Season Ticket Renewal Forms

[GP1]

Just picked up my season ticket renewal form out of the mail.I like it because....:1. The address page says "Roo Town this is your team". Good spin on the Fear The Roo plagiarism. Background of downtown Akron also reminds those living in Akron, but no history with UofA know the team is part of their community. The more inclusive the better. This should have been attempted years ago.2. It clearly states how one gets tickets to the Army and OSU games.3. The letter from the coach is part of the packet. Also, the letter is well written and points out the fact that Can't, CMU (MAC Champions) and OU (East Champions) are coming to the RB. That is actually a good point. Makes the schedule seem better than what it really is. Those who don't follow it closely will be impressed.4. For once, everything seems to be spelled right.5. Photographs look good and professional.6. Uses the logos of the teams coming to the RB as part of the packet.7. For those of you who love free things, free stadium cushion (one per ticket) is included to protect your ass from fiberglass. The free cushions would probably provide more valuable protection than handing out free condoms in the students section.8. Excellent personalization on the seat cushion page.9. The form sets a deadline.10. A decision about where parking will be assigned is included. Things I don't like.....:1. The form opens up funny as if they printed it backward. Someone with a third grade education could overcome this hurdle though. (five minutes later) Now I understand why it opens up the way it does.....maybe....2. Back to opening it up. I do think that somehow it was printed improperly, but it all still makes sense if you don't pay attention to the page numbering. Don't open it up on the perforated line, try using the two tape pieces. Actually, I think it is printed upside down. You'll have to decide for yourself.3. For $100 last year, someone could go to a pregame and half-time party outside of the RB as part of the $100. The parking this year makes sense if that is still included and is important to the school for people to attend. Would be nice to know.4. If someone had a wheelchair or a walker, there has never been information on how that person could get a disabled parking space. I'm surprised a public institution is not forced to put this on the mailer by bureaucrats.

[ZachTheZip]

I just received mine in the mail today as well. I think they did print it up pretty strangely. They need to re-think how they design those things next year.

[GP1]

I just received mine in the mail today as well.  I think they did print it up pretty strangely.  They need to re-think how they design those things next year.

OK, It was pretty stupid on my part. I should have figured this out the first time I opened it. Jabari and the football behind him is page 1. Knowing that, I've gone from thinking this is a good piece, to thinking it is a really good piece. Much better than what we have seen in the past.I would have moved page 3 to page 6 and page 4 to page 7. Other than that, it will take some real nitpicking to take this apart, so let the nitpicking begin.

[Kangaroo Craig]

I like how it is personalized! I also like the fact that the order form has last years info already typed in so all you have to do is return it with your $$. This is the most professionally done season ticket package that UA has ever put out. Nice job! Its funny how two tickets to the OSU game cost as much as my entire family plan that gives me four seats to five games. THis has got to be the best bargain in sports and yet very few of us watch.

[74ZIP]

how many ya think they'll get? i ordered mine already...so...

[GP1]

how many ya think they'll get? i ordered mine already...so...

They have a base of about 4,100 season ticket holders. 2,000 by June 1.

[gozips19]

this is a million times better than last years renewal! last year i could swear that it was done by helper monkeys. this is a first class job! maybe there is hope for the athletic department after all? one side note, i live outside of summit county and tend to get my mailings a few days after i read about it on the board so i was pleasantly to get my renewal in the mail today and not a few days after everyone else. good job boys!

[Captain Kangaroo]

I got mine yesterday. The biggest blunder was the addition of my existing season ticket price. The price grid saved me the trouble of multiplying 2 x $75.00. I like the grid's math better because it says I owe $120.00 instead of $150.00.They need to separate parking section #3 from the General Admission section. At first glance it looks like the General Public Parking is now for the Gridiron Club and Director's Level members.The stadium map color chart shows the Rubber Bowl endzone seating as General Admission. Did they re-open it? I doubt it."Youth Ticket" is a misleading name for the kid's season ticket package. It looks like kid's tickets are $30.00 ea. They should have called it "Youth Package" like all the other "packages."I see parking for GA is $25.00. I'm assuming that will get you parking at Browns Stadium too? Otherwise, you're prepaying $25.00 for 4 games worth of parking at the Rubber Bowl, which CAN'T be correct.Is the Zippy's Kid's Club "dead?" Usually the ticket mailing mentions it. Beautiful piece of literature. I give it a B- overall. Hight grade ever. It would be nice if they let someone outside the University proof it and add comments before it went to print...but they never do.

[GP1]

If someone wanted a free family plan, all they would need to do is buy it and four tickets to OSU at $60 each, sell the OSU tickets for $90 each on eBay (you could probably get more) and pay for the family plan.Kangaroo Craig is exactly correct. If anything, Akron doesn't charge enough for tickets. I was on the Georgia Tech web page and there is a $100 per seat charge for their equivalent of the Z-Fund for each ticket bought regardless of where it is. $400 per seat if you want seat backs in a "club" area.

[zff]

You have to walk before you can start to run. Last year when they tried the Big School idea with the parking everybody was up in arms. Now you want them to charge $100 plus the price of the season ticket.......

[GP1]

They need to separate parking section #3 from the General Admission section. At first glance it looks like the General Public Parking is now for the Gridiron Club and Director's Level members.The stadium map color chart shows the Rubber Bowl endzone seating as General Admission. Did they re-open it? I doubt it."Youth Ticket" is a misleading name for the kid's season ticket package. It looks like kid's tickets are $30.00 ea. They should have called it "Youth Package" like all the other "packages."I see parking for GA is $25.00. I'm assuming that will get you parking at Browns Stadium too? Otherwise, you're prepaying $25.00 for 4 games worth of parking at the Rubber Bowl, which CAN'T be correct.Beautiful piece of literature. I give it a B- overall. Hight grade ever. It would be nice if they let someone outside the University proof it and add comments before it went to print...but they never do.

The miscalculation of the price is funny. I didn't have such luck. It would have brought a good laugh.There is actually no mention of Lot 3 beiing anything other than General Parking. Perhaps lot 4 will be used for the high end donors. I could really care less about what they do with parking at that dump. Two years and it is all over anyhow.The map shows the end zone seating as black and not some shade of blue. I thought it was pretty clear myself.Are we really back to the point where paying $6.25 per game to park at a Division I-A football game is too much to pay? If we are, all the winning in the world will not right the ship and we are doomed to the bottom. If there is no mention of parking at Cleveland Stadium, that means purchasing parking in advance is not available. The purpose of a marketing piece is not to tell people what isn't available. I'm sure the lots in Cleveland will be more than available that day.Who should be doing the proofing?In general, good nitpicking. I'd give it a B-, but I'd give this piece a solid B. I'd give it a B+ if some of the pieces did not have math problems.This piece should only be the beginning of a larger sales and marketing campaign. Depending on mailers to sell is for chumps. Mack needs to get out himself and sell this program. It's one thing to have the sales tool, it's another to be able to go out and sell something (not try to sell something, but actually get orders). That's what separates the men from the boys (unemployed) in my world.

[GP1]

You have to walk before you can start to run. Last year when they tried the Big School idea with the parking everybody was up in arms. Now you want them to charge $100 plus the price of the season ticket.......

No, I'm just poiniting out what a great value going to an Akron game is compared to other schools.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Are we really back to the point where paying $6.25 per game to park at a Division I-A football game is too much to pay?  If we are, all the winning in the world will not right the ship and we are doomed to the bottom.  If there is no mention of parking at Cleveland Stadium, that means purchasing parking in advance is not available.  The purpose of a marketing piece is not to tell people what isn't available.  I'm sure the lots in Cleveland will be more than available that day.

My point is not that $6.25 is too much for parking. My point is the $25.00 is incorrect. They held the price of last year's parking passes, but shortend the season by 20%.Beyond that - Parking on Game Day last year was $3.00. I would assume it is $3.00 again this year. Maybe it is $4.00? Hell...maybe they go to $5.00. Why is it cheaper to pay to park on Game Day than it is if you pre-pay? In every other walk of life, if you pay early, you get a better price, not a worse price.Based upon a $4.00/game parking cost, you are paying $9.00 extra for a season's parking if you pay early? Explain that to me.

[GP1]

Are we really back to the point where paying $6.25 per game to park at a Division I-A football game is too much to pay?  If we are, all the winning in the world will not right the ship and we are doomed to the bottom.  If there is no mention of parking at Cleveland Stadium, that means purchasing parking in advance is not available.  The purpose of a marketing piece is not to tell people what isn't available.  I'm sure the lots in Cleveland will be more than available that day.

My point is not that $6.25 is too much for parking. My point is the $25.00 is incorrect. They held the price of last year's parking passes, but shortend the season by 20%.Beyond that - Parking on Game Day last year was $3.00. I would assume it is $3.00 again this year. Maybe it is $4.00? Hell...maybe they go to $5.00. Why is it cheaper to pay to park on Game Day than it is if you pre-pay? In every other walk of life, if you pay early, you get a better price, not a worse price.Based upon a $4.00/game parking cost, you are paying $9.00 extra for a season's parking if you pay early? Explain that to me.

The reason that parking costs more in advance is because the University is trying to make what amounts to only a couple of dollars on parking. For every little stub from the parking pass that you hand in when you park, the city turns that into UofA and the University must pay the city whatever the cost of parking is. So last year, parking was $5 per game in advance. $3 of that went to the city and UofA only got $2. Hoban High School makes more money on parking than Akron does. Just take a second and think of that insanity.Let's assume that the city charges $4 to park this year per game. At $6.25 per game, UofA only makes $2.25 per parking pass. Reduced to a parking pass costing $4 through UofA, they would make nothing in an adjusted per game scenario. Backwards is exactly the direction we don't want to go.UofA only ownes the Rubber Bowl and something like one or two feet around the Bowl. Everything that goes on out there requires permits (the cost I don't know). I really don't think that $25 per season is too much to ask if it helps in the costs of putting on the event. Most people spend more than $2 per week on vending machine costs at work.

[FMR]

Here is the skinny on the ticket mailing:

The price grid saved me the trouble of multiplying 2 x $75.00. I like the grid's math better because it says I owe $120.00 instead of $150.00.

1) The same company that did the Men's Basketball season ticket mailing did this one also. The math on some season ticket holders for basketball were wrong also. Athletics did not proof then and again this time. Yet they increased their marketing staff and are paying an additional $150,000 in salaries to these people.UA Athletics puts the piece together and farms it out to this company to produce and mail. Word is the Director of Marketing does all the proofing herself (I guess she does not believe in having others proof her work. Remember the ads in the paper?).

For every little stub from the parking pass that you hand in when you park, the city turns that into UofA and the University must pay the city whatever the cost of parking is.

2) Parking - the city collects $3.00/car. They keep the money on game day and UA pays for each stub they collect. They don't care where you park. This will not include parking in Cleveland, unless you give big $$ and only then will you be taken care of (maybe).

Why is it cheaper to pay to park on Game Day than it is if you pre-pay?

3) Athletics hires Acme (or whoever) parking to work the games. The parking service that collects money on game day will not agree to count out UA's cut at the end of the day. So you only pay what the city gets. If you are going to park in the General Parking you would be an idiot to pay $25.00. Unless you want the convience of flying around the traffic that is paying (but they have not figured out how to do that yet either).

Mack needs to get out himself and sell this program. It's one thing to have the sales tool, it's another to be able to go out and sell something (not try to sell something, but actually get orders). That's what separates the men from the boys (unemployed) in my world.

4) Ah, GP1, you have forgotten grasshopper, Mack hires Infocision to make those phone calls. We have been hearing about a "grassroots campaign" for over a year now. I'll wager a bunch that if you look at the individual season ticket purchases from last year, it did not increase that much. But if you look at the Companies that purchased group season tickets to help with the attendance issue, that is where the spike came.

I could really care less about what they do with parking at that dump. Two years and it is all over anyhow.

5) Two years... Funny, anyone else wondering why there has not been an announcement about the stadium? I am hearing 3-4 years. No wonder it has been so quiet.

[Z-P]

University of Akron Season Football Tickets = No PulseSorry.................nm.

[GP1]

University of Akron Season Football Tickets = No PulseSorry.................nm.

Come on now bro, had Mike Waddell produced the exact same piece you would be gushing about leadership, creativity and all sorts of things. People on the board would think that Churchill came out of the grave and moved to Akron to be AD. A lot of what you say is true on the administration subject, but at least come clean about this so others know where you are coming from. Give credit where credit is due....you're not the only one either.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Having had the opportunity to review the ticket form in detail during my 3 hours to Dallas, I have to say I was incorrect about the endzone seating being marked as general admission. Seeing the form in daylight instead of by nightlight, the endzone is definitely black rather than dark blue. The Captain is color blind at that end of the spectrum. That moves my grade from B- to B.I also noticed that the $25.00 fee applies to parking section #5. Not general admission. I can't raise the grade to B+ however, because the form is still too vague. I think a lot of people will buy the $25.00 spot thinking it is saving them money on GA parking, when in actuality it's more expensive, and not in the GA lot. Cost is still wrong. Parking map is still wrong.A "B" from CK is a pretty good grade. If some I's are dotted and T's are crossed next year, I may give my first ever "A-?"In a different topic for a different day - Why would anyone park anywhere else but GA? I've never seen a tailgate party in any of the other lots? No tailgating!? Ill get my lot 5 parking pass with my Z-Fund donation and park in GA anyhow.

[Z-P]

Coming clean for my boy G.............We can make only 2 games at the bowl, so why spring for season tickets?We'll be at the Stadium (obviously) but I can't imagine not being able to walk up and take my pick of the best available at the gate.So like I said University of Akron Season Football Tickets = No PulseI liked the piece...........a lot. I thought it was very professional and a real step forward for the Marketing Department.Please don't credit me for saying something I didn't say.Thank you very much

[Zipsrifle]

General Parking is the way to go. Now, what are we going to do in '09 when we need to park in the city? Enjoy the inexpensive, good parking now. I imagine there will be assigned lots where we can Tailgate close to the stadium with open containers....we'll get bent over to park there!Oh, and I thought I read somewhere that they were going to have a "Tailgating" section on Brown St. just outside the stadium. My suggestion for UA: Start noting those of us who tailgate in GA at the Rubberbowl and GIVE us those spots for free the first season. If you put a premium on them the first year, they will be empty just like the "Premium" tailgating section is at the RB.

[Captain Kangaroo]

My suggestion for UA: Start noting those of us who tailgate in GA at the Rubberbowl and GIVE us those spots for free the first season. If you put a premium on them the first year, they will be empty just like the "Premium" tailgating section is at the RB.

I don't think the University is planning on giving away anything associated with the new stadium. It is tough to pay off a 54 million dollar investment if you give away premium perks.The Zipsfest Lot created two years ago failed for several reasons. It was too cheap...so cheap it was essentially "disposable" ...the party along the fence was bigger and more fun, etc. I am guessing those reasons won't apply at the new stadium. There will be no "cheap" alternative to the designated tailgate lots. You won't be able to plop you butt anywhere you please and pop a beer like the Rubber Bowl. Worst case, the University will outlaw tailgating like YSU did, and only have a corporate "Coors Light Tailgate Area" where you need to buy tokens and stand in line for crappy, overpriced cups of beer. THAT would suck. Tailgating is a do-it-yourself event. And there's nothing better than a parking lot full of music, beer, grills and corn hole. Once the University tries to "organize" tailgating and make it "corporate" it is over. I think I would seriously think about attending Pitt games.I am VERY curious to see what transpires regarding tailgating at the new stadium. Will it be overpriced? Will it be corporate? Or will University people actually use their heads and do it right? The latter usually never happens, but I can always hope...

[74ZIP]

park across the street and go inside and have beer if ya think parking is too expensive..hell i've been parking on the side street across from the Bowl where th horse barn used to be...i've bought my season tickets for 10+ years...they get my money....