Michigan is known for having some of the biggest crowds in the history of college football, but this year, the Wolverines are having trouble selling tickets, especially to students. Last year, the school sold 19,000 student tickets, but it’s expecting a drop of 5,000-6,000 orders, to a total of 13,000 or 14,000 student tickets.
Michigan wants students to pay more for football games they don’t want to attend
The combination of a bad home schedule and increased prices is keeping students away from the Big House.
Maybe it’s the fact that the team is coming off a 7-6 season, or maybe it’s the terrible home schedule, or maybe it’s the “national trend” of lower attendance that Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon blames.
Or it could be that Michigan is on a mission to change the way all of economics tends to work. Even after last year's disappointing season — and the 2012 season when 25 percent of students with tickets didn't show up — when the university was trying no doubt anticipating an attendance drop, the Wolverines decided to raise student ticket prices by 23 percent. That means students will need to pay $40 per game to watch their mediocre team play Appalachian State, Miami (Ohio), Utah, Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana, and Maryland.
To make up for the drop in student attendance, Michigan is offering a deal to the public that really isn’t much of one.
The "Go Blue Ticket Pack" starts as low as $200, and gives fans a ticket to the Oct. 11 night game against Penn State, the Sept. 13 home game against Miami-Ohio and the choice of one of the team's five remaining home games (Appalachian State on Aug. 30, Utah on Sept. 20, Minnesota on Sept. 27, Indiana on Nov. 1 and Maryland on Nov. 22).
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The "Fan Choice Pack" gives fans the option of selecting three games of their choosing, not including the Penn State night game. That package will run as low as $150, "depending on which games are chosen."
Think paying $150 to watch your team play Miami (Ohio), Utah, and Indiana is a bit high? Well, Michigan is prepared to sweeten the deal!
Anyone buying the "Go Blue Ticket Pack" will also receive a free adidas Michigan baseball cap.
Talk about a bargain!
Michigan is always going to have one of the highest average attendances in college football because of the size of its fan base. But if it keeps trying to squeeze every last dollar out of its fans, the atmosphere — particularly in the student section — is going to continue to diminish. That’s especially true this year, when no rivals are on the home schedule.
Can the atmosphere be what it once was? Maize ‘n’ Brew asked that question last week, and they’re worried that battle has already been lost.
If the whole thing dies and Michigan eventually ends up playing in front of a half-full stadiums, I will be very sad ...
I'll be sad because something else is dead. The real spirit of Michigan football is the fan support and atmosphere that is focused on the game itself. And in ten or twenty of fifty years when that is dead, we'll only have to roll the heap of branding and forced game experience off of the corpse of the Michigan gameday experience, which was ultimately crushed dead by the very thing that was meant to save it.
Brandon clearly isn’t worried about the monetary impact of students leaving the stands, but as long as that’s his attitude, the experience at the Big House isn’t going to be what it used to be.
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