2025 Season

[Steve81]

Admittedly it was before my time, but didn’t UMass screw over a lot of die hard season ticket holders in basketball like this during the Cal years? And again, before my time, but I believe I’ve read on here a lot of them didn’t come back when the fair weather fans left. I’d hope UMass learned something from that. Maybe not though.

If they require that level of donation for those seats, my ticket will be roughly $155/game. I don’t think hockey comes close to selling out season tickets now when my seat is about $17/game That would be a fucking stupid increase.

I’d probably just get cheap seats and then sit in my current seat anyway. I don’t think you can find enough people willing to pay $155/game for college hockey for a whole season.

Edited to add- assuming basketball season tickets are about the same as hockey, imagine asking basketball fans to go from $17/game for the A-10 to $155/game for the MAC? I’m not exactly an A-10 guy (see signature) but that would also be fucking stupid.

Correct on the seating screw over. There were a bunch of STH who were there through the dark days of the 90’s and the cage who were “bought over” and bumped from good seats toward corners and much higher altitude seats. As I recall when the deep pockets left the school they bumped the STH prices a good amount for a team that was simultaneously coming back to earth. If you wanted to go b k or closer at least to where you were before all that , there was an even bigger premium to pay.

Greed and zero foresight…. I give you Umass Athletic department. As dense today as it was 35 years ago. Wash rinse repeat.

Don't think that is an issue now as there are available seats. But they do keep changing the point system for seating, Not sure of the points for continued donations and awarding 2 points per sport for season tickets. The change here is the benefits on DONATIONS. The 1,500 per sport has been the same for nearly a quarter of a century. They adjusted it, but carried over the perks to other sports. Do understand people being upset. A thousand dollars is serious money. Understand people being upset. But I want the athletic department to start acting like a major player in college athletics. Donations are all part of the puzzle for fielding competitive sports.

[Old Cage]

^ Playing two home games on a weeknight in November in New England does not equate to being a major player!

[doubledribble]

Admittedly it was before my time, but didn’t UMass screw over a lot of die hard season ticket holders in basketball like this during the Cal years? And again, before my time, but I believe I’ve read on here a lot of them didn’t come back when the fair weather fans left. I’d hope UMass learned something from that. Maybe not though.

If they require that level of donation for those seats, my ticket will be roughly $155/game. I don’t think hockey comes close to selling out season tickets now when my seat is about $17/game That would be a fucking stupid increase.

I’d probably just get cheap seats and then sit in my current seat anyway. I don’t think you can find enough people willing to pay $155/game for college hockey for a whole season.

Edited to add- assuming basketball season tickets are about the same as hockey, imagine asking basketball fans to go from $17/game for the A-10 to $155/game for the MAC? I’m not exactly an A-10 guy (see signature) but that would also be fucking stupid.

Count me as a basketball STH who got screwed over during the Cal days when they moved from Cage to Mullins in 1993.
My wife and I both had regularly attended games since 1973! We were shocked to see where our seats were located at the M vs where the newbies who donated big $ were located. My wife was so upset that she has not been to a game since (after 20yrs) ! I was not happy but have continued to attend games to this day (minus the wife).

[LS71]

^ I felt the same way after getting crappy seats in the corner of the Mully despite my loyalty over the years. Y’know buying season tickets at the Cage when you could pretty much walk in free pre-Calipari. The administration has been treating long time STHs shabbily for as long as I remember…down to only providing one gift per account vs one per ticket; nor setting aside giveaways for season ticket holders, etc.

It’s clear that their attitude is money talks…loyalty gets the shaft.

I came to my senses during Covid. No more season tix. No more mad dashes to the Mully to watch mediocre teams. When I go, I buy GA seats at the box office and sit wherever I want, or I watch on the +!

[Steve81]

^ I felt the same way after getting crappy seats in the corner of the Mully despite my loyalty over the years. Y’know buying season tickets at the Cage when you could pretty much walk in free pre-Calipari. The administration has been treating long time STHs shabbily for as long as I remember…down to only providing one gift per account vs one per ticket; nor setting aside giveaways for season ticket holders, etc.

It’s clear that their attitude is money talks…loyalty gets the shaft.

I came to my senses during Covid. No more season tix. No more mad dashes to the Mully to watch mediocre teams. When I go, I buy GA seats at the box office and sit wherever I want, or I watch on the +!

Very true LS71. Hope the Athletic department still uses points, with points for consecutive donation years and season ticket purposes. Perhaps the tide will turn at the Mullins and those points will help you to secure a good seat in a rocking Mullins Center. The crowd was rocking at the last game and will be there for Saturdays game. Completing my bookend of seeing the first and last game of the season, along with another game. Do appreciate my ESPN+ subscription for watching games. After the fact in some cases as have plans most weekend nights.

[Uminuteman]

My wife was so upset that she has not been to a game since (after 20yrs) ! I was not happy but have continued to attend games to this day (minus the wife).

So it all worked out!

[jjmc85]

I’m concerned about the “premium seating option.” I have what I think are some of the best seats for hockey. I’ve had them for a long time. Am I gonna have to pay $2500/year extra for them now?

I reached out to the University about this. My understanding now is that I will NOT have to pay an extra $2500/year to keep my seats, which is good.

My current understanding (check with UMass to confirm) is that $1000+season hockey tickets= access to the commonwealth club. Same formula for court club or whatever they call it for basketball. If you don’t have season tickets, you don’t get access even if you donate $1000. $2500 gets you access to those clubs even without season tickets.

I asked no follow up questions. I’m very relieved I can keep my seat though! Sorry to cause alarm over nothing.

[minutefanjsf]

This is the old entailment view created before athletics needed serious money to compete. Cal and UMass basketball spoiled spoiled a generation in thinking they can get a great product with little ore no real skin in the game. Flagship universities should compete at the highest level when possible. Being late to the game we are at the G6 level, which still needs money, but say 10% of what the Power teams provide.

Yes, UMass Hockey was National Champs, but recruiting and NIL requires $$$ to get top talent. You want premium, pay up.

Very fine line to walk there. Football ST have gone up 40% since Bell left. Can’t screw over diehards and long term supporters by jacking the price by 500% for the same product in one year. We can’t even come close to filling the venues. Fill the venues instead of making those who show up cover the empty seats. And, that counts for hockey, too. Fewer than five games a year approach sell outs for hockey.

minutefanjsf understand your point and also understand the administration position with revenue needs. However for a few who gave sufficiently for both the bb pregame upstairs and for the Hunt Hospitality Suite, this is cheaper. For those that didn't and pony up 1k will be able to enjoy the perks in multiple sports.

Ticket prices do not seem to hurt attendance, thou wonder about young families. The post below is from 2008 when prices went up 20% and it did not hurt attendance one bit. Last year we were 893 short of a sellout for the most expensive game, Missouri, 16,107. In a few years, premium seats will be coming to McGuirk as part of the 8-10M short term plan.

Steve81
Discussion starter
3120 posts · Joined 2005

#15 · Aug 26, 2008
a10knick, this will be a tough test of UMass attendance with zero home games in September and ticket prices went up 20%. On the plus side is we have a good team, new lights, and most games are on T.V.

https://www.basketballforum.com/threads ... ou.409717/

This is the football thread. I am focused on football giving and prices. I’ve had ST since 1999. I attended all games at Gillette and helped bring groups of over a hundred multiple times to Gillette. I paid for Putnam club seats for those seasons. I switched to the sunny side when asked when we came back. I have upped my donations and been a gridiron member to keep my tailgating spot that I’ve had for all the years in Amherst. The fact that we didn’t sell out Missouri and didn’t get close for other games, especially UConn or Army (regional well traveling rivals) makes it an even finer line, IMO. Yes, there will be premium seating added somehow. Those will likely be in the form of a new box above the press box, field level or endzones. Tickets at larger stadiums, GA, Florida State, etc. are not much higher than what UMass charges right now. We can’t and should not turn into BC where we price local average earning alumni out of games or game day experiences. I’d argue paying for ST for the last 10 plus years of FBS bottom ten counts as ponying up. In fact, when the move happened those who went “all in” (sorry), were promised a lot.

[Steve81]

Very fine line to walk there. Football ST have gone up 40% since Bell left. Can’t screw over diehards and long term supporters by jacking the price by 500% for the same product in one year. We can’t even come close to filling the venues. Fill the venues instead of making those who show up cover the empty seats. And, that counts for hockey, too. Fewer than five games a year approach sell outs for hockey.

minutefanjsf understand your point and also understand the administration position with revenue needs. However for a few who gave sufficiently for both the bb pregame upstairs and for the Hunt Hospitality Suite, this is cheaper. For those that didn't and pony up 1k will be able to enjoy the perks in multiple sports.

Ticket prices do not seem to hurt attendance, thou wonder about young families. The post below is from 2008 when prices went up 20% and it did not hurt attendance one bit. Last year we were 893 short of a sellout for the most expensive game, Missouri, 16,107. In a few years, premium seats will be coming to McGuirk as part of the 8-10M short term plan.

Steve81
Discussion starter
3120 posts · Joined 2005

#15 · Aug 26, 2008
a10knick, this will be a tough test of UMass attendance with zero home games in September and ticket prices went up 20%. On the plus side is we have a good team, new lights, and most games are on T.V.

https://www.basketballforum.com/threads ... ou.409717/

This is the football thread. I am focused on football giving and prices. I’ve had ST since 1999. I attended all games at Gillette and helped bring groups of over a hundred multiple times to Gillette. I paid for Putnam club seats for those seasons. I switched to the sunny side when asked when we came back. I have upped my donations and been a gridiron member to keep my tailgating spot that I’ve had for all the years in Amherst. The fact that we didn’t sell out Missouri and didn’t get close for other games, especially UConn or Army (regional well traveling rivals) makes it an even finer line, IMO. Yes, there will be premium seating added somehow. Those will likely be in the form of a new box above the press box, field level or endzones. Tickets at larger stadiums, GA, Florida State, etc. are not much higher than what UMass charges right now. We can’t and should not turn into BC where we price local average earning alumni out of games or game day experiences. I’d argue paying for ST for the last 10 plus years of FBS bottom ten counts as ponying up. In fact, when the move happened those who went “all in” (sorry), were promised a lot.

That was the same year that I started and did all those things. A friend talked me into football tickets. He originally bought football season tickets to earn more priority points but found out he loved everything about the football gameday experience, all of it.

Probably should not have posted from the U Script Chart, but as a business grad learned to do research and found it. The specific letter will come out next week or so. Sure you received the same email on March 4th titled "UMass Football Support".

I wanted to touch base with you to share some changes we have on the horizon with regards to your support of our football program and the new landscape approaching across the NCAA. We will be launching a new Script U Scholarship Society in the next week or so, and I wanted to connect with you prior to that launch. Gifts to Script U will support scholarships and additional benefits for our student-athletes in the program of your choosing.

The primary changes will be:

You will have to give to Script U in order to receive your gameday benefits (ie. Hunt Room passes, parking, tailgate, etc.)
There will be some changes in the levels and the benefits associated with those giving levels.
Season tickets will be required to access the Hunt Room moving forward. The number of hospitality passes you qualify for may not exceed number of season tickets in account.

You will receive all of this information in the mail in the near future. In the meantime, to ease any of your concerns, I am available to meet up ...

Kristi did respond immediately and thought that was great being so responsive as you found out when calling.

I've heard indirectly that the U Script program will be used to pay NIL money to help us compete going forward. Know this is the football forum and appreciate you, Minutefanjsf, for all your giving and going through all the changes. Old Cage and LS71 have paid their dues twice over and will respond, sometimes in a more understanding tone despite being basketball specific. Not always but we are all UMass fans.

I talked to Missouri fans and wish it was not their homecoming game. This fan told me that they are friendly people. Had my sister and niece and she liked being along the end zone. That Missouri fan told me, what we pay nothing extra for, cost them 2k per ticket and he had to drop those seats when college expenses hit for his family.

[eldonabe]

Admittedly it was before my time, but didn’t UMass screw over a lot of die hard season ticket holders in basketball like this during the Cal years? And again, before my time, but I believe I’ve read on here a lot of them didn’t come back when the fair weather fans left. I’d hope UMass learned something from that. Maybe not though.

If they require that level of donation for those seats, my ticket will be roughly $155/game. I don’t think hockey comes close to selling out season tickets now when my seat is about $17/game That would be a fucking stupid increase.

I’d probably just get cheap seats and then sit in my current seat anyway. I don’t think you can find enough people willing to pay $155/game for college hockey for a whole season.

Edited to add- assuming basketball season tickets are about the same as hockey, imagine asking basketball fans to go from $17/game for the A-10 to $155/game for the MAC? I’m not exactly an A-10 guy (see signature) but that would also be fucking stupid.

Correct on the seating screw over. There were a bunch of STH who were there through the dark days of the 90’s and the cage who were “bought over” and bumped from good seats toward corners and much higher altitude seats. As I recall when the deep pockets left the school they bumped the STH prices a good amount for a team that was simultaneously coming back to earth. If you wanted to go b k or closer at least to where you were before all that , there was an even bigger premium to pay.

Greed and zero foresight…. I give you Umass Athletic department. As dense today as it was 35 years ago. Wash rinse repeat.

Don't think that is an issue now as there are available seats. But they do keep changing the point system for seating, Not sure of the points for continued donations and awarding 2 points per sport for season tickets. The change here is the benefits on DONATIONS. The 1,500 per sport has been the same for nearly a quarter of a century. They adjusted it, but carried over the perks to other sports. Do understand people being upset. A thousand dollars is serious money. Understand people being upset. But I want the athletic department to start acting like a major player in college athletics. Donations are all part of the puzzle for fielding competitive sports.

Asking for the money is fine and it is correct. It is 10 years too late, but it is correct. Where this has been botched in the past by the Admin is how they treated the long time STHs.

If (and that is CAPITAL IF) Umass achieves some relevancy, the great State of Mass - AKA one of the BIGGEST bandwagon fans in the country - will see a flood of money from people who want to be seen. They will once again fuck over the people who have supported this through the dark ages of their FBS existence IF this happens - and that will be a major mistake if this thing is gonna succeed.

[TruBluMaroon]

This is the football thread. I am focused on football giving and prices. I’ve had ST since 1999. I attended all games at Gillette and helped bring groups of over a hundred multiple times to Gillette. I paid for Putnam club seats for those seasons. I switched to the sunny side when asked when we came back. I have upped my donations and been a gridiron member to keep my tailgating spot that I’ve had for all the years in Amherst. The fact that we didn’t sell out Missouri and didn’t get close for other games, especially UConn or Army (regional well traveling rivals) makes it an even finer line, IMO. Yes, there will be premium seating added somehow. Those will likely be in the form of a new box above the press box, field level or endzones. Tickets at larger stadiums, GA, Florida State, etc. are not much higher than what UMass charges right now. We can’t and should not turn into BC where we price local average earning alumni out of games or game day experiences. I’d argue paying for ST for the last 10 plus years of FBS bottom ten counts as ponying up. In fact, when the move happened those who went “all in” (sorry), were promised a lot.

Since I bought hockey tickets from BC for the UM game, I received an email offering me an “opportunity” to buy a Lower Lawn Tent Package for football; which includes a 10x10 tent ; table ; 4 chairs ; 10 tickets ; 1 garage parking pass. They have a range of prices from $700 for Fordham to $5000 for ND……you also are required to buy a minimum of $200 in food from BC…..

[jjmc85]

^I receive emails from all Hockey East schools for all their sports it seems like. Only been to Orono once, but Maine might send me more emails than UMass does

[minutefanjsf]

^I receive emails from all Hockey East schools for all their sports it seems like. Only been to Orono once, but Maine might send me more emails than UMass does

I get emails from all the football schools I gone to see UMass at as well. It is a bone of contention with my friends who attend this one big game a year, because they get emails from those schools, too, while not getting anything from UMass ever. They are all UMass alums.

[minutefanjsf]

This is the football thread. I am focused on football giving and prices. I’ve had ST since 1999. I attended all games at Gillette and helped bring groups of over a hundred multiple times to Gillette. I paid for Putnam club seats for those seasons. I switched to the sunny side when asked when we came back. I have upped my donations and been a gridiron member to keep my tailgating spot that I’ve had for all the years in Amherst. The fact that we didn’t sell out Missouri and didn’t get close for other games, especially UConn or Army (regional well traveling rivals) makes it an even finer line, IMO. Yes, there will be premium seating added somehow. Those will likely be in the form of a new box above the press box, field level or endzones. Tickets at larger stadiums, GA, Florida State, etc. are not much higher than what UMass charges right now. We can’t and should not turn into BC where we price local average earning alumni out of games or game day experiences. I’d argue paying for ST for the last 10 plus years of FBS bottom ten counts as ponying up. In fact, when the move happened those who went “all in” (sorry), were promised a lot.

Since I bought hockey tickets from BC for the UM game, I received an email offering me an “opportunity” to buy a Lower Lawn Tent Package for football; which includes a 10x10 tent ; table ; 4 chairs ; 10 tickets ; 1 garage parking pass. They have a range of prices from $700 for Fordham to $5000 for ND……you also are required to buy a minimum of $200 in food from BC…..

I’m talking about season tickets not individual games for BC. That 5k price tag and required levels of donation to have access to season tickets is a real BC thing.

[jjmc85]

^that depends on where you sit unless that’s changed for this upcoming season. Just like club seat season tickets at Gillette required a donation to minuteman club but non club seats did not. BC’s cheapest season ticket price was cheaper than UMass’ as recently as two or three years ago when they offered a season ticket package for $99/ticket. Haven’t checked since.