Students will have to give up their favorite seats at Autzen Stadium during preseason football games, but in return, they have them guaranteed during the regular season for the next 10 years.
This compromise came after a mediation process the Athletic Department Finance Committee, which negotiates student seating at Autzen Stadium and McArthur Court, and the athletic department entered into when their negotiations about preseason students seating stalemated on April 11.
Negotiations stagnated after ADFC members refused to sign a contract that would take away Section 9 — the section many students consider a favorite because it is closest to the 30-yard line — rather than a section closer to the end zone.
Last year, the ADFC, part of the ASUO, agreed to let the athletic department sell seats in student sections to the general public if there were extra tickets five days before a preseason game. The agreement was for the athletic department to start selling tickets at Section 5 and for students to pick up their tickets at Section 9.
This year, the athletic department insisted it wanted to start selling preseason tickets to the general public the other way around — going from Section 9 to Section 5 to make more revenue and avoid complaints from the general public who could not see past standing student fans.
Now, after the mediation process, all parties have agreed to a compromise that works for everyone.
ADFC member and ASUO Student Sen. Spencer Hamlin said under the new contract, the athletic department committed to offering students the same seats at 50 percent of the tickets’ fair-market value for the next 10 years.
For the regular season, this means students keep the same 6,100 seats they have had in Sections 5 through 9 in the past.
“I feel that that’s huge,” Hamlin said.
For preseason games, which have been attended by only a fraction of the student population in the past, the new agreement means students will give up Section 9 to the general public. But rather than having the athletic department sell general-admission tickets starting at Section 9 going over to Section 5 and risking that students might lose Sections 8 and 7, parties agreed that the athletic department will sell general admission tickets in Section 9, then 5 and then 6. Students will get tickets starting at Section 8, then 7 and then 6.
Hamlin said this agreement guarantees students will have a minimum of 2,622 seats at each of the two preseason games for the next 10 years.
The contract also includes a stipulation that requires the athletic department to offer students the same number of seats after the Autzen Stadium expansion. Also, student sections have to remain the same in regard to their location in relation to the field.
While the athletic department committed to offering this arrangement to the students for the next 10 years, students can choose to accept or deny the offer each year.
With the new 10-year stipulations, ADFC members said they feel giving up a popular section for two preseason games was a fair compromise.
“Obviously we didn’t want to give up Section 9 during preseason, but what we got in return was well worth it,” Hamlin said.
He said he was surprised when the athletic department agreed to the expansion and location clause without objections.
“When we requested 10 years, we planned on five, hoped for seven,” he said. “We got stability that we’ve never ever had.”
Sandy Walton, senior associate athletic director, has negotiated contracts with the ADFC for more than 15 years. The stalemate last month was the first time the ADFC and athletic department failed to come up with a solution that worked for both.
“Sometimes when you reach an impasse, it’s important to sit back and take another look,” Walton said. “I think it’s a compromise we can all live with.”
ASUO Student Sen. and ADFC member Jennifer Greenough said the mediation process was effective because both sides knew they had to work something out.
“I think we gave up a little, but we gained a lot,” she said.
Greenough said all sides returned to the negotiating table ready to compromise and come to a solution that would be acceptable to both sides.
Walton explained that the athletic department is actually excited about the condition because it sets some standards beyond just one year and gives new student representatives on the ADFC something to work with.
“We are delighted,” she said. “We have wanted a contract that is worth more than one year.”