Here is a quick summary of BC's allocation process:
1. Staff and players first (as it should be)
2. BC takes care of big donors (as it should be)
3. Lottery among season ticket holders and smaller donors
Tickets are going to be expensive. The face value plus the expected giving make it inevitable. How is this a surprise to anyone?
I wish BC had handled this a bit better. They could have negotiated more seats from Notre Dame in the process. Maybe had lower gift minimums. Or perhaps they should have just lowered fan expectations about access from the very beginning.
As for the fans complaining, what did you expect? That BC shouldn't use this to drive interest and giving? That lifetime loyalty should be rewarded over players and staff? There are only 5,000 tickets. Even if BC gave a priority strictly to season ticket holders based on seniority there wouldn't be enough tickets to go around.
Fenway is not ideal for football or the average-sized American in 2015, so you'll be cramped and have a bad view. If you think it is not worth it or you think BC is being unfair, then don't go. It will be on TV. There are plenty of other, better and cheaper road games to attend. This is just a special one-time event. I am excited about it, but I would get excited about BC playing most anywhere. This should be a fun event. If you have the money and want to attend, go and enjoy it. If you're upset at how BC handled it, I suggest writing a composed, thoughtful and polite email to Brad Bates.
This game is supposed to be special. If the price and availability squeezes you out, I am sorry. I hope that doesn't keep you from enjoying the game or the season.
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6 comments:
First of all let me just say that I don't really care and I'm unbothered by not going to this. I will happily watch on TV. I knew ticket supply would be very low so I sort of assumed I wouldn't be able to get tickets.
But... if youre wondering why people are upset... people generally don't like the idea that being able to cut a check makes you more worthy than anything else. If the only way to guarantee tickets is to donate $15,000+, then it would at least be nice to have the opportunity to purchase semi-affordable tickets if you are lucky enough to win the limited lottery.
Nobody expected supply to be higher, the issue is with the price point. $400 is a complete nonstarter for anyone who isn't wealthy. Believe it or not, not every BC season ticket holder works for a bank or an insurance company. Some are just diehard fans who aren't even alums (a dying breed that we need to connect with). Some are nurses or teachers or work in science labs. Some are young alums paying off student loans An email like the one from BC yesterday helps entrench among the whole latter group that the former group is all that matters to BC. That's why people get upset.
Anyway, I will enjoy watching this on TV as long as we win.
There's no reason we BC fans can't pack the Fenway bars and just never go in to the Park but stay there, watching on TV with drinks and friends and attractive bartenders while taking in the game day atmosphere. That would make for a fun day.
Love that idea.
"As for the fans complaining, what did you expect? That BC shouldn't use this to drive interest and giving?"
The giving is not to what I consider a worthy cause: BC Athletics. I give to the University for its academic mission, not so Dazz can make $2,000,000+. Football should support the University, not the other way around.
BC and Brad Bates agreed to a bad deal and now, to make matters worse, are being greedy.
Are there any seats for students?
By the way, I've talked with too many ND fans in the Boston area who are already crowing about how ND once again out maneuvered BC. The worst part is that they are right.
Pitiful.
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