Michigan Football, 2021 Season

[lineygoblue]

A friend of mine who has a friend who works at the Michigan Ticket Office says that 19,000 season ticket holders did not renew their tickets this year, and that season tickets are available by asking for them. Its the first time since the early 70's that season tickets are available without a waiting list.

Keep bringing in those top notch 3 star linebackers!!!!!! HARBAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iam416]

It's not even that bad of a home schedule. People are increasingly staying home and especially doing so if the experience offered doesn't approach the significant costs (in all regards) of attending a game. If people thought the OSU-M game would be a meaningful game for M then they'd buy tickets -- the rest of schedule is credible enough.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The Connecticut River Valley high schools are HARBAUGH TERRITORY!

[Cody_Russell]

A friend of mine who has a friend who works at the Michigan Ticket Office says that 19,000 season ticket holders did not renew their tickets this year, and that season tickets are available by asking for them. Its the first time since the early 70's that season tickets are available without a waiting list.

Keep bringing in those top notch 3 star linebackers!!!!!! HARBAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not surprising.
I've never been less excited about M football since being a sports fan. COVID played a part. Drained the excitement level across all sports for some reason.
Specifically about Michigan football... between the 2020 awful season, the fluidity of coaches and players leaving, and hopelessness in the Ohio State series (1-15 last 16 games). It's made me go from a diehard Michigan fan to very casual. It's hard to care that much nowadays.

Call it being a bandwagon fan. Hard to be a bandwagon fan when you are diehard at following the Detroit Lions. The losers of all losers.

[lineygoblue]

I started realizing about 3 years ago that I was being gullible in thinking that the people in charge of Michigan football actually care about championships. It took me a while, but I'm there now. I've realized that I have to stop beating myself up when I see Michigan playing so poorly, and losing big games. As a fan, I took it personally for a long time. About 2017 I realized I was wrong to do that, because the effort and commitment from the Athletic leadership is not commensurate with my loyalty to the program. The school's leadership is fine with being a mediocre football program. Its no longer a priority for them to provide a championship caliber program. What we have now is just fine with them.

One way that may actually get thru those hard heads in leadership is if tickets go unsold, and donations start dropping off. Money, or lack thereof, ALWAYS gets their attention. When the big money folks have had enough, something will get done. As of right now, the big money seems to be fine with Harbaugh and Manuel.

And they seem to be fine with OSU dominating the conference.

[Tom W]

If people thought the OSU-M game would be a meaningful game for M then they'd buy tickets --

Per yesterday's email, they actually can buy tickets to the GAME.

[lineygoblue]

I can see the aerial shots of Michigan Stadium now, for 'the game'. A big red O. No Michigan fan in their right mind is going to actually go to that game. They'll sell their tickets in record numbers.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Besides writing about COVID today, I also read this. Every M football fan should read this. Here are my takeaways:

• Michigan is fucking itself into national CFB irrelevancy with the course it appears to be taking with ticket sales. Why? The stadium is going to be empty - well at 60-70% and that will look empty. Recruits visiting will see it, Disney and Fox will trumpet it during M football broadcasts. Sports fans love collapsing franchises and failing coaches.
• That Harbaugh is fielding shit football teams is part of what will make the Big House look empty. Fan disinterest is a player - 19K season tix holders have not renewed their season tickets.
• The larger part, though, is the ridiculous cost of game tickets.
• M has used the secondary market to price advance and season ticket sales - not unusual but what is hurting M is how they've managed to screw themselves with contracts for tix they dump into the secondary ticket markets with failing companies like Stubhub. The Stubhub mark ups are stupid high. These guys don't give a shit other than making money - an stounding amount of it (see the article that explains how they do it and you and M are getting ripped off.
• Yet M uses algorithms based on stub hub prices (the market) to price their season ticket packages and individual ticket sales.
• You want to bring your wife and kids to see Washington come to town so they can learn about M football legends? Right now, if fans are looking to do that, the cost of those tickets will be out of site and more than you'll be paying for the B&B or high cost hotel you booked. Maybe even airfare to get you to DTW, rent a car and on to AA. Nah, I'll stay hope and watch Harbaugh and the Wolverines get bitch slapped by Udub, a modern and well coached offense and defense.

This is really well written, researched and depressing. A must read if you want to understand what is mostly behind the demise of the Michigan football legend. Seth provides solutions. I have no confidence that Ward will adopt any of them.......everything is fine. Don't worry. Nothing to see here. Don't look behind the curtain and the half empty stadium on many games this season, maybe all of them:

https://mgoblog.com/content/ticket-watch-preferred-two-cokes

[lineygoblue]

If a family of 4 wanted to take in a Michigan game in 2021 this is my guess what they'll have to pay.

First, lets say they need a hotel. Get ready to pay $150 minimum per night on a game weekend. Probably as much as $300 for a nice place.

If we're talking a "prime" game like Washington, the game tickets are going to be about $95 each, if you can get them from U-M. A lot will depend on how many fans show up to support U Dub.

If you want to park anywhere within a mile of the stadium, get ready to lay out $40 - $50. Pioneer and the Golf Course charge more than that.

If you limit yourself to one regular size drink, and one hot dog, that will cost you about $15 each.

If you want to tailgate, add in those expenses.

Then, you'll sit in a stadium that actually draws heat in September. On 80 degree days, Michigan Stadium inside is at least 95 degrees. Closer to the field, its worse. You'll be lucky to feel a breeze during your 4 hour stay.

Then, you'll get to see a Michigan team play that is only a shadow of its former self. Leaderless, confused, .. predictable. Oh, the uniforms and helmets still look great. The "flying M" in the pregame is still a moving sight, even for opposing fans. But that will be the highlight of your day.

Afterward, you get to walk that mile or so back to your car on a hot day, while you are tired, and most likely angry at yet another inept and incompetent Michigan performance. An hour and a half later, you're about 4 miles from Ann Arbor, still fighting traffic to get home, or back to your hotel. And Brandstatter is on the radio talking about "another great Michigan effort, but it just fell short".

Smart folks tailgate afterward, and numb their feelings with adult beverages. Those of us who can't drink anymore take our anger home with us.

And they want me to buy tickets for this? I'd rather sit home in my recliner and smack myself over the head with a hammer.

[lineygoblue]

Harbaugh spoke today in Chicago at the beginning of the Big Ten preseason meetings. Normally, I'd make mention of some his more notable comments, but they're nothing more than the gibberish that he's spoken in the past .

He did say that McNamara is going into the fall as the leader at QB. JJ is progressing. The kid from Texas, John O'Korn Jr., is "competing".

He said some stupid crap about beating OSU which doesn't even bear repeating. Its all bullshit.

Nothing to see here. Keep moving, folks.

[Mike]

He said they will beat MSU and OSU or die trying. That's one way to get rid of him, I guess.

[Mike]

Florida State is a cautionary tale... There are others and Michigan is joining them this season.

Doak-Campbell-Stadium-Interior-1536x1152.jpg

[Mike]

Coming to a Big House near you...

DW.jpg

[Jeff Buchanan]

Florida State is a cautionary tale... There are others and Michigan is joining them this season.

Doak-Campbell-Stadium-Interior-1536x1152.jpg

The thing about M that I think sets it apart from the loss of fan interest that plagues losing football programs like FSU, is M's either knowingly or stupidly following a ticket pricing policy that Seth points out in his mgo article. I had previously felt that the shit teams Harbaugh puts on the field is the driving factor. Yes, it's part of it, but the grossly overpriced tickets to M football games, a result of a particular approach M's athletic department is using to set ticket prices, is probably the major factor.

Seth argues that if M gave tickets away to local organizations or simply allowed a much larger portion of tickets to be easily purchased single game instead of launching a large portion of them into the secondary market and letting those bandits price them AND set the "market" price for all future ticket sales, the stadium would fill in an instant. However, as long as they put revenue generations, squeezing the maximum amount of money from ticket sales, over the value of getting butts in seats the days of a full stadium will be long gone. Seth also argues for incentivizing ticket holders to not sell their tickets using a point system that reduces the cost of a ticket or ticket package going forward if you buy it and then actually show up for the game. That's not new and it is dam good idea to breach what Liney's carps about - too much red in the stadium for OSU - M games.

[Tom W]

The obvious response to Jeff's takeaways is "Gee, Tosu doesn't have those problems"- and, indeed, they don't . But , we're well past even thinking that we MIGHT be on their level.

So, how about PSU doesn't have those problems. Neither does Wisconsin.. or Iowa.

Sparty does, but well, they just suck. So do we- and we only have ourselves to blame.