As a reporter works on a front-page, hot-topic story, newsroom debate is inevitable. Such was the case when we learned of Tiger Athletic Foundation’s intentions to purchase more seats in Tiger Stadium for fund raising. As a staff, we are more than concerned that our post-student section days will be too costly.
The University is trying to persuade the legislature to repeal a law prohibiting TAF or other private, non-profit corporations from controlling more than 12 percent of tickets, even those in Death Valley. If the law is repealed, TAF will receive an undisclosed number of football tickets from the Athletic Department, raising ticket prices to an undisclosed amount.
A Reveille reporter asked point-blank how much will TAF tickets cost and where the seats will be, but neither the Athletic Department, chancellor nor TAF gave any answers.
We know for sure the tickets will not come from the student or visitor sections. But, if TAF obtains tickets in other sections, it can mandate season ticket holders to either: a.) join the organization and pay an absurd amount for football tickets or b.) give up their seats and sit in other less desirable places i.e. endzones and nosebleed seats.
TAF is a FUND-RAISING organization — and it has proven to be a very effective one. They’ve raised money to expand the stadium, to help fund a $15 million Academic Center for Student Athletes, to make sure the lights in the PMAC switch on and off rapidly, to give the golfers a new $800,000 practice facility, to boost the women’s basketball facilities in the PMAC by $250,000 and to build Mike V a $2.5 million cage soon.
It obviously has a good deal of experience and knowledge of the fund-raising world. What we want to know is why can’t it seek other sources of revenue to fulfill the Master Plan’s desires rather than charging fans more?
Has TAF tried asking Coca Cola if it wants to sponsor new athletic facilities in the future? Has it put together an extensive campaign devoted to raising Master Plan funds? No. Instead, a more simple solution is (obviously) to change a state law and attach a higher price tag to football patrons’ tickets because that is what other SEC schools do. This remedy seems too simplistic for a group dedicated to hitting up alumni and corporate businesses for money.
One of Chancellor Mark Emmert’s arguments is that we need to do this to continue competing at the same level as other SEC schools. Contrary to Emmert’s argument, we don’t think we’re doing such a bad job competing with other schools.
Athletic programs at LSU have had tremendous success in recent years, and we don’t see a struggling program needing more money. We recognize the need to prepare for the future. However, is raising the price of football tickets the right way to look forward?
If raising prices is the solution, what will happen if the football team has a couple of losing seasons? How will TAF sell season tickets with astronomical surcharges then? At what point will it stop raising prices and adding surcharges? These are questions we want answered.
Why is the University actively pursuing such an aggressive agenda concerning football seats when we can’t afford other academic programs? No need exists for outlandish facilities when the University can’t afford academic programs.
Granted, the athletic budget is independent of the University’s academic budget, but if we’re not getting a quality education, how will we make money to come back and buy football tickets?
The Louisiana law limiting the number of seats TAF can use for fund raising is there for a reason — to protect the citizens. The University should not pursue changing a law if it ultimately will hurt a significant percentage of citizens, especially loyal alumni.
Emmert and others in the Athletic Department said LSU is the only school in the SEC that has a limit on the number of seats it can use for fund raising. “This is not new and everyone else does it,” Emmert said.
Well, LSU is not like its peers in a number of ways — but it needs to be, namely in academic standing, faculty pay, state funding per student, etc. We don’t think football ticket surcharges are a good measure of comparison against other universities. Raising prices because other schools are is not a good enough reason for us.
Finally, some fans have been sitting in their seats for a long time. They know the fans around them, and they’re emotionally attached to their 35-yard line seats that are 10 rows up. Should they be forced to give up their seats because they will not join TAF and pay higher ticket prices? We don’t think so.
Other ways exist to raise this money. We challenge the University and TAF to find these means and leave ticket prices alone.
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