Quad tailgating prices going up

PitMaster

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Everyone here understands a marketplace and speaking for myself and - with due consideration - BiB, we fully support an open market.

But there's a weird space in markets and relationships where perhaps suppliers consider that what they are selling is not a mere widget but something harder to quantify, and the more they treat it like a widget, the less attached people will be to it.

That tailgate setup has a whiff of pre-1789 France to it, and I say that as someone who hates Rousseau with a bloody passion.
I agree. I say we storm the Rose Administration Building
 

CrimsonProf

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Thanks for putting words in my mouth - but I stand by the assertion that this sort of thing will turn tailgating on campus into something only attainable to the rich and well-connected. Now I have no quarrel with either of those two segments of our fanbase, and while I realize that CFB is a very big business, it's still possible to handle things in such a way that the experience is open to all. Now if prices need to rise to lower demand, I can get that. But the image of the quad filled with neatly arranged tents and catered food is something to make my eyes roll.
 

shaggy

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Nov 21, 2001
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I have as well. It's obvious that ticket sales are in a slump.
The mailings from UA are usually about the field seating (or whatever they're called) which are the field level seats at the bottom of the north and south end zones, they are typically sold with a package for corporate type use. Also, tickets that are returned from visiting teams. Maybe a few single game seats that are held for public use. UA has no problem selling season tickets and as someone mentioned, there is a long waiting list, been that way for 15 years. Yes, regrettably the trend over the last 15 years has been in favor of those with big money but it's that way with many things in life. I've been a Tide Pride member since 2001 and it's getting more crowded on campus every year. Most colleges are dealing with declining crowds, UA is one of the few that's escaped it (for now) but it's probably coming. Every athletic director is faced with figuring out how to keep fans coming to the games when they can stay home and watch it on big screen HDTV. I don't know what the answer is but I know there is no substitute for being at an SEC game with a Bama win.
 

81usaf92

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Apr 26, 2008
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I honestly never understood why folks have to be on the quad. There are plenty of places on Bryant that are far cheaper. I think the quad is overrated.

But like one poster said, people don't have to pay unfair prices if they don't want to and still can go to the game.
 

B1GTide

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You guys all get it - supply and demand. The school has almost twice as many students today vs. 10 years ago when Saban arrived. That is crazy. People who never would have considered attending Alabama, from all over the world, have them listed as their top choice. It is insane how much a single sport can do for a school (and, to a lesser extent, a state).

Roll Tide!
 

crimsonaudio

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It is insane how much a single sport can do for a school (and, to a lesser extent, a state).
Dr. Witt had far, far more to do with the growth than football - he wanted to see the University of Alabama become one of the premier academic state universities, and he has Alabama moving in that direction now. The acceptance rate at Bama now is quite low for a public university, and the incoming freshman each year are very impressive, academically - the bar has been raised.
 

B1GTide

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Dr. Witt had far, far more to do with the growth than football - he wanted to see the University of Alabama become one of the premier academic state universities, and he has Alabama moving in that direction now. The acceptance rate at Bama now is quite low for a public university, and the incoming freshman each year are very impressive, academically - the bar has been raised.
Alabama's reputation is great as a learning institution, and you would know more about that rise than I, but it was still a relative unknown until something else put you on the front page of papers and web sites across the globe. Yes, football put you on the map. When Saban retires, it is going to have to be the great education that keeps you there.
 

Lost in TN

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Alabama recruits "regular" students like they are 5 star linebackers. When you look at the recruiters that are spread out around the country, it should come as no surprise that we are getting kids from New York, Connecticut, Texas, and California (and my daughter from Memphis).
 

RTR91

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Robert Whitt had a goal of having over 20,000 undergrad students by 2020. That would have been obtained, but Nick Saban happened and spread the process up more than anyone could have imagined.

The cliche "perfect storm" fits here.
 

CrimsonProf

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Alabama's reputation is great as a learning institution, and you would know more about that rise than I, but it was still a relative unknown until something else put you on the front page of papers and web sites across the globe. Yes, football put you on the map. When Saban retires, it is going to have to be the great education that keeps you there.
I realize that CNS helped take UA's brand to another level, but the academic reputation and overall growth of student enrollment was skyrocketing when Saban was coaching Duante Culpepper and Jason Taylor. I was a GTA in Shula's last year and my students really were from all over the place. That's a far cry from my time as undergrad in the early 00s, when almost everyone was in state save for a handful of folks from Mississippi and New Orleans.

Our football reputation has fed out academic reputation, but that growth was taking place before Saban's plane ever left Miami.


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Crimson1967

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Alabama's population is stagnating compared to other southern states, to the point there is a good chance we will lose a House seat after the 2020 census.

Bringing in young, bright people is a first step in stopping this trend. Hopefully some will stay here and build this state into a power off the football field.

I'll stop there as further commentary on the subject would get moved to the NS board.


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4Q Basket Case

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Dr. Witt had far, far more to do with the growth than football - he wanted to see the University of Alabama become one of the premier academic state universities, and he has Alabama moving in that direction now. The acceptance rate at Bama now is quite low for a public university, and the incoming freshman each year are very impressive, academically - the bar has been raised.
Dr. Witt recognized the value of the combination of student recruitment and scholarship money.

Different from most academics, and in stark contrast to all of UA's presidents after David Matthews, he also recognized athletics as being a distinctive competence....something to be used to further the University as a whole. Those predecessors, including Andrew Sorenson, and most disappointingly, Joab Thomas, viewed the Athletic Department as a cross to bear.

When, after years of mis-steps and misfortune, the stars aligned and we got Saban, it was the best pairing of HFC and President since Bryant and Rose. Maybe since Wade and Denny. Maybe ever.

While their external demeanors are different, I firmly believe that Nick Saban and Robert Witt have far more in common than they do differences.

One of many examples: they recognized the need to harness the incredible passion of fans and alumni. So they gave them jobs. Witt assigned grass-roots student recruitment to alumni, within the structure of the National Alumni Association and its chapters. Saban asked the fanbase to show up at games, be loud and supportive, and don't trash players on the radio.

The Alumni delivered in bushels of high achievers. With notable loudmouthed exceptions, so did
the fanbase.

Previously, that passion had no direction, so it found outlets that weren't always the ones you'd like to see. Rather than fighting it, Witt and Saban both harnessed it and used to to great effect.

Plus, Witt also caught a huge break in that a US Senator of 30+ years seniority is a UA grad and huge fan. Shelby Engineering Quad is a huge boon to recruitment of highly qualified students and the faculty that wants to work with them.

I could go on for pages. But the professional marriage of Nick Saban and Robert Witt will affect the University of Alabama long after everyone on this forum is dead and gone.
 

Rama Jama

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I wholeheartedly agree with everything said above. Dr. Witt used football to raise the national profile of the University as a whole. He also put in place an academic student recruiting program that is so successful that it is being copied by numerous universities across the nation. I can tell you most of the kids in my old frat are now from out of state. Most are high academic achievers who had no connection to UA prior to coming to school here. Saban and the athletics absolutely had and effect, but don't diminish the role Dr. Witt played in building the university.

As far as cost of games and tailgating, IMHO the University is going to kill the golden goose. It is part of the experience for Alums to come back and see the quad and give big donations, but if it gets to the point of costing too much, they'll quit doing either.
 
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PitMaster

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Someone earlier in the thread made what I considered a very Salient point, I could not find it or I would have quoted it

This is not econ 101. The university is not just manufacturing and selling widgets as the other poster referenced. They are also selling an experience, a lifestyle, emotions, et al.

There will come a time when the product is not at the level it is now. Are people that are being priced out of the market, feel disenfranchised, feel they are being taken advantage of, and have decided to spend more time at home maybe not renew tickets, spaces on the quad, excetera - will these folks come running back? Or will they say "Well, now that times have changed, you want to pretend to have concern and care for the rank and file, because you need us again? Sorry, not interested, I can yell Roll Tide from my living room, watch other games, have a stress free experience that is also tremendously cheaper and more enjoyable to me"...

I think the Atlanta Falcons are an organization that gets it given the way they have decided to price point their concessions this year to make them affordable and reasonable. The university could take a lesson from Mr. Blank in my opinion
 
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Hankster2

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Someone earlier in the thread made what I considered a very Salient point, I could not find it or I would have quoted it

This is not econ 101. The university is not just manufacturing and selling widgets as the other poster referenced. They are also selling an experience, a lifestyle, emotions, et al.

There will come a time when the product is not at the level it is now. Are people that are being priced out of the market, feel disenfranchised, feel they are being taken advantage of, and have decided to spend more time at home maybe not renew tickets, spaces on the quad, excetera - will these folks come running back? Or will they say "Well, now that times have changed, you want to pretend to have concern and care for the rank and file, because you need us again? Sorry, not interested, I can yell Roll Tide from my living room, watch other games, have a stress free experience that is also tremendously cheaper and more enjoyable to me"...

I think the Atlanta Falcons are an organization that gets it given the way they have decided to price point their concessions this year to make them affordable and reasonable. The university could take a lesson from Mr. Blank in my opinion
Kind of depends on what you define as the "product". For me it's more than just the W-L numbers. When I arrived at UofA in the early 90's I was underwhelmed by the AD facilities considering this was supposed to be one of the top football institutions in the country. Bryant Denny wasn't much to look at back then. But... tickets were reasonable and very few aspects of the game-day experience were over-monetized. The stadium and facilities are now on another level. That's the product that has been invested in and subsequently needs to be paid for.

This seems kind of straightforward to me. As much as we want to bash the "rich guy" crowd, they're the ones that have helped put 30K extra seats in the stadium, build out the walk of champions, and paid for the best coaching staff in the country. Personally if it came down to paying to have a Dubose/Shula era experience versus paying a bit more to watch this team play, I know which option I'd take.

It's a far more impressive product we have today and it's silly to be upset that a Lexus has a higher price tag than a Hyundai.
 

CrimsonProf

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Kind of depends on what you define as the "product". For me it's more than just the W-L numbers. When I arrived at UofA in the early 90's I was underwhelmed by the AD facilities considering this was supposed to be one of the top football institutions in the country. Bryant Denny wasn't much to look at back then. But... tickets were reasonable and very few aspects of the game-day experience were over-monetized. The stadium and facilities are now on another level. That's the product that has been invested in and subsequently needs to be paid for.

This seems kind of straightforward to me. As much as we want to bash the "rich guy" crowd, they're the ones that have helped put 30K extra seats in the stadium, build out the walk of champions, and paid for the best coaching staff in the country. Personally if it came down to paying to have a Dubose/Shula era experience versus paying a bit more to watch this team play, I know which option I'd take.

It's a far more impressive product we have today and it's silly to be upset that a Lexus has a higher price tag than a Hyundai.
Times won't always be so flush.


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bamacpa

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I received another email today about a 4 game ticket package, including Ole Miss and Arky. Really, we don't have a stadium full of people who want to see Rev Freeze take another loss ?
 

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