NU changing up donation requirements for basketball

[CappyNU]

Seems someone at NU has realized their errors regarding basketball season ticket pricing. Behold, a comparison between last year and this year:

Upper deck seating
2021:
First row of 201-207 and 211-217 (baseline sections), $100 donation for 1-2 tickets, $150 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $350
First row of 208, 210, 218, 220 (sideline except middle), $150 donation for 1-2 tickets, $250 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $375
First five rows of 209, 219 (midcourt), $400 donation for 1-2 tickets, $600 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $375
All other seats, no donation - cost of ticket $350

2022:
First row of 201-208, 210-218, 220, first two rows of 209, 219, $100 donation/ticket - cost of ticket $350
All other seats, no donation - cost of ticket $350

Lower level seating
2021:
102, 106, 110, 114 (corner sections), $600 donation for 1-2 tickets, $1000 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $400
101, 107, 109, 115 (sideline except middle/Wilson), $1500 donation for 1-2 tickets, $2500 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $450
108 (mid-court opposite Wilson), $2500 donation for 1-2 tickets, $4000 for 3-4 - cost of ticket $500
Wilson, $6000 donation for 1-4 tickets - cost of ticket $1700
Courtside, $12500 donation for 1-4 tickets - cost of ticket $1800

2022:
102, 106, 110, 114 (corner sections), last two rows of 101, 107, 109, 115, $200 donation/ticket - cost of ticket $450
All but last two rows of 101, 107, 109, 115 (sideline except middle/Wilson), $350 donation/ticket - cost of ticket $450
108 (mid-court opposite Wilson), $750 donation/ticket - cost of ticket $450
Wilson, $6000 donation minimum, but only $1500 required to go to seating/ticket - cost of ticket $1700
Courtside, $12500 donation minimum, but only $3000 required to go to seating/ticket - cost of ticket $1800

So actual ticket cost is flat or cheaper for all sections except lower corners, which sees a modest $50/ticket bump, and donation requirements slightly increase in upper deck except for mid-court sections, while dropping significantly in the lower level.

Will this be enough to bring anyone back to the arena given the expectations of the team this year? Who knows, but it's certainly a step in the right direction and the way they should've gone from the start.

 

[its_the_sauce]

While this news is slightly aged an interesting observation of mine. I have great seats on the aisle in 108 just off the Cats bench. Even though I had no need to upgrade I went through the process out of curiosity. This is not an exaggeration when I say 108 was less than 20% occupied.

As a side I just got e-mail yesterday notifying me they'll be offering single game seats in the WC.

 

[IGNORE2]

I bet season tickets continue to drop.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Outside of charity, what is the point of buying a season ticket in the upper level when you can get any of NU's Big Ten games for $20 a ticket and the out of conference games are closer to $5 a ticket? (on Stubhub)

We play 8 non-conference games in Evanston.
We play 10 Big Ten games. Some of those might need $25, others $10-15.

If you wanted to see all the home games, its about $250-300 to sit in the upper level.

Of course that assumes people have bought season tickets and are trying to sell individual games. If the supply of re-sellers falls, actual attendance will probably drop even further (assuming the sharp discounts disappear).

 

[Pete Purple]

They didn’t change an error. They lowered the price bc they had to. At some point my rep (on her way out) told me that 40% of STH non renewed. I gave up on my tix (STH since 2009), and will buy a few games individually on StubHub. All I had to do was nothing-no call to me asking why.

I think attendance will be very low unless…it would be so Northwestern for them to have no injuries, successfully pull together, and make a run the year I‘be non-renewed. No Pete! You’ve played that game before and lost.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

They didn’t change an error. They lowered the price bc they had to. At some point my rep (on her way out) told me that 40% of STH non renewed. I gave up on my tix (STH since 2009), and will buy a few games individually on StubHub. All I had to do was nothing-no call to me asking why.

I think attendance will be very low unless…it would be so Northwestern for them to have no injuries, successfully pull together, and make a run the year I‘be non-renewed. No Pete! You’ve played that game before and lost.

40%? Thats a big chunk. Seems like it might be unprecedented!

The thing about Stubhub - you need sellers who already hold the tickets in order to drive the price down. Thats a lot less likely when the number of season ticket holders has been slashed - and the people who gave up their season tickets this year were probably motivated sellers of individual games last year.

Paying face value for individual home games is a "No" for me... The ticket prices are too high for me to justify making the drive.

Expect lots of promotions.

 

[EagerFan]

I like my seats where they are. Maybe next year I'll look at something in the lower level, but they'd have to be great and cheap.

 

[Pete Purple]

40%? Thats a big chunk. Seems like it might be unprecedented!

The thing about Stubhub - you need sellers who already hold the tickets in order to drive the price down. Thats a lot less likely when the number of season ticket holders has been slashed - and the people who gave up their season tickets this year were probably motivated sellers of individual games last year.

Paying face value for individual home games is a "No" for me... The ticket prices are too high for me to justify making the drive.

Expect lots of promotions.

Good point reg StubHub. Maybe I’ll go with a friend who renewed but said he expects to struggle to fill all 6 of them.

I didn’t mean to imply that 40% was the net loss. It could be, but I suspect there are also some new STHs. When my rep called to let me know she was moving on, she asked if I was planning to renew and I said probably not. She said “you’re not alone“. Then I asked if she knew how many folks were not renewing and she’s said ”almost 40%”. Still a huge #.

When I got the email announcing the revised pricing, and why - I think it said “to increase the fan experience“ by increasing STHs. My 1st thought was that the move was a very bad sign for the coming year.

Perhaps the net loss (my assumption) was fewer than 40%. I think the transfer rules are disproportionately impacting our team and will continue to, unless admission standards are also revised.

Pete