man for the team, helps more people SPEND money at the stadium (no empty seat bought a hotdog), helps with gameday atmosphere/experience which correlates with better recruiting and fan enjoyment, it helps tie NJ residents (whom never went to RU) into Rutgers, it helps tie alums back into Rutgers (donations, gifts etc.), it helps invest in the future of Rutgers both athletically and academically - it helps nurture future RU recruits, fans and alums... it creates a win-win situation...

Currently the FB and MBB programs break even/generate a little profit with the rest of the 22 sports making up for the $19mill deficit... I know the oft cited figure is $28mill BUT that wrongfully categorizes the portion of the student fees going to the AD, $9mill, as university subsidy when it rightfully belongs to the AD to pay for student athletic entertainment options... Most other schools whose ADs use a portion of the student entertainment fees to pay for athletic entertainment DON'T earmark it as university subsidy when the portion of those fees rightfully belong to the AD

Anyway that $19mill figure will decrease as FB and MBB become more successful, the TV contract increases and new sources of revenue are opened up (concessions, merchandise, advertising) etc. We only started putting money into FB after 2000 and money into MBB and other Olympic sports after 2008... after more than 30yrs of neglect and athletic deemphasis... both programs are still building and gaining momentum... and will only continue to get better and generate more revenue each year...

FYI Rutgers AD pays $6mill/yr on the stadium till about 2028... it's as debt riddled as a house that has a mortgage... over 90% of that payment is generated from club seating which has been sold out each year since 2008... non-club seating makes up less than 10% of the payment... we aren't losing money from FB or MBB... it's the other 22 sports that are killing us when we can't make up a significant portion from FB or MBB revenue...

295218_10150630976630857_254990450856_9803269_197007810_n.jpg
 
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smh... it's like speaking to a brick wall... we have college students at games because it's a COLLEGE football game... we didn't give those tickets away... they were paid for through student (entertainment) fees... fees the AD gets back from the University at the year end (though it is labeled as "university subsidy" in the accounts even though that revenue was rightfully the AD's revenue) this is a similar practice in MANY other universities... wake the *k up!!!

The ONLY tickets we give away are to player families, NJ emergency personal, school officials, local peewee teams etc... which probably number 5K MAX... that's to generate good will and future fans and future season ticket holders (it's an investment for the future of the program)... Students are encouraged to come because that also grows our season ticket holder # (right now it's about 25K season ticket holders with another 10K that pick and choose games with 12K students and 5K comps)...

Rutgers graduates over 10K students annually... if only 10% upon graduation buy 2 season tickets upon graduation that's 10K new season ticket holders after 5yrs... thus growing our season ticket base... it's all about growing the program... 10yrs ago there were probably only 5K season ticket holders... now there are 25K... in another 10yrs there could be 45K season ticket holders...

So having 12K students with tickets paid for by their student fees and 5K comps (around 17K tickets) helps build the fanbase... it helps fill up the stadium providing a great 12th man for the team, helps more people SPEND money at the stadium (no empty seat bought a hotdog), helps with gameday atmosphere/experience which correlates with better recruiting and fan enjoyment, it helps tie NJ residents (whom never went to RU) into Rutgers, it helps tie alums back into Rutgers (donations, gifts etc.), it helps invest in the future of Rutgers both athletically and academically - it helps nurture future RU recruits, fans and alums... it creates a win-win situation...

Currently the FB and MBB programs break even/generate a little profit with the rest of the 22 sports making up for the $19mill deficit... I know the oft cited figure is $28mill BUT that wrongfully categorizes the portion of the student fees going to the AD, $9mill, as university subsidy when it rightfully belongs to the AD to pay for student athletic entertainment options... Most other schools whose ADs use a portion of the student entertainment fees to pay for athletic entertainment DON'T earmark it as university subsidy when the portion of those fees rightfully belong to the AD

Anyway that $19mill figure will decrease as FB and MBB become more successful, the TV contract increases and new sources of revenue are opened up (concessions, merchandise, advertising) etc. We only started putting money into FB after 2000 and money into MBB and other Olympic sports after 2008... after more than 30yrs of neglect and athletic deemphasis... both programs are still building and gaining momentum... and will only continue to get better and generate more revenue each year...

FYI Rutgers AD pays $6mill/yr on the stadium till about 2028... it's as debt riddled as a house that has a mortgage... over 90% of that payment is generated from club seating which has been sold out each year since 2008... non-club seating makes up less than 10% of the payment... we aren't losing money from FB or MBB... it's the other 22 sports that are killing us when we can't make up a significant portion from FB or MBB revenue...

295218_10150630976630857_254990450856_9803269_197007810_n.jpg
$19 mill is a lot to lose on girls rowing , maybe you should consider like your band and have outsiders row, Snooki seems like she could handle an oar.
 
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Color me confused because the newspaper article above stated that 40% of ticketholders did not pay for them. Is the Star Ledger lying when it says it obtained university records via FOIA, and determined that 40% of fans at Rutgers games did not pay for them? You come with #'s out of your .

Face it, Rutgers despite graduating 10k students a year needs to bribe fans into attending. No matter how you slice, dice or spin it the Rutgers product is so pathetic that it must given away.

The Sleeping Giant. Yeah, right. More like a grimed covered street urchin.
 
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Rutgers gives them away because otherwise they couldn't sell them.
 
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