Students will have 300 fewer tickets to each men’s basketball game in McArthur Court next year as a result of the student body’s new contract with the Athletic Department, officials said at a meeting Tuesday.
The contract follows negotiations between the ASUO Athletics Department Finance Committee and the Athletic Department that had to balance increased ticket prices with decreased student demand.
Students have picked up about 1,900 of 2,000 tickets per basketball game this season, but only about 1,000 students actually attended the games, Associate Athletic Director Steve McBride said.
To counter this “no-show factor” and to fit within modest ticket budget growth approved by the ASUO Student Senate, the contract cuts 303 of the 419 seats accessible to students in McArthur Court’s third-floor balcony – 15 percent of all home-game tickets.
The “no-show factor” hasn’t caused the Athletic Department to cut basketball seats for as long as he could remember, McBride said.
The Senate voted earlier this year to give the ADFC a 3.48-percent budget increase next year, providing another reason for the ADFC to investigate cutting basketball tickets.
The 3.48 percent budget increase approved for the ADFC by the Senate was lower than in previous years, in which the ADFC was given closer to a 7 percent increase.
Last year was an exception because the contract changed the student seating configuration for football games in Autzen Stadium, resulting in a 3.11 percent budget decrease.
Negotiators agreed that students may have the option of buying back the seats next year if demand increases during next year’s basketball season.
These sections, McBride said at an earlier meeting, weren’t being used anyway because students usually crowd down as close to the court as possible.
“I’m really happy we made this agreement,” ADFC Chairman Kyle McKenzie said during the meeting.
McBride said he also pleased because he said it’s good for the Athletic Department and it’s good for students, considering the budget available. Also in the contract, ADFC has the option of buying back the sections during next year’s negotiations if student demand increases.
The ADFC uses part of the $191-per-student incidental fee students pay each term to reserve student tickets for football and men’s basketball games. Students pay 50 percent of tickets’ fair market value, the price at which they would be sold to the general public.
This year, students paid $643,951 in incidental fees for tickets to 19 home games – almost $17 per student.
The 419 third-floor balcony seats cost $3,561.50. Assuming the fair market value of the seats stays the same, cutting 303 seats from that area will save $2,575 in student fees.
McKenzie and McBride agreed after the meeting that final details of the negotiations will continue mostly via e-mail because the main portions are already settled.
McBride also discussed a recent proposal from an outside company to update how tickets are distributed with new technology.
The idea emerged at last year’s negotiations, and ADFC members showed interest this year during football season when they also discussed the “no-show factor” at home football games.
ADFC member Toby Piering said the incidental fee should be used efficiently, and that the ADFC should research other companies as well as the possibility of making ticket distribution electronic without an outside company.
“I think it’s going to be costing us a lot more than we want to be paying,” McKenzie said after the meeting.
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