Seat selection next week

[GenesPlace]

still a bit sour over the whole thing. have had seats for quite some time including the end of Dixon and both years of Stallings for the opportunity to claim my "dream" seats. two weeks before i could select, my seats were already gone. after talking it over with my wife, we moved down to 118 which has us pointed toward the Pitt bench and the basket where they'll shoot at for the 2nd half. really going to miss our old seats, but i feel like we made the best of a bad situation.

sorry, but i won't be feeling very generous any longer towards Pitt w/ donations beyond the minimum. they can go hit up those top 200 donors or whoever took my seats.

 

[thom67]

still a bit sour over the whole thing. have had seats for quite some time including the end of Dixon and both years of Stallings for the opportunity to claim my "dream" seats. two weeks before i could select, my seats were already gone. after talking it over with my wife, we moved down to 118 which gives has us pointed toward the Pitt bench and the basket where they'll shoot at for the 2nd half. really going to miss our old seats, but i feel like we made the best of a bad situation.

sorry, but i won't be feeling very generous any longer towards Pitt w/ donations beyond the minimum. they can go hit up those top 200 donors or whoever took my seats.

I feel the same way and told Pitt the same thing.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

It's not actually a great seat, because you are sitting directly behind a bunch of people who are much bigger than you but you are on the exact same level as them, so you get to watch much of the game while trying to look around them.

It's always better to sit a few rows off the floor than to sit at exactly floor level.

Actually some prefer to be even higher up. Personally speaking, my favorite seats in any hoops arena for any game are the lower few rows of the upper level near mid-court because I enjoy watching the overall flow of the game and being able to tell immediately whether the defense on any trip is a zone or man and who is guarding whom, the execution of offensive sets and plays, etc.--in other words--all those things you don't see well when you have no height above the court for perspective.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Actually some prefer to be even higher up.

We sit in the front row of the upper deck at Heinz for that exact reason. I'd much rather sit there than the first dozen or so rows in the lower level, where the game lacks perspective.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

Actually some prefer to be even higher up. Personally speaking, my favorite seats in any hoops arena for any game are the lower few rows of the upper level near mid-court because I enjoy watching the overall flow of the game and being able to tell immediately whether the defense on any trip is a zone or man and who is guarding whom, the execution of offensive sets and plays, etc.--in other words--all those things you don't see well when you have no height above the court for perspective.

The upper level at mid court are as good as any seats in the arena.

 

[DT_PITT]

The upper level at mid court are as good as any seats in the arena.

I had upper level mid court as well as have sat in seats all around the rest of the Pete. You can see the game better from there. perhaps better than anywhere. But you miss out a bit on atmosphere up there when the place is truly rocking.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

True on the atmosphere if that is important to an individual fan. Clearly for some/many fans it is their #1 thing.

 

[Panther Holla]

That was probably the hardest thing about the selection - our seats were gone as were our 2nd and third choice so we had to take seats from someone that I spoke with every game. Very awkward.

Well, it's sorta like spooking a flock of pigeons off a roof. They do that circular fly-around and end up in the same perch. I just hope we have an improving team to watch.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Well, it's sorta like spooking a flock of pigeons off a roof. They do that circular fly-around and end up in the same perch. I just hope we have an improving team to watch.

A seating theory: Even if some didn't directly lose their prior seasons seats due to the court flip and re-arrangement of the student seating perhaps that was the first piece of a domino effect. The second piece then may have been the large donors who lost their seats to the student section changes taking new seat locations which formerly were the seats of others. That in turn caused others to have to take seats other than what they wanted and had for years.

Just postulating an alternative theory to the one claiming the entire thing was the result of new large donors hopping on the Capel bandwagon?

 

[pitt-girl]

A seating theory: Even if some didn't directly lose their prior seasons seats due to the court flip and re-arrangement of the student seating perhaps that was the first piece of a domino effect. The second piece then may have been the large donors who lost their seats to the student section changes taking new seat locations which formerly were the seats of others. That in turn caused others to have to take seats other than what they wanted and had for years.

Just postulating an alternative theory to the one claiming the entire thing was the result of new large donors hopping on the Capel bandwagon?

There were a lot of factors - including top 200 donors who were previously club seat holders but dropped down and got new seats out of the club. Also they were able to purchase more seats. It was a huge domino effect. We picked early on the first day (we are just out of the 200's) and our seats were already gone.

 

[goalieman]

A seating theory: Even if some didn't directly lose their prior seasons seats due to the court flip and re-arrangement of the student seating perhaps that was the first piece of a domino effect. The second piece then may have been the large donors who lost their seats to the student section changes taking new seat locations which formerly were the seats of others. That in turn caused others to have to take seats other than what they wanted and had for years.

Just postulating an alternative theory to the one claiming the entire thing was the result of new large donors hopping on the Capel bandwagon?

- NEW large donors should not have taken any seats from previous season ticket holders .... new large donors (not season ticket holders in 2018-2019 but Panther Club members) picked in Group C meaning that ALL season ticket holders from 2018-2019 (Group A and Group B) picked before them (Group C).

- I don't think any previous season ticket holder lost a seat to the student section changes because the student sections are in the same total area as previously (same overall sections just rearranged within the same sections).

- "pitt-girl" is correct in that all fans could get up to a maximum of 10 tickets although some areas are limited to fewer tickets but you could still get 10 overall (10 in Club Seats or 2 in VIP Courtside and 8 in Club, for example). I don't know if the top 200 in Group A took more seats or not then they previously had or whether sponsors who also picked early took more seats.

- The entire Pete was reseated for the first time and also the court was flipped so I think one thing may have been that the high donors flipped the side of the court where they will be sitting ..... those previously sitting behind the benches in Sections 120/121/122 Club Seats went into the Club Seats in sections 107/108/109 behind where the new benches will be and people in the corners and behind the baskets tended to flip sides for similar reasons and fans who previously sat in those seats had to move to other areas ...... I'm not sure how many high donors who picked early changed their seats from club to non-club (per pitt-girls post) and whether they ordered more seats in the non-club then they had in the club section ..... on the other hand, if fans previously with club seats, ordered non-club seats, it should have been a good opportunity for fans picking later in the process to upgrade to club seats.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Maybe few or none wanted to upgrade to club seats?

Never quite understood why Pitt had the club seats built at court level in the first place. The one time I personally sat in club seating anywhere was as a guest at an NBA game and the club seats were all at the bottom of the second level of the arena rather than at floor level. The seats we were in had all the food and adult beverage amenities immediately behind us in a lounge room with the game on TV, a private toilet room and (at least IMHO) the seats themselves gave a better view of the game.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Maybe few or none wanted to upgrade to club seats?

Never quite understood why Pitt had the club seats built at court level in the first place. The one time I personally sat in club seating anywhere was as a guest at an NBA game and the club seats were all at the bottom of the second level of the arena rather than at floor level. The seats we were in had all the food and adult beverage amenities immediately behind us in a lounge room with the game on TV, a private toilet room and (at least IMHO) the seats themselves gave a better view of the game.

You cannot purchase those luxury box seats. We are generally talking about the sideline seats in the 100 level as club seats.

But you are right. Building those suites on the floor was a terrible idea. Looks hideous on TV (which is finally being corrected). They should have been elevated some like Stony Brook's and the San Jose Earthquakes, the only 2 other teams that have something similar. The Cowboys have field-level suites but those weren't intended to watch the game as you cant see over the players heads.

 

[Chaos]

- NEW large donors should not have taken any seats from previous season ticket holders .... new large donors (not season ticket holders in 2018-2019 but Panther Club members) picked in Group C meaning that ALL season ticket holders from 2018-2019 (Group A and Group B) picked before them (Group C).

- I don't think any previous season ticket holder lost a seat to the student section changes because the student sections are in the same total area as previously (same overall sections just rearranged within the same sections).

- "pitt-girl" is correct in that all fans could get up to a maximum of 10 tickets although some areas are limited to fewer tickets but you could still get 10 overall (10 in Club Seats or 2 in VIP Courtside and 8 in Club, for example). I don't know if the top 200 in Group A took more seats or not then they previously had or whether sponsors who also picked early took more seats.

- The entire Pete was reseated for the first time and also the court was flipped so I think one thing may have been that the high donors flipped the side of the court where they will be sitting ..... those previously sitting behind the benches in Sections 120/121/122 Club Seats went into the Club Seats in sections 107/108/109 behind where the new benches will be and people in the corners and behind the baskets tended to flip sides for similar reasons and fans who previously sat in those seats had to move to other areas ...... I'm not sure how many high donors who picked early changed their seats from club to non-club (per pitt-girls post) and whether they ordered more seats in the non-club then they had in the club section ..... on the other hand, if fans previously with club seats, ordered non-club seats, it should have been a good opportunity for fans picking later in the process to upgrade to club seats.

Club seats are expensive, so I'm not sure how many of the lower ranked donors would pony up to upgrade. They're lower ranked because they don't donate as much. I'd love to have club seats, but can't make the per seat donation, especially now that they require separate donations for football and basketball.

 

[goalieman]

Club seats are expensive, so I'm not sure how many of the lower ranked donors would pony up to upgrade. They're lower ranked because they don't donate as much. I'd love to have club seats, but can't make the per seat donation, especially now that they require separate donations for football and basketball.

Chaos, I understand and appreciate what you are saying ...... are you a basketball season ticket holder and if so what was your experience in the reseating process ...... what was the seat availability in the club and non-club sections when you picked ?

Maybe someone like "bwh05" could tell us more about how things unfolded in the reseating process ...... I'm not even sure if it is completed yet.

 

[Chaos]

Chaos, I understand and appreciate what you are saying ...... are you a basketball season ticket holder and if so what was your experience in the reseating process ...... what was the seat availability in the club and non-club sections when you picked ?

Maybe someone like "bwh05" could tell us more about how things unfolded in the reseating process ...... I'm not even sure if it is completed yet.

I do have season tickets, and had the unfortunate luck of having plans with family to be at an amusement park on the day of my seat selection. The seat selecting program didn't work on smart phones, so I arranged with the person in the ticket office who has been my contact person in the past, to select over the phone with him. I didn't love having to do it that way, but it was better than waiting until hours later. I ended up getting comparable seats diagonally across the Pete from last year's seats, in a lower row, but a few seats further down the row from mid-court. I'm curious what seats ended up not being chosen during reseating, but I couldn't see when I looked on the Pitt website. If anyone chose late in the process, I'd love to know how many club seats were still available.

 

[goalieman]

I do have season tickets, and had the unfortunate luck of having plans with family to be at an amusement park on the day of my seat selection. The seat selecting program didn't work on smart phones, so I arranged with the person in the ticket office who has been my contact person in the past, to select over the phone with him. I didn't love having to do it that way, but it was better than waiting until hours later. I ended up getting comparable seats diagonally across the Pete from last year's seats, in a lower row, but a few seats further down the row from mid-court. I'm curious what seats ended up not being chosen during reseating, but I couldn't see when I looked on the Pitt website. If anyone chose late in the process, I'd love to know how many club seats were still available.

Yeah, that's what I would like to know as well.

 

[Panther Holla]

A seating theory: Even if some didn't directly lose their prior seasons seats due to the court flip and re-arrangement of the student seating perhaps that was the first piece of a domino effect. The second piece then may have been the large donors who lost their seats to the student section changes taking new seat locations which formerly were the seats of others. That in turn caused others to have to take seats other than what they wanted and had for years.

Just postulating an alternative theory to the one claiming the entire thing was the result of new large donors hopping on the Capel bandwagon?

I think you have something there. I stayed put in 110 because I figured my cranky knees had an easier path out of the Pete from 110 Row W than up the narrow staircase catty corner. The Pete isn't the easiest place to exit to street level on Terrace.

 

[Chaos]

Yeah, that's what I would like to know as well.

The Pitt ticket website now shows what seats are still available, and there are PLENTY of club seats, especially in sec 107 and 109.