Several DU students are upset with policies handed down from the University of Denver Athletic Department this year. They started a Facebook Page to voice their displeasure.They are not happy with the game day ticket price of $18 for students and that student season tickets did not include the North Dakota series.
We'd add playing the Colorado College games over DU's Winter Break is asinine. The CC games have been hijacked from the students.
23 comments:
Supply and demand, baby. I often side with the students, but the athletic dept is right on this one.
DU students need to be a little less lazy -- Having a top 5 hockey team on campus means students should have no problem swinging by the Ritchie Center and spending their five bucks earlier in the week for a ticket. The worst thing that happens to the student if the don't go to the game is a $5 loss.
DU hockey is a revenue producing sport, and students need to buck up and buy the tickets early.
If you can't decide whether you want to be at the hockey game or not to risk $5, you are not a hockey fan in my book.
$18 tickets are not a good way to inspire students to be less lazy. When you were at DU, did you know what you were doing on Saturday night on Thursday afternoon?
I agree with your disappointment at DU students' apathy, but it takes small steps. And these are small steps in the wrong direction- just another example of DU valuing the almighty dollar over their students. Without whom the University would not exist.
I gotta side with Swami on this one.... you have 4 days to figure out if you care enough to go support your team. If you can't possibly decide until the day of then you get to pay more.
Looks to me like DU is doing all they can to help the students witness one of the greatest hockey programs in country. I mean $5, really? I say charge them the $18 all the time and give us season ticket holders cheaper seats! (I'm half joking here)
Bottom line... it is what is. I guess the students are getting their first real world lesson of how sometimes you have play by other peoples rules and not everything is just handed to you at discount. I know, it's a hard lesson.
Jordan:
DU DOES value their students, offering them season tickets at less than $5 per game, and game week tickets at $5. That is a huge bargain compared to student tickets at Minnesota, Michigan and other top hockey schools. It's the best bang for the buck of any entertainment I know in Denver.
Additionally, DU showers students with all kinds of premiums and gives them great seats.
Students should be chomping at the bit for $5 tickets to see their top 5 team, and they make it easy to buy them early. The whole idea is to make tickets into a hotter item, and get you to buy them early, so more students go.
If they hold those tickets for late student game-day deciders, it not only robs the athletic dept of revenue, it also doesn't reward those kids who made the early commitment to support the team.
And yes, when I was at DU, I knew my hockey night plans weeks in advance, because going to hockey games was a priority for me - the highlight of my week, and DU was mostly mediocre team (or worse) when I was in school.
DU has a great team this year, and the students should be rewarding that team effort with some effort of their own.
While I am not taking a side on this issue, I do think it is ridiculous that the athletic department has scheduled the first of the two CC games over the holiday break for years, which has lead to a weakening student section over the years. I that needs to change to help build the atmosphere at Magness. You have to admit, DU's student section turns out small numbers compared to other schools, and for the most part is fairly mild and quiet. This takes away from our home ice advantage at home because the building is not loud.
I don't really sympathize for the students not willing to fork over the $18. Hockey is one of the few sports students have to pay an admission price to at DU. Most sporting events are completely free with Student ID. The $4/ticket price for student season tickets is a huge bargain to see top notch hockey, and $5 early price is still quite a steal to see the game. If you decide to go on a whim at the last second, pay up. You only have yourself to blame for poor planning and not having enough school spirit and pride to say "I WILL BE THERE!".
-Creba
I agree with Creba and DG on the CC games over student break - that decision has always bothered me.
I get why DU does it - they make a little more money, and the hockey team gets to face a rival without worrying about schoolwork.
But last year, the CC game at Halloween was fantastic student atmosphere. That game belongs in late October, not in December.
“when I was at DU, I knew my hockey night plans weeks in advance, because going to hockey games was a priority for me - the highlight of my week, and DU was mostly mediocre team (or worse) when I was in school.”
When I was at DU I usually had a date on Saturday night. Sounds like some of us weren’t so lucky.
According to the article linked below, DU students contribute $90,000 to the Athletic Department through a portion of the student activity fee.
https://iris.cair.du.edu/ausasenate/committees/FIN/budget.cfm
I also agree with having student tickets at $18 on game day. Some people don't quite get how fortunate they are to be able to see a top team in the nation play hockey at such a low low price of $5 a ticket during the week. DU is sacrificing revenue and a penalty for waiting so long should be an increase in prices on game day.
As for the rivalry games the students and the team itself is being screwed over. You want your students in the stands when CC and UND come to town. You need your students. Playing these games on winter break is only encouraging the opposing teams fans to come on down and take over the building and when you do that you take away the home ice advantage from the team. You want your people to be that 7th skater on the ice and sometimes that's what separates losses to ties or ties to wins. You should be encouraging them to be there in full force in support of the Pioneers. These rivalry games belong to the students and the DU community.
12:44:
I was very fortunate. I look back on the college years and marvel at the relative quantity, quality and ease of dating back then-- and I have no regrets in that department whatsoever.
1) I took plenty of women to the DU games. Those were fun.
2) There were often daytime, post-game or pre-game activities for those non-hockey-inclined women.
3) Half the fall and winter weekends had DU Hockey on the road, so there were ample opportunities for local dating that did not conflict with home games.
achsdu17:
It seems like a no-brainer to us as fans to schedule CC and UND while students are around. That was the convetional wisdom for many years, and home ice advantage with students is to us, a big advantage that you would not want to lose.
But for Gwoz and the athletic dept, they likely looked at the level of noise and atmosphere the students bring and weighed that against the extra money they could make by having townies in student seats and the fact they could play rivalry games without the classroom distractions, and at the end of the day, they chose the latter as being more advantageous to the program.
Our job is to make the rink loud enough to make them choose our preferred option.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree that it is pathetic that we can't have enough loyalty to buy a $5 ticket 2 days in advance. It's not a situation I'm proud of. I just don't think the new policy is encouraging to a large portion of the DU demographic who can just go drink instead. I wish we were like Minnesota and UND in that regard, but we're not, and it's a reality that will take a while to fix. I know of dozens of instances already where a student decided not to go to a game because he or she didn't want to pay $18, and that's sad to me.
There has to be an easy solution for all these issues.
The 2nd half of the season contains many games against less than "desirable" opponents. Its going to be a real challenge just getting ANY students to show up.
Lets hope that the DU Athletic Department works on a solution over XMAS Break.
Remaining DU Home Games during Winter Quarter.
1/8 Alaska-Anchorage
1/9 Alaska-Anchorage
2/5 Mercyhurst
2/12 Minnesota
2/13 Minnesota
2/19 Michigan Tech
2/ 20 Michigan Tech
3/5 Colorado College
In my experience, students respond to peers more than any other group or authority. If some student tells you they don't want to spend $18 at the last minute to see a hockey gamne, ask them why they didn't pay $5 earlier in the week, (like you did!). Then ask them why they aren't supporting their school (like you are!).
If every hockey-attending student was able to get 2 friends to come that normally skip hockey, we'd have a huge student section.
The best way to change a culture of student apathy is for the non-apathetic students to question the apathetic ones and show them the better way....
The CC games being over break are NOT, repeat NOT under DU's control. The schedule is not something they have control over as it is handed down by the WCHA and NCAA. Yeah, it sucks, but it is a coincidence that those two games are over break, and not some ploy by the department to get more money.
“there were ample opportunities for local dating”
Somehow I get the impression you were the guy sitting in his mom’s basement blogging rather than dating. Wait, did they have computers back in your day? Maybe that should read: Somehow I get the impression you were the guy sitting in his mom’s basement watching Gilligan’s Island rather than dating.
So Swami, Ginger or Mary Ann?
Anon 3:50
Everyone knows the answer is Mary Ann. Duh. It was even recently revealed that she partook in the hippy lettuce. Perfect date!
I agree fully with DU wanting students to commit early in the week to going to games. Its 5 freaking dollars for crying out loud, even if you had to pay $18 big deal, I understand DU costs over $30,000 a year, what's $18 a game if you can't plan ahead?
As for Swami, I have only met him once but I have confidence that he had ZERO trouble finding women to bring to the games and then hang out with them afterwards.
- Waterlover
We'll just hope that Mrs. Swami doesn't read the blog...
Just have to take a realistic view about the apathy of DU students. And the athletic department doesn't care because all they're focused on is basketball. Which isn't a problem unless your marquee program isn't selling out every game- then you focus on hockey first and then worry about basketball.
Unrelated note- verification word is green and "chaye." Weird timing.
I believe the UND students now pay something in that range, $5/game, or some of them actually have student season passes.
Hockey is good entertainment, heck, you can't go to a movie for that price, what's a movie now in Denver, $9, $10 a person? And I'm guessing the concessions are cheaper at Magness than the Movie theatre...
Have they ever done some type of "give away" event to draw more students? You know like free t-shirts or baseball caps, etc, to the first so many hundred students.
As a side note, do they serve beer at Magness? (They serve beer and mixed drinks at the Ralph, which I'm sure is popular with the kids over 21.)
They have tried a few things with mixed results. 99% of the energy in marketing to students is for basketball.
The student section at hockey games has come a long way in the past ten years.
Magness serves beer & liquor.
CC game should be held on a big weekend like Homecoming in October. Went to the ND game last Friday. Lots of empty seats, even though it was a sellout. People need to show support and if they can't use the tickets, there should be a way to swing by the tix office and donate them to students/faculty.
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