Ticket prices the same for football, but required donation for the lots is up

[Shelby65]

I can understand raising the price of the first pass. Can someone explain the financial logic of doubling the price for a second pass ?

It will surely decrease sales of a second pass in the same lot as the first, which in turn will decrease game ticket sales since many people buy extra tickets just to qualify for the same lot second pass.

Shelby's scratching his head on this one.

 

[Skull83]

Good catch - scarlet is the only lot where the donation isn't just a multiple of number of passes going up in equal increments for each additional pass, as it goes from $2.5K to $5K to $10K for 1, 2, and 3 passes. No other lot does that and it makes no sense to me.

That was a good catch by jtung, the first time I looked at the chart I didn't notice it. Assuming it's not a typo, the only thing I can think of is that demand is so high in Scarlet that they think the larger groups will be willing to pony up. It is difficult to understand why it wouldn't just go up in similar multiples to the other lots.

 

[jtung230]

That was a good catch by jtung, the first time I looked at the chart I didn't notice it. Assuming it's not a typo, the only thing I can think of is that demand is so high in Scarlet that they think the larger groups will be willing to pony up. It is difficult to understand why it wouldn't just go up in similar multiples to the other lots.

Or they can just breakup the group so it’s 1 8 and 1 4. Instead of 12. Come on Rutgers

ETA. Seems like a bad business decision to offer you best clients the worst deal.

 

[RU848789]

Or they can just breakup the group so it’s 1 8 and 1 4. Instead of 12. Come on Rutgers

ETA. Seems like a bad business decision to offer you best clients the worst deal.

People are likely going to get creative. Here's what my ticket rep said to me today in an email...

Some season ticket holders are electing to get full season parking passes in multiple lots, to lower their costs. For example, if one were to get 2 Yellow passes and 1 Blue pass, the costs would be cut by $570. $500 in donations and $70 in cost of pass. One would have to meet the $2,500 donation requirement for 2 Yellow, and the $750 donation requirement for 1 Blue, as compared to having to meet the $3,750 donation requirement for 3 Yellow. I know this would require someone in that group walking over to Yellow lot, but could be worth it from a money perspective.

What other people are electing to do, although requiring more work on their end, only purchasing 2 passes through us, and then relying on Seatgeek or the secondary market for their third pass for the season. Definitely not guaranteed, but could end up helping them save some money.

 

[RU#1fan]

Parking at the RAC then transporting stuff (chairs, food, drinks) to a tailgate on the bus sucks.
Usually much easier to just walk it over.
At least IMO.

If you aren't bringing anything then parking at the RAC works great.

As new buildings take away the open space/ parking; which will be increasing in the future; we need to look at game day parking on the golf course. Six or 7 days per year won’t be a problem. I think they do it at Michigan.

 

[Shelby65]

People are likely going to get creative. Here's what my ticket rep said to me today in an email...

Some season ticket holders are electing to get full season parking passes in multiple lots, to lower their costs. For example, if one were to get 2 Yellow passes and 1 Blue pass, the costs would be cut by $570. $500 in donations and $70 in cost of pass. One would have to meet the $2,500 donation requirement for 2 Yellow, and the $750 donation requirement for 1 Blue, as compared to having to meet the $3,750 donation requirement for 3 Yellow. I know this would require someone in that group walking over to Yellow lot, but could be worth it from a money perspective.

What other people are electing to do, although requiring more work on their end, only purchasing 2 passes through us, and then relying on Seatgeek or the secondary market for their third pass for the season. Definitely not guaranteed, but could end up helping them save some money.

Explanation doesn’t make sense to me. They aren’t being benevolent, helping people save money by raising donation requirements and doubling that for another pass. They are still going to fill the nearer lots so why split up groups with some going to cheaper lots. All they care about is increasing revenue and even with the $ increase some may pay lowering group costs for many doesn’t make them more

 

[MrsScrew]

As new buildings take away the open space/ parking; which will be increasing in the future; we need to look at game day parking on the golf course. Six or 7 days per year won’t be a problem. I think they do it at Michigan.

You are correct. We parked in the golf course when we went to Ann Arbor.

 

[wheezer]

1-It’s packed.

2-It’s hot on the pavement.

3-Takes forever to get out of and if making a left onto river road forget getting out with the pedestrians crossing into the park.

4-Takes forever to get in especially if coming from Rt 18 end with all the pedestrians crossing from the park into the stadium.

5-With the parking stalls painted you can hardly fit a car in a spot and if you do you can hardly open your door without dinging the car next to you or having your car dinged.

6-Forget bring a bigger SUV.

7-Green lot uses same exit causing gridlock as people battle for position exiting.

8-People driving down the hill to river road pass over the double yellow line on the wrong side of the road and then try to cut back to the right at the bottom causing crashes.

9-Costs way too much for all the negatives.

The biggest pain for both the green and scarlet is leaving directly after a game when the stadium was near full

We automatically assume we will kill 30-45 minutes by the car with a beverage

As a guest in the scarlet lot On occasion, I find it more crowded and intense, the closer you are to the stadium, row wise
I like to be surrounded by tailgaters in the green, but it is not packed and as high level

 

[LeapinLou]

Thanks to @wheezer, @MrsScrew, @RU848789 and others who have supplied helpful information on this thread.

For me to keep my cost the same, I could downgrade from yellow to purple. But I've been in the yellow lot since 1983 so that's not happening. My solution is I'm dropping from two parking passes to one and then my ticket partners will have to fend for themselves to get to yellow. It sucks but if the extra yellow pass would cost them $1600 ($1250 + $350), they will be able to figure something out for a lot less money. So ultimately RU is getting less money from me and I'm going to spend a little more. So while I'm not the only case study, here is an example of why these increases were a bad idea.

 

[wheezer]

Thanks to @wheezer, @MrsScrew, @RU848789 and others who have supplied helpful information on this thread.

For me to keep my cost the same, I could downgrade from yellow to purple. But I've been in the yellow lot since 1983 so that's not happening. My solution is I'm dropping from two parking passes to one and then my ticket partners will have to fend for themselves to get to yellow. It sucks but if the extra yellow pass would cost them $1600 ($1250 + $350), they will be able to figure something out for a lot less money. So ultimately RU is getting less money from me and I'm going to spend a little more. So while I'm not the only case study, here is an example of why these increases were a bad idea.

You’re welcome for sure
I much rather be the bearer of good news

 

[RULegacy]

The Rutgers athletic department is woefully out of touch. They act like there's some huge demand to attend Rutgers football games when there simply isn't. Just because you announce large crowds doesn't mean there are actually large crowds. Raising required donations by these amounts are insane and many season ticket holders will simply walk away. And they should.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Wow, I missed this yesterday

Are they nuts? They're gonna drive a lot of people away with this huge increase in costs.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Damn, can't believe I missed that yesterday. I really, really don't understand their thinking.

 

[wheezer]

Damn, can't believe I missed that yesterday. I really, really don't understand their thinking.

I tried to warn you, and everybody else
This thread started Saturday

 

[RU848789]

Wow, I missed this yesterday

Are they nuts? They're gonna drive a lot of people away with this huge increase in costs.

Posted it Wednesday night, but probably should have its own thread or at least the graphic should be posted every page, as it's important for many...

 

[RU848789]

People are likely going to get creative. Here's what my ticket rep said to me today in an email...

Some season ticket holders are electing to get full season parking passes in multiple lots, to lower their costs. For example, if one were to get 2 Yellow passes and 1 Blue pass, the costs would be cut by $570. $500 in donations and $70 in cost of pass. One would have to meet the $2,500 donation requirement for 2 Yellow, and the $750 donation requirement for 1 Blue, as compared to having to meet the $3,750 donation requirement for 3 Yellow. I know this would require someone in that group walking over to Yellow lot, but could be worth it from a money perspective.

What other people are electing to do, although requiring more work on their end, only purchasing 2 passes through us, and then relying on Seatgeek or the secondary market for their third pass for the season. Definitely not guaranteed, but could end up helping them save some money.

Some more tidbits from my ticket rep in italics, below, for our situation of 12 tickets, each with a $150 RSF, and 3 yellow lot passes, requiring a $3750 donation (or $1950 beyond the $1800 from the RSFs). While the RSFs (require seat fee donations) are not tax deductible, they do go towards the required minimum RFund donation for parking passes (as do RSFs for basketball, which I did not know) and the donations above and beyond the RSFs ARE tax deductible, but only for the ticket "owner."

This is going to be an issue for large groups as everyone contributes but only one person, typically, can access those tax benefits (if one itemizes). I could see the group ticket owner kicking back $100 or more to the other ticket holders in the group, depending on the size of the extra donation required for that group and the resulting tax deduction (which is probably worth ~22% per $1000 contributed towards the passes if in the 22% tax bracket). I wish all of this information was readily available on the RU site.

“Yes, you are correct in the fact that the $1,800 RSF portions of your 12 season tickets go towards that $3,750 minimum donation requirement. Basketball season ticket RSF's also go towards that $3,750 minimum donation requirement! And yes, you are correct that the RSF portion of season tickets are not tax deductible. Any additional donation needed to qualify for the Yellow lot would be tax deductible for the season ticket holder only, as the season tickets and donation would be in that person’s name. You can work out how you'd like to handle that aspect with your group, but since you would be the one making the donation, only you would gain the tax-deductible benefits.”

 

[RU848789]

Thanks to @wheezer, @MrsScrew, @RU848789 and others who have supplied helpful information on this thread.

For me to keep my cost the same, I could downgrade from yellow to purple. But I've been in the yellow lot since 1983 so that's not happening. My solution is I'm dropping from two parking passes to one and then my ticket partners will have to fend for themselves to get to yellow. It sucks but if the extra yellow pass would cost them $1600 ($1250 + $350), they will be able to figure something out for a lot less money. So ultimately RU is getting less money from me and I'm going to spend a little more. So while I'm not the only case study, here is an example of why these increases were a bad idea.

Where it might really hurt is when groups decide to get less tickets, too, which could occur if they can no longer get their preferred number of passes in their preferred lot.

 

[LeapinLou]

Where it might really hurt is when groups decide to get less tickets, too, which could occur if they can no longer get their preferred number of passes in their preferred lot.

I know a lot of groups that buy a 5th ticket in the end zone just so they can get the 2nd parking pass. I'm one of them. So yes there will be a bunch of renewals dropping from 5 to 4 tickets or less. And I haven't heard back from everyone yet. They may just drop their tickets altogether and scalp when they attend games, which would drop my order from 5 tickets to 2.

It was great that they solicited fan feedback on the RAC renovations. They screwed the pooch not doing the same with this situation. There are going to be unintended consequences.

 

[RU848789]

I know a lot of groups that buy a 5th ticket in the end zone just so they can get the 2nd parking pass. I'm one of them. So yes there will be a bunch of renewals dropping from 5 to 4 tickets or less. And I haven't heard back from everyone yet. They may just drop their tickets altogether and scalp when they attend games, which would drop my order from 5 tickets to 2.

It was great that they solicited fan feedback on the RAC renovations. They screwed the pooch not doing the same with this situation. There are going to be unintended consequences.

I gave my ticket rep an earful (nicely, lol), although it's not his fault per se - but he needs to send that feedback along...

 

[LeapinLou]

I gave my ticket rep an earful (nicely, lol), although it's not his fault per se - but he needs to send that feedback along...

My rep is a great kid and I like him. But last week he was trying to get me to pay for my 5 tickets. I told him no because I want to wait until the next credit card cycle. Thank goodness I didn't pay because my renewal is clearly going to be for fewer tickets and parking passes now. I'll follow your lead and express concern about this.

 

[RU848789]

My rep is a great kid and I like him. But last week he was trying to get me to pay for my 5 tickets. I told him no because I want to wait until the next credit card cycle. Thank goodness I didn't pay because my renewal is clearly going to be for fewer tickets and parking passes now. I'll follow your lead and express concern about this.

Wow, no, I got no pressure from my rep and even got empathy and suggestions for how to keep all of our tickets with maybe less premium passes (but getting cheaper lot for one of the passes) if that helped, as I posted previously.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Corresponded with my ticket rep via email on this and suggested he pass it up the chain of command what a bad move this is and that it could cost them money.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Wow, I missed this yesterday

Are they nuts? They're gonna drive a lot of people away with this huge increase in costs.

What happened to the Silver lot?

 

[DJ Spanky]

What happened to the Silver lot?

Still there, but they don't seem to have put in the pricing for that:

 

[wheezer]

My rep is a great kid and I like him. But last week he was trying to get me to pay for my 5 tickets. I told him no because I want to wait until the next credit card cycle. Thank goodness I didn't pay because my renewal is clearly going to be for fewer tickets and parking passes now. I'll follow your lead and express concern about this.

This points out that the school was being a bit deceitful
by not giving us the bad news
A lot of people probably renewed tickets before the announced increase

 

[Scarlet16E]

I'm sure the powers that be at Rutgers knew very well what kind of reaction this would get.
They clearly are expecting people with multiple passes to reduce.
IMO this is an attempt to reduce cars in anticipation of building the new FB training facility on Yellow, and the New Lax field on Blue. Gonna be a lot of reshuffling of parking assignments when those projects begin. Reducing the overall number of Busch passes sold now may make that easier. At least I think that's what they are thinking.

 

[RU848789]

I'm sure the powers that be at Rutgers knew very well what kind of reaction this would get.
They clearly are expecting people with multiple passes to reduce.
IMO this is an attempt to reduce cars in anticipation of building the new FB training facility on Yellow, and the New Lax field on Blue. Gonna be a lot of reshuffling of parking assignments when those projects begin. Reducing the overall number of Busch passes sold now may make that easier. At least I think that's what they are thinking.

I haven't paid attention to facilities - do we know, for sure those are going up on yellow and blue lots respectively, and has there been any estimate of parking spots lost for each? TIA.

 

[Scarlet16E]

I haven't paid attention to facilities - do we know, for sure those are going up on yellow and blue lots respectively, and has there been any estimate of parking spots lost for each? TIA.

It was the scuttlebut last season. No idea what's actually been decided, but it seemed credible.

 

[e5fdny]

I know a lot of groups that buy a 5th ticket in the end zone just so they can get the 2nd parking pass. I'm one of them. So yes there will be a bunch of renewals dropping from 5 to 4 tickets or less. And I haven't heard back from everyone yet. They may just drop their tickets altogether and scalp when they attend games, which would drop my order from 5 tickets to 2.

It was great that they solicited fan feedback on the RAC renovations. They screwed the pooch not doing the same with this situation. There are going to be unintended consequences.

Did they really?

 

[PiscatawayMike]

This points out that the school was being a bit deceitful
by not giving us the bad news
A lot of people probably renewed tickets before the announced increase

This is what really rubs me the wrong way.

Ticket and parking info should have been announced simultaneously.

 

[RU#1fan]

So to summarize,

Rutgers & Greg Schiano: DONATE TO NIL DONATE TO NIL DONATE TO NIL It's more important than donating to the RFund

Also Rutgers: We are increasing the donation levels to the R Fund that you need to get the parking that you want by 50%

This
Donate to NIL for Rutgers Football now.

 

[RU#1fan]

You are correct. We parked in the golf course when we went to Ann Arbor.

Thanks for jogging my memory. I remember parking way out at the Tennis Center at Ann Arbor and walking a long distance and eventually through the University of Michigan Golf Course to the Stadium. Did see thousands of cars parked on the Golf course. We should consider this.

 

[e5fdny]

Thanks for jogging my memory. I remember parking way out at the Tennis Center at Ann Arbor and walking a long distance and eventually through the University of Michigan Golf Course to the Stadium. Did see thousands of cars parked on the Golf course. We should consider this.

Considering it’s not regulation or long enough for the men’s squad, not a bad idea.

Go in house and let the turf grass management program on Cook use the affected holes as a laboratory to figure out how to get them back up to snuff for the Spring and Summer.

 

[Knight Shift]

I'm sure the powers that be at Rutgers knew very well what kind of reaction this would get.
They clearly are expecting people with multiple passes to reduce.
IMO this is an attempt to reduce cars in anticipation of building the new FB training facility on Yellow, and the New Lax field on Blue. Gonna be a lot of reshuffling of parking assignments when those projects begin. Reducing the overall number of Busch passes sold now may make that easier. At least I think that's what they are thinking.

I haven't paid attention to facilities - do we know, for sure those are going up on yellow and blue lots respectively, and has there been any estimate of parking spots lost for each? TIA.

Bye, bye blue lot

 

[Jimpeg]

From your link:

Total hack job here, but it's a perfect fit, just change the orange to scarlet and the names/logo.

here is my suggestion....put the soccer and lax next to each other like Notre Dame has below (fields were built at different times so you have separate stands for each field ..if you have been to the campus, it is beautiful and does not appear slopped together.

https://map.nd.edu/#/placemarks//zoom/18/lat/41.69777742916416/lon/-86.22756842936381

move the existing stands at Yurchak to the opposite side of where they are currently and build lax field parallel to soccer field. in the parking ....no need to do anything to exisiting soccer field..if there are spacing constraints move some of the golf course...

make back to back bleachers in the middle of the soccer/lax fields...(facing each field)

you would save on the consolidation of utilities/amenities..(game day locker rooms) if they are centralized and enhance the soccer stands at the same time.....


regarding parking....its too expensive already, difficult to obtain extra and .we will have to walk further....

 

[RULegacy]

What the athletic department did here -- announcing the parking donation requirements after the ticket prices -- is downright deceptive. I wonder if the posters who always defend them announcing fake football attendance numbers finally understand the point now. The department needs to be cleaned up.

I'm done donating to RU Athletics for the foreseeable future and hope a lot of fans cancel their season tickets. As stated earlier, there's really no need to have them anyway. RU can't sell out a home game.

 

[bac2therac]

I sent an email to Stephanie Lombardo, Shawn Tucker's Executive assistant at the RFund. She is the contact on the Brick Order Form. We're good!
Her reply:

1. Yes, all brick purchases will go towards priority points and parking for the upcoming football season.

They do a miserable job in trying to fill the brick walk up

 

[RULegacy]

It’s amazing how horrible our athletic directors have been since Mulcahy. Pernetti was the worst in my book (totally unqualified for the job) but Hobbs is starting to give him a run for his money with these shenanigans.

 

[MrsScrew]

They do a miserable job in trying to fill the brick walk up

It really is awful. Currently to get a brick you need to go to the page, print out the form, fill out the info then mail in your check(!) Or your entire CC info including expiration date & security number. It's 2024!!

I did ask Stephanie if she could take the info over the phone & she said yes.

At this point I'm buying a brick & it will be my last year tailgating. $1000 to park is crazy.

I also emailed KTR to cancel my NIL donations.

I'm throwing in the towel

 

[JudgeSmails56]

It really is awful. Currently to get a brick you need to go to the page, print out the form, fill out the info then mail in your check(!) Or your entire CC info including expiration date & security number. It's 2024!!

I did ask Stephanie if she could take the info over the phone & she said yes.

At this point I'm buying a brick & it will be my last year tailgating. $1000 to park is crazy.

I also emailed KTR to cancel my NIL donations.

I'm throwing in the towel

Don’t blame you.. it never ends.. I’ll probably just cancel my nil to cover the parking increases.