|
Replies: 23
| visibility 1
|
CU Medallion [61516]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 39577
Joined: 12/16/01
|
I am asking a very serious question...
7
7
Jan 11, 2023, 12:50 PM
|
|
I am Clemson University alumnus(twice) and an annual IPTAY donor and have purchased 3-4 season football tickets since 1988. I purchased 3 for my parents and me, initially. Then, I purchased 4 when a friend of mine decided she wanted to get a ticket with us. We finally "arrived" at seats we like, and have been there for the past 12 years. Plus, we like the people around us. Currently, it now 3 friends of mine and me who attend the games. My father passed away earlier this year. And, my Mom hasn't attended since 2020.
However, since 2020, my interest in attending the games has waned. And, with an additional bump in the Seat Equity price, it has further waned. I live near Greenville and tailgate for each game, so the drive is not an issue, but does consume a majority of 7 Saturdays in the fall, plus tailgate planning. I do not know what the season ticket package price will be this upcoming season.
Furthermore, I am considering retirement in the next few years. And, even though I have planned financially for retirement, I know my monthly income may be less. But, my house is paid for.
As a result, I am considering giving up my tickets taking into account the above conditions and the current state of NCAA football.
EDIT: Forgot to mention...no longer any tax deduction for donating. Or, at least that is what my tax software tells me. I used to get 80% of my donation as an itemized deduction. I could be wrong.
Have any of you considered or done the above and not regret it?
Just curious.
Message was edited by: CUTiger1989®
|
|
|
|
 |
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88960
Joined: 3/27/01
|
Barring some dramatic changes...
4
Jan 11, 2023, 1:25 PM
|
|
the transfer portal and NIL will be the death of college football as we know it, and I suspect a lot of people will become equally disheartened and join you.
I have friends/co-workers who are season ticket holders at other schools, who are considering doing that as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1485]
TigerPulse: 68%
Posts: 1130
Joined: 8/14/21
|
disagree... there is too much money at stake to kill
1
1
Jan 11, 2023, 1:33 PM
|
|
college football. Changes will be made to NIL/portal that will bring in more parity.
The national championship score actually helped that process. The guy ranting and raving on his YT video went viral. There is just too much interest and too much money involved to leave it as it currently sits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [64519]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 88960
Joined: 3/27/01
|
I firmly agree that NIL needs to be regulated...
2
Jan 11, 2023, 1:40 PM
|
|
but now that the horse is out of the barn, the class action law suits that will ensue following any attempts to limit or cap a players NIL revenue potential will be endless.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [16900]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 10763
Joined: 1/25/07
|
Re: disagree... there is too much money at stake to kill
2
Jan 11, 2023, 8:26 PM
[ in reply to disagree... there is too much money at stake to kill ] |
|
Overall CFP ratings have been on a steady and dramatic decline since the early years. The highest ranked CFP games generally draw lower viewership than a NFL divisional playoff game. The amount of money spent doesn’t mean they can save it. It’s been an open secret that Disney has been looking to dump ESPN and now activist investors have been trying to force the issue. They’re doing this because ESPN is a money pit with a very negative outlook. And they’re the one driving the football ship into an iceberg. Their ridiculous contracts will further fracture national interest in college football, which is already shrinking. And no one is gonna care when college football is reduced to the Big 10 X SEC. As those conferences swell the perpetual whipping boy teams will lose interest too. Right now the Miss States or Northwesterns of the world have the occasional decent season. When 4-8 becomes the norm, year in and out, who is gonna keep watching. We’re complaining about 3 losses. In the foreseeable future a lot of SEC / Big 10 teams with proud histories will have losing seasons indefinitely. They’ll keep fielding teams because of all the huge guaranteed conferences dollars. But at some point they’ll just money-hat that football money and focus on other sports.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1485]
TigerPulse: 68%
Posts: 1130
Joined: 8/14/21
|
Re: Barring some dramatic changes...
1
1
Jan 11, 2023, 1:36 PM
[ in reply to Barring some dramatic changes... ] |
|
sorry misread your subject... I think you will see those dramatic changes you are referring to
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [19594]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 16895
Joined: 9/5/02
|
I think a lot of CFB fans will slowly fade away and be
Jan 11, 2023, 1:53 PM
[ in reply to Barring some dramatic changes... ] |
|
replaced by NFL fans who are looking for a Saturday team that will buy thier players.
|
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [5093]
TigerPulse: 42%
Posts: 17070
Joined: 7/19/05
|
Re: Barring some dramatic changes...
Jan 12, 2023, 8:42 AM
[ in reply to Barring some dramatic changes... ] |
|
It’s just not sustainable to ask the average fan to pay for both these huge coaching salaries and the cost of buying players through NIL.
|
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [5512]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 4986
Joined: 10/21/15
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
3
Jan 11, 2023, 1:30 PM
|
|
For very different reasons, I gave up my season tickets years ago. I have not regretted it...it's still plenty easy to get tickets for the games I want to attend. I may have to pay a premium on the reseller market per ticket, but compared to the full price of a season ticket book + parking + donation, it's a pretty substantial savings and I'm just as happy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [8520]
TigerPulse: 49%
Posts: 11484
Joined: 9/9/06
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
3
Jan 11, 2023, 1:58 PM
|
|
We did after the COVID year and except for a beautiful late October 12:00 or 3:30 game never missed. I am way older than you if you have not retired so packing and unpacking the car 4 times a game and walking to the stadium just became too much. We have great seats in our den and every game is on TV.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recruit [89]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 103
Joined: 10/26/06
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
2
Jan 11, 2023, 3:00 PM
|
|
I gave up my tickets years ago. I'm a Clemson graduate and had 8 tickets for many years. My first game was Furman in 1979 and my last as a season ticket holder was "The Catch II" win over usc. After attending 22 straight Clemson/usc games, I was told I now longer qualified for tickets at usc. I was told I didn't have enough points. I said, "It's all about money not loyalty to the fans, right?" I was told by IPTAY, "No, you just don't have enough points." So I asked how I could get enough points to get my tickets away usc tickets that next season. The IPTAY rep said, "You could give another $500.00." Case closed! I quit!
I rarely miss a game, but it's on my large OLED TV that I can afford since I don't buy tickets and pay for trips back and forth from the Charleston area. In short, I don't regret it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [4545]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3357
Joined: 8/14/01
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
9
9
Jan 11, 2023, 3:05 PM
|
|
Also a 2-time alum, with IPTAY and season tickets from 1989-2020.
My note to IPTAY when they sent me email asking why I didn't donate or buy tickets in 2021:
Sadly, our family has decided that we will not be donating to IPTAY any longer. We realize it means giving up our season tickets and parking.
There are two reasons.
We had been donating at the McFadden level for some years to enable purchase of 6 tickets for our family. We've come to realize that our nieces and nephews (we have no children of our own) are grown and have not really attended games with us. Also, my 80-something-year-old mother-in-law (who lives with us) has had difficulty in the last few years and has been forced to skip more and more games each year. So we were already looking at purchasing fewer tickets and dropping down levels commensurately (that this would be helpful financially for our family, too, was certainly an issue).
And then this past year we took the COVID "red-shirt" and realized that we didn't miss being at the games as much as we thought we would. Not having the loading of the tailgate stuff into the truck, the drive, the parking, the unloading and setting up of the tailgating stuff, the breakdown and loading of the tailgate stuff, getting out of the parking lot unscathed, unloading of tailgate stuff out of the truck seemed a lot easier. Not to mention not having to sit in the sweltering sun, or pouring rain, all the while having drunk fans falling on us, etc. Our COVID-safe "tailgates" at home and watching the game on a giant TV was almost as good as being there. We had already made a similar decision for basketball season tickets, which was made easier when we were relegated to markedly worse seats in each of two reseating operations.
Still, we probably would have kept donating and purchasing football season tickets, albeit at a lower rate and with fewer tickets.
But the last year or so has also seen sweeping changes on the face of collegiate sports. The current state of affairs with imminent name, image, and likeness rules that will result in what amounts to "pay-for-play", demands for ever-larger stipends, and calls for unionization of players all tells us that our donations for scholarships and support are not enough and will never be enough for athletes who tell us that we are exploiting them. The various social justice fads sweeping through collegiate sports (and throughout the institutions in general) loudly proclaim that many of the same people being asked to donate money to support the athletes are exploitative racists (at best). If we wanted to watch professional athletes and get blasted with political opinions, we can always tune in to the NFL or the NBA; this is exactly why we have instead always supported college sports in general and Clemson and IPTAY specifically.
So instead of just downsizing our donation and ticket purchases, we've decided that the time has come to simply give up and find other ways to occupy our time and money.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [4545]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3357
Joined: 8/14/01
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 4:42 PM
|
|
P.S. So far we're really enjoying watching the games on a giant TV in our air-conditioned living room with an adult beverage in hand. And my 87-year-old MIL likes not having to walk from our parking place (Shotgun Alley was not that long of a walk, but for a stubborn woman who refused to use a courtesy cart, was too long).
|
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [6468]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 10117
Joined: 11/2/03
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [3649]
TigerPulse: 50%
Posts: 2378
Joined: 4/12/01
|
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [10401]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 11531
Joined: 6/29/01
|
If you're on the fence about it, given how
1
Jan 11, 2023, 4:55 PM
|
|
corrupted and professionalized the sport has gotten (and it just seems to get worse every week), I would lean towards not renewing. Again, I say this because you're already hesitant to do it and the sport, as we knew it and loved it for so long, is dying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1061]
TigerPulse: 98%
Posts: 792
Joined: 10/12/99
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 5:55 PM
|
|
May be generational because I am retired. Too much money and time. Home view perfect.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hall of Famer [22507]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 11512
Joined: 10/12/14
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
3
Jan 11, 2023, 6:15 PM
|
|
We are in just the opposite situation from most who have posted. My job took us so far away from SC for so many years that we just could not get back to attend games. We moved to Asheville NC in 2014 and my daughter was a freshman at Clemson. She became the Tiger Cub mascot and we got parent’s tickets to home games for 3 years while she was in the suit. We were so happy to be close enough to go to games it became our pastime and when our daughter graduated in 2017 we found someone looking to sell 4 season tickets and have been buying them ever since. We have some great friends who split them with us and we have a great time tailgating and enjoying the game days. They were not available in 2020 because of the Covid seating policy so we did not attend that year but we are back in the swing post-Covid. We moved from Asheville to Easley in late 2019 so travel isn’t an issue. I guess because we missed out for so many years we still enjoy the tailgating and atmosphere enough to deal with the work involved (and I do agree a good tailgate involves some work). I plan to attend as long as we can. The seat equity on the seats we buy increased from $350 to $700 and I’m not sure if the people we buy from are going to pass along the entire increase but we have discussed it and will pay the increase if required. I just retired Dec 31 and I see it as more time to prepare and do the things I missed out on during my working career. We may get tired of it one day too, but for now, those 7 Saturdays each year are a big deal for us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2926]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 2387
Joined: 1/7/18
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 6:17 PM
|
|
Sadley I believe we will start seeing less and less fans at games in the next couple year , unless a major cap is put on the NIL .
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2335]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1301
Joined: 11/7/17
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 8:10 PM
|
|
I’m afraid you’re right. ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
All-Pro [659]
TigerPulse: 96%
Posts: 532
Joined: 10/9/19
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 8:10 PM
|
|
Interesting responses. May I suggest to you, alumni or not, that you consider donating to the university alumni association instead and you can choose the appropriate amount, no minimums. The work done by the professors and staff should be at least as important to us as the athletic side. Thank ya'll in advance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [61516]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 39577
Joined: 12/16/01
|
Good point.
Jan 12, 2023, 8:10 AM
|
|
I donate to both IPTAY and the Clemson Fund.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [4658]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 2607
Joined: 11/28/08
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 8:35 PM
|
|
My son is a senior at CU. We’ve had season tickets for 10 plus years and donating at the Fike level. Until this year, we’ve had the same parking spot in lot 5 and the same 4 tickets in the west end zone covered section. Due to the renovation we were displaced from our seats. I contacted Iptay to inquire what my options were and was basically told “pay all you can afford and we will give you the best seats possible at your giving level”. I actually stepped up a level to try and get better seats but that didn’t help. The seats were not at all what I was hoping for. I do not know of many other things that you buy that you have no idea what you are buying until after the transaction. Now that lot 5 is being renovated, I’ll probably lose my parking spot. So, saying all of that, I’m seriously considering not renewing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [19393]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3347
Joined: 10/7/07
|
Re: I am asking a very serious question...
1
Jan 11, 2023, 8:47 PM
|
|
We gave up our four season tickets when Dads health started failing and have been watching the games on TV since. We would still go to one game a year most years, but not since Covid. The cost of IPTAY plus seven games was too much for us. I don’t miss it, but have fond memories. Time moves on and we adapt. It is a lot of work to tailgate and travel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Replies: 23
| visibility 1
|
|
|
50
