03-15-2013, 09:54 PM
My family has had men's basketball seasons tickets for ~ 60 years [i.e., since before I was born]. The Bowlsby seat license plan took us from 6 to 2 [and moved us to much more marginal seats]. Last year, that declined to 1. Next year? Boy, I just don't know...
Paying close to $100 per game this season was really hard to take [given that the whole fan experience other than the game really isn't much -- stale, overpriced, and limited selection food; having to listen to that annoyingly loud, screeching, and wholly unintelligible video intro every game; and with seats that were essentially restricted view whenever the team stood up], especially when our repeated late-game meltdowns made most of the wins less than satisfying and the losses functional equivalents of getting kicked in the stomach.
I am absolutely certain I could attend every home game next season [even if we do really well], and virtually certain that I could sit in the lower bowl, for less than 50% of the price of a season ticket renewal, unless Muir decides to reward those who stick with the program with a steep discount or other valuable benefit of some sort.
In fact the only thing that might make next season anywhere near a tough ticket is the "train wreck" scenario -- i.e., people will sometimes pay to see a disaster happen before their eyes [think NASCAR]. Of course, were that to occur, it could produce the ugliest sports environment at Stanford in a long time, as "booing the home team" might very well develop. Otherwise put, it could begin to sound like Memorial Stadium...
It's even possible things could get ugly much sooner than that. Given our record, it seems likely that we'll get at least a CBI invite, if not an NIT bid. Do we accept it? If so, do we seek a home game...which is likely to draw, oh, say, 13 or 14 people? And, if we lose early [and ugly] what does Muir say?
After the Football season and women's volleyball season, the Athletic Dept sent out an e-mail survey to season ticket holders soliciting input on the "fan experience" this past season. I'll be very interested to see whether they do that for men's b'ball.
Paying close to $100 per game this season was really hard to take [given that the whole fan experience other than the game really isn't much -- stale, overpriced, and limited selection food; having to listen to that annoyingly loud, screeching, and wholly unintelligible video intro every game; and with seats that were essentially restricted view whenever the team stood up], especially when our repeated late-game meltdowns made most of the wins less than satisfying and the losses functional equivalents of getting kicked in the stomach.
I am absolutely certain I could attend every home game next season [even if we do really well], and virtually certain that I could sit in the lower bowl, for less than 50% of the price of a season ticket renewal, unless Muir decides to reward those who stick with the program with a steep discount or other valuable benefit of some sort.
In fact the only thing that might make next season anywhere near a tough ticket is the "train wreck" scenario -- i.e., people will sometimes pay to see a disaster happen before their eyes [think NASCAR]. Of course, were that to occur, it could produce the ugliest sports environment at Stanford in a long time, as "booing the home team" might very well develop. Otherwise put, it could begin to sound like Memorial Stadium...
It's even possible things could get ugly much sooner than that. Given our record, it seems likely that we'll get at least a CBI invite, if not an NIT bid. Do we accept it? If so, do we seek a home game...which is likely to draw, oh, say, 13 or 14 people? And, if we lose early [and ugly] what does Muir say?
After the Football season and women's volleyball season, the Athletic Dept sent out an e-mail survey to season ticket holders soliciting input on the "fan experience" this past season. I'll be very interested to see whether they do that for men's b'ball.