A lesson in treating fans right
Ever hear about writing unsent letters to people who you have unresolved issues with? Well I made one of those the other day; but it wasn't to some childhood nemesis, or a girl who wronged me or anything like that, no indeed. This is far more personal; this is to the Athletic Department at UW-Madison...
Dear Administration,
I hope you actually listen here to what I am taking my time to write to you....
I've been a student here for a few years; and I know for a fact that large majority of the athletic fans are not going to believe me when they read in the Daily Cardinal the other day that "the athletic department appreciates student fans." I personally find that to be outrightly contradictory to the actions of the department since I've been here.
If the athletic department cared about the student fans, you wouldn't have floated "speculation" of a price hike in student tickets. What I think you did was allow that to reach the student body early so we would simply roll over when it officially became the fact that it is.
Hockey fans and basketball season ticket holders alike would not have to wait outside in the cold, scrambling to get groups together after hearing of the 'suddenly decided' ticket distribution date; holding only towels and hopefully a a warm jacket to keep us from getting sick at night. In the 2003-04 hockey season, which was predicted to be a rebuilding year (read: not a large draw) we were offered shelter inside the last night along with some
juices/bagels in the morning as a thank you for being diehard fans. As the predicted successful 2004-05 and 2005-06 years came, we students were left literally out in the cold and kicked out of line for having pillows under the guise of some insultingly thin cover story about camping laws, and class attendance rates. I can not possibly fathom why these decisions were made other than we simply were not worth your time and effort because the badgers were going to have a good season and we'd show up anyways. Which brings me to the ultimate support for that argument, the basketball program.
If the athletic department cared about student basketball fans, there would be a much larger student section, with more seats available for your biggest fans. However this is not the case as the athletic department would rather non-student tickets be sold in their place at a much higher profit margin. I would in fact, have seen more than one badger basketball game in the last 3 seasons, if the athletic department actually wanted more students at the games. The only game I did see was made possible by a friend on Iowa's basketball team. When student season tickets sell out, and they seem to do so often and quickly, and the demand is so high for student tickets, one would think the athletic department would expand the student section; but since that hasn't happened the lottery system continues to keep a growing number of students out of experiencing badger games.
Its was my belief that the athletic department was suppose to help promote badger athletics FIRST to the students here today who become the alumni members of tomorrow. But it would seem to me that the athletic department if far more concerned with keeping the Kohl Center's seats filled with the heaviest wallets than helping create a solid, unflinching core student base regardless of our teams success rates. We may not stop attending games today or tomorrow but know I wont be the only one not coming back for more if you continue to treat students like this.
Dear Administration,
I hope you actually listen here to what I am taking my time to write to you....
I've been a student here for a few years; and I know for a fact that large majority of the athletic fans are not going to believe me when they read in the Daily Cardinal the other day that "the athletic department appreciates student fans." I personally find that to be outrightly contradictory to the actions of the department since I've been here.
If the athletic department cared about the student fans, you wouldn't have floated "speculation" of a price hike in student tickets. What I think you did was allow that to reach the student body early so we would simply roll over when it officially became the fact that it is.
Hockey fans and basketball season ticket holders alike would not have to wait outside in the cold, scrambling to get groups together after hearing of the 'suddenly decided' ticket distribution date; holding only towels and hopefully a a warm jacket to keep us from getting sick at night. In the 2003-04 hockey season, which was predicted to be a rebuilding year (read: not a large draw) we were offered shelter inside the last night along with some
juices/bagels in the morning as a thank you for being diehard fans. As the predicted successful 2004-05 and 2005-06 years came, we students were left literally out in the cold and kicked out of line for having pillows under the guise of some insultingly thin cover story about camping laws, and class attendance rates. I can not possibly fathom why these decisions were made other than we simply were not worth your time and effort because the badgers were going to have a good season and we'd show up anyways. Which brings me to the ultimate support for that argument, the basketball program.
If the athletic department cared about student basketball fans, there would be a much larger student section, with more seats available for your biggest fans. However this is not the case as the athletic department would rather non-student tickets be sold in their place at a much higher profit margin. I would in fact, have seen more than one badger basketball game in the last 3 seasons, if the athletic department actually wanted more students at the games. The only game I did see was made possible by a friend on Iowa's basketball team. When student season tickets sell out, and they seem to do so often and quickly, and the demand is so high for student tickets, one would think the athletic department would expand the student section; but since that hasn't happened the lottery system continues to keep a growing number of students out of experiencing badger games.
Its was my belief that the athletic department was suppose to help promote badger athletics FIRST to the students here today who become the alumni members of tomorrow. But it would seem to me that the athletic department if far more concerned with keeping the Kohl Center's seats filled with the heaviest wallets than helping create a solid, unflinching core student base regardless of our teams success rates. We may not stop attending games today or tomorrow but know I wont be the only one not coming back for more if you continue to treat students like this.
posted by Marc at
1:18 PM
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