Have you all noticed that Purple & Gold has been touting other SEC programs that charge a personal seat license (PSL) payable to the sports foundation (at LSU, TAF) for the right to purchase seats? What are your thoughts on this? At LSU TAF only controls about 12 to 13% of the total seats in the stadium, exclusive of the East upper deck, which TAF controls. At other SEC schools, such as Florida and Bama, the foundations there control more like 60 to 70% of the seats, with PSLs as low as $200 and as high as $10000. I started buying season tickets in 1994, 4 years after I graduated. I started off going through TAF, making the contribution, etc. Now I have 4 tickets and a parking pass, all through TAF. It really chaps my ass that many folks have season tickets between the 20s or other prime tickets without having to contribute a dime to LSU or TAF. Contributions to the TAF and the university need to increase for LSU to consistently compete in athletics and academically. The best way to "inspire" contributions is to charge for the right to purchase tickets to one of the most entertaining and awe-inspiring events - held only seven times per year - right there in Death Valley. Yep - you folks who have been lucky enough to inherit tickets all these years - I'm talking about you. Time to pay up. My seats cost me $200 per seat in addition to face value (not a tall price to pay for one of the greatest shows on earth). I sit in North 39. If you are between the 20s, you are looking at $500 to $1000 per seat. Its time for all Tiger fans to begin to put their money where theirs asses are!! Ask TAF what you can do to help get this through the legislature next year. Geaux Tigers!!
I agree that better seats ought to cost more. I sit in the end zone. Someone on the 50 pays the same as me because their grandfather willed it to them? Did their grandfather "own" that seat? Now if they want to pay a fair (higher) price for it then that is OK. It is also not fair for only 12% of these seats to have the TAF surcharge. If I was on the 50 and was paying hundreds more that a person sitting right next to me then I would be pissed. I joined the TAF because I am a fan and want to support LSU athletics - not so I could get a better seat. I can't afford to pay much more than I already do for football tix so I sit in the endzone and am happy. I hope that the TAF doesn't someday slap a $500 PSL on my endzone seat because I would have to give up the seat that I have been sitting in for years. (Seats I camped out for, not my grandfather) Bottom line - the value of a 50 yd line seat is better than an upper deck or an end zone and should be priced that way. Just like the club seats in the Dome cost more than the terrace - because they are worth more.
I agree with both of you......... if we as LSU fans expect to compete year in and year out, it is going to cost $$$. We have already been down the road of trying to get the name brand coach at K-mart prices. We have found out the hard way...you get what you pay for. LSU must be in a position to keep a quality coach and give him what he is asking for (not just salary). If not, we will continue to be second to Tennessee, Florida, and other big-time schools for the NEXT twenty years. Our ticket pricing is archaic ....our concessions in Tiger Stadium are just a small example of that.
I will have to disagree. Why should someone that has been a season ticket holder year in and year out for the last 40 years or so, have to pay more. We plan on give our 8 (family) seats to our kids. And I hope they pass it to their kids. We have been to every game, rain or shine. We have paid quiet a bit more year after year. Don't mind paying more for team that plays well. I went to Florida and had tickets there, that I passed to my sister. she was grandfathered in. that was in the 80's. so she doesn't have to pay out of her a$$. Yes she pays more then we do, but tickets to the Gator games cost more. Look at the saints. and their stadium. Maybe if they played consitant, and won more there wouldn't be so much grumbling. I support the LSU athletic foundation in more then just buying season tickets to both the football games and baseball games. (sorry no Basketball). Do I want to pay more for seats that have been in our family forever. Nope! I can see the prime seats going for more, but us that seat in the curve or end zone. don't think so.
surcharges Keeping up with the Jonses (hottie totties), is just what it is. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with winning and losing. Miami has an athletic budget far below UF and Bama's of CFB. Nowhere near the fan base as LSU or stadium size. Now compare the success. You can't! LSU has had admin problems for yrs (but now improved) and IS the reason for LSU's failures on the field and court. We now have a "real" AD, and FB coach. (And NO we're NOT having trouble paying them) Louisiana has more D1 FB prospects than anyone per capita. With our ship righted, the talent that Louisiana produces is more than enough for LSU to be successful at any sport. When we look like winners at the top, this talent will come and stay home. Not one La prospect left the state for better facilities. They left to play for a winner. LSU is a winner now. Now, those of you who are in favor of pricing the commoner out of Tiger Stadium, and creating a "members only" club, because you don't want to sit by the kids from the other side of the track, listen closely. Louisiana is a blue collar state, and LSU FB is a blue collar sport.
Kitvas.. couldn't agree with you more. I shared a scholarship, tickets and parking pass with my father-in-law from 1980's. we used to park right near the stadium. The same seat premium kept rising until we wound up behind the track stadium. So much for long membership. Now you cant even park in some area's because the "banks" have set up private/member's only villages. We quit playing the game and use our old seats in the end zone. I dont want to see LSU become like Oklahouma and Nebraska where only the Bankers, lawyers and doctors can afford to go to a home game. LSU has always thrived because of the "blue collar" fan base that it cant afford to lose.
I guess that's about the response I expected. Some for, some against. I do not think anyone would support a plan that would turn Death Valley into a blue-blood zone. However, much of the premium seating in Tiger stadium is controlled by folks who have "inherited" their seats from someone. Many of the people who sit here say they contribute to TAF in some other way. That's great - but I've heard of many who do not. Miami was the only school cited who does not have a huge athletic budget. All others do - especially in the SEC, and that is where we compete. If Miami was in the SEC, they would have to compete against stiffer competition, and I say they would have dropped a game or 2 in the sec. I guess I should be careful for what i wish for. TAF could price me out of my seats, too. But there are too few donors carrying the water at LSU. That is a fact. The pool of donors needs to be expanded so that we can compete in the SEC. If you have 8 seats between the 20s, I really believe that there should be some minimum amount you need to contribute for the right to sit there. Split up the cost. If it ends up being $1000 per seat, tell your kids to come up with some dough. Really, those seats should cost a lot more than $30.00 per seat. Be honest with yourself. Now at the same time, I think there should be better accomodations there. Better concessions, restrooms, etc. - and i think that would have to be part of the plan to make the whole thing work. more money into a program is not the only solution - my second grade son could tell you that. We definitely have something at LSU that is very special, but it needs to be leveraged in order to become a dominant power. We are operating in the same donor environment we had in the 50s and 60s. The game has changed and it is more of a business now. The sooner we recognize that, the better. No one wants to give up their seats. But if you have 8 seats and can only afford 4, you make some choices. The relative value of those seats has risen and the price has not kept pace at all. Maybe this would be a good project for the LSU economics department. The "don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that man behind the tree" philospophy must change. I can guarantee all of you, this is coming down the pike, so get ready. There are more people with money who want in Tiger stadium than there are people with inherited seats. You should start thinking of a plan that you can live with and get involved in the process now, instead of saying you are against it. It will happen. You can get on the bus or get run over by it.
I ain't getting on the bus or getting run over by it!!!! As honest Abe said it, " you can bullshit some of the people some of the time, but you can't bullshit nobody all the time". So get ready to circle the RV's. All 250 of them!!!!!!!!!!!
