What’s the right thing to do in this situation?

[RepeatedCrown6]

So the ticket office called me up about if I was interested in tickets for the upcoming year.

Little backstory, my family has been season ticket holders for over 25 years and owned the same 4 seats courtside for those 25 years. A few years ago the family member who had the money and was paying for those seats passed away and we went down to 2 seats but they were sold to a family friend. I asked about getting the other two seats back and gave my story to them and they said we will talk in June July when prices are available and get that sorted out.

Well they called me today and I told the new sales guy the story and what’s I was interested in and he told me that Coach P has requested those seats be held for recruits. If I am able to find a buddy to get the tickets with do I request that coach moves the recruits or is he going to be hard pressed to have them in those exact seats due to their location??

Thoughts

 

[rubaseball78]

So the ticket office called me up about if I was interested in tickets for the upcoming year.

Little backstory, my family has been season ticket holders for over 25 years and owned the same 4 seats courtside for those 25 years. A few years ago the family member who had the money and was paying for those seats passed away and we went down to 2 seats but they were sold to a family friend. I asked about getting the other two seats back and gave my story to them and they said we will talk in June July when prices are available and get that sorted out.

Well they called me today and I told the new sales guy the story and what’s I was interested in and he told me that Coach P has requested those seats be held for recruits. If I am able to find a buddy to get the tickets with do I request that coach moves the recruits or is he going to be hard pressed to have them in those exact seats due to their location??

Thoughts

I would push to keep those seats. Go up the food chain if you have to. Had a similar situation about 10 years ago and got satisfaction going to higher level people in the ticket office and donations.

 

[RepeatedCrown6]

I would push to keep those seats. Go up the food chain if you have to. Had a similar situation about 10 years ago and got satisfaction going to higher level people in the ticket office and donations.

I can definitely talk to the higher ups and go in person to speak to whoever, I can not donate more money, I simply don't have that type of disposable income for that. I think the seats would become available just curious if others know

 

[80RU]

I have not had good luck with this sort of thing. I have had the same two seats for over 20 years. For many years the seats to my right and to my left were unoccupied. I asked about buying them for years, and was told that they belonged to sports media. Finally, one year I called and found out that they would no longer be held for sports media. I asked if I could get two more contiguous seats on either side. The answer was that I would be given no more priority for these seats than anyone else; I could put my row as a preference, but I would just have to get lucky.

 

[rubaseball78]

I can definitely talk to the higher ups and go in person to speak to whoever, I can not donate more money, I simply don't have that type of disposable income for that. I think the seats would become available just curious if others know

When I had my issue I did not have to up my donations. Emoasized 30 year (at that time) season ticket, sat in this location for 30 year, exRU athlete, etc. To bump me they would have moved me to a different section. Made it clear I would reduce my annual donation as a result.

 

[dpwhite]

If you get the seats, do we get to blame you if we miss out on top recruits because they ended up with obstructed view? LOL

 

[NJDOVES]

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of thinking going on here on the administration. It’s a machine... and they don’t apologize for it!

 

[RUChoppin]

So you gave the seats up "years ago" and are only now trying to get them back, but are upset that they are being used to help with recruiting and feel they should just give them back to you?

O.o

 

[RepeatedCrown6]

So you gave the seats up "years ago" and are only now trying to get them back, but are upset that they are being used to help with recruiting and feel they should just give them back to you?

o_O

Well "I" didn't give them up. My Uncle passed away while I was still in college, so that's why I didn't go pay for them a couple years ago.

 

[BKIn118]

If they want those seats for that purpose, that’s going to be an uphill climb to keep em, especially now that 118 is gone as well

 

[willisneverrana43]

Just so I'm clear, RU isn't taking your seats away. You still have your two seats. It's just that RU isn't handing you back the two seats that you gave up voluntarily years ago because RU now uses them for another purpose. Right?

So, yeah, it would be nice to get those seats back. But they're being used for another purpose and that happens. I think we can all recognize that this is a risk of voluntarily giving up two prime seats.

 

[RUChoppin]

Well "I" didn't give them up. My Uncle passed away while I was still in college, so that's why I didn't go pay for them a couple years ago.

Doesn't matter who gave them up - it's not like they were taken from you. It's expected when you discontinue prime tickets that you're unlikely to ever get them back. You stopped paying for them over multiple seasons, and now somehow feel like you're entitled to those seats again for whatever reason.

 

[willisneverrana43]

No one’s blaming you. It’s just one of those things that happens.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

I'm not sure why this is even a thing. When a family member who had been paying for them for years passed away "a few years ago" no one else wanted to or could pay for them. So, at that point, that's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned. There's a not-insignificant financial commitment to retaining season tickets that most of us understand. If I didn't make that commitment for just one year not to mention a "few years" it wouldn't even occur to me to try to escalate to get my courtside seats back. Also, these seats never even "belonged" to the person who now wants them in the first place.

Seating is very limited downstairs and the athletic department needs some seats too. They're not going to dump recruits upstairs.

 

[kupuna133]

You make a fuss you have a better chance of losing the 2 tickets you have over getting the other tickets back.

Generally, season tickets are contracts between the team and the buyer, which means the team can put whatever conditions it wishes on the deal. Most teams place extensive restrictions on ticketholders. Rutgers or the season ticket holder can cancel the tickets at will.

 

[rubaseball78]

Doesn't matter who gave them up - it's not like they were taken from you. It's expected when you discontinue prime tickets that you're unlikely to ever get them back. You stopped paying for them over multiple seasons, and now somehow feel like you're entitled to those seats again for whatever reason.

I didn't get the sense of entitlement here. Doesn't hurt to ask and pursue further. You may get them back. If you don't ask, it is a guarantee you won't get them back.

 

[RepeatedCrown6]

I'm not sure why this is even a thing. When a family member who had been paying for them for years passed away "a few years ago" no one else wanted to or could pay for them. So, at that point, that's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned. There's a not-insignificant financial commitment to retaining season tickets that most of us understand. If I didn't make that commitment for just one year not to mention a "few years" it wouldn't even occur to me to try to escalate to get my courtside seats back. Also, these seats never even "belonged" to the person who now wants them in the first place.

Seating is very limited downstairs and the athletic department needs some seats too. They're not going to dump recruits upstairs.

I understand that, but to your point about "recruits being dumped upstairs"

For as long as I can remember they have just sat at the other end of the aisle I sit in, this isn't like I would be asking them to move them back 15 rows. But I guess to you the value of a kid who may never come here is more important than a life long fan who has sat in those seats for 23 of the last 25 years...

 

[RUChoppin]

I understand that, but to your point about "recruits being dumped upstairs"

For as long as I can remember they have just sat at the other end of the aisle I sit in, this isn't like I would be asking them to move them back 15 rows. But I guess to you the value of a kid who may never come here is more important than a life long fan who has sat in those seats for 23 of the last 25 years...

You gave up the seats. They're used for something else now. At this point, you're welcome to build up your priority points through donations and try to get comparable seats - but you said that they were paid for by someone else (so they probably weren't your priority points) and you aren't willing to donate any more.

That's pretty much the end of the story.

I'm sure there were plenty of "life long fans" who gave up prime football season tickets in 2004 and really wanted them back in 2006, too.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

I understand that, but to your point about "recruits being dumped upstairs"

For as long as I can remember they have just sat at the other end of the aisle I sit in, this isn't like I would be asking them to move them back 15 rows. But I guess to you the value of a kid who may never come here is more important than a life long fan who has sat in those seats for 23 of the last 25 years...

Your guess would be correct. Again, seats are very limited downstairs and recruiting is going to be the difference between Pikiell being successful or not. If you had valued those seats so much you would have paid to retain the seats. You did not. That was your choice and you have to live with the consequences. Look, the year I graduated Rutgers instituted a modest donation requirement to sit courtside which I didn't think I could afford so I sucked it up and got season tickets but upstairs where I could afford them. I had been going to games and sitting courtside before I was student and obviously sat downstairs as a student too. Sucked for me to have to sit upstairs, but that's what you do. When I felt I had the money to sit downstairs I made the financial commitment which I have met for the past 24 consecutive years. You want those seats but by your admission, you personally are not one that had been making the financial commitment all those years anyway. And you say you're not willing to donate more either so I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for.

 

[Rhuarc]

I mean at the end of the day I’ll agree to disagree but theirs really no stopping me from sitting in those seats if I want to and just telling a recruit to f*** off.

You guys are completely missing the point but there is no more arguing over this because you don’t know half of my situation. Maybe the fact that I wasn’t given the choice of whether or not to pay for them might of been a reason. But again you guys want to suck up to 17 year olds so that’s what’s you value more. I will get my way with the ticket office if I really want to.

LOL

 

[Upstream]

Crown -- There is certainly no harm in pursuing these seats. You would need to talk to someone in development or a bit higher up in the athletic department. Someone in the ticket office doesn't have the authority to reassign those seats.

And while there is no harm in asking, recognize that it is very likely that the answer will be no. Remember, these are no longer your seats. Your family gave up those seats.

Your right to those seats has nothing to do with the fact that your family once had them, or that your family has adjacent seats. You are basically in a line behind those with more priority points. And with the movement of Sec 118, there are a lot of other fans looking for 100 level seats. Plus, the athletic department and coaches have seats reserved for their use. You might not think its fair, but if the Governor shows up to a game, he's not going to get a 300 level seat.

But there is certainly no harm in asking. If the athletic department can fairly shuffle some seats without too much effort, they may be able to give you those seats. But you should be humble when you ask. If you come across like an entitled prick, they may decide it's not worth the effort.

 

[BigRnj]

Really??? A few years later and you are somehow entitled to theses seats? Move on, oh yeah and grow up.