Support These Kids

[Sean Miller Fan]

I think price has a lot to do with it. I believe upper deck endzone/corners should cost $150 per season without a donation. That's in line with many programs better than Pitt. If that were the price, and if it were marketed like billboards saying Pitt season tickets including games vs Duke, Syracuse, and WVU for $150, I honestly think they would have sold them all. Now, maybe they sit empty for most games, but they'd be purchased and you'd have some people in them all the time instead of 0 people.

Maybe $150 for first time season ticket holders. But $8 a ticket is pretty ludicrous. The Athletic Department has to maintain the value of the ticket, even when the product on the court is below what has been customary.

Now, developing new and creative ways to engage new Panther Club members...there you are on to something.

Michigan and Ohio State played for National Championships not long ago and both offer season tickets for their worst seats around that price. Many other schools as well, trust me.

Don't forget, the point of buying season tickets is to get a quantity discount.

Besides WVU, our 8 OOC home games have a market value of about $5 each, maybe less actually. So there's $40 of your price.

Duke has a market value of about $40
WVU and Syracuse about $30 each.

That's $140 in market value right there. For the other 7 ACC games, you are looking at these values:

Miami $10
GT $10
Wake $10
BC $10
NC State $10
Lou $20
UVa $20

So, that's $230. That's roughly the fair market value for the worst uppers. So, you offer them as season tickets at the quantity discount of $150, I'll say maybe you can go as high as $199, but definitely not $250. That's more than the market value and people aren't that stupid.

Charging $573 plus $100 donation for these seats is an absolute joke. Pitt needs an entirely new pricing strategy.

 

[levance2]

And you, and those like you, are fixated on people who aren't here anymore. What happened then matters not. It's about now. Hence the title of this thread.

THESE kids deserve OUR support.

I'm not fixated on anything. What are you going to do, stand on your soapbox outside the Pete with a megaphone cursing at people who dare not attend games? I don't get your point here. How do you fill the place?

Again, nobody is morally obligated to spend money and show up to watch just because these kids put on a Pitt jersey. I have attended the first four games of the season because I like watching Pitt basketball, not because I owe support. We have plenty of athletes in other sports, and I don't imagine you show up to every home event they each have. Do you?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

And you, and those like you, are fixated on people who aren't here anymore. What happened then matters not. It's about now. Hence the title of this thread.

THESE kids deserve OUR support.

I'm not fixated on anything. What are you going to do, stand on your soapbox outside the Pete with a megaphone cursing at people who dare not attend games? I don't get your point here. How do you fill the place?

Again, nobody is morally obligated to spend money and show up to watch just because these kids put on a Pitt jersey. I have attended the first four games of the season because I like watching Pitt basketball, not because I owe support. We have plenty of athletes in other sports, and I don't imagine you show up to every home event they each have. Do you?

If we fired Stallings and hired the coach of whoever wins the MAC, MAAC, America East, CAA, Horizon, etc, why would you view that as an upgrade?

 

[eastcoasthoops]

I'm not fixated on anything. What are you going to do, stand on your soapbox outside the Pete with a megaphone cursing at people who dare not attend games? I don't get your point here. How do you fill the place?

Again, nobody is morally obligated to spend money and show up to watch just because these kids put on a Pitt jersey. I have attended the first four games of the season because I like watching Pitt basketball, not because I owe support. We have plenty of athletes in other sports, and I don't imagine you show up to every home event they each have. Do you?

I'm not cursing anyone. The fact that you are defensive tells me that the hypocrisy of your duplicitous position hits close to home. You lashed out at those you called "entitled" again and again who thought a change in coaching was necessary to reinvigorate a stagnant program. Yet you use an entitled defense of those who choose to not participate and/or support the athletic program because recent graduates who only know success and one coach weren't wooed by previous administrators.

The current lack of attendance at men's basketball games and general lack of support of the program right now has nothing to do with soapboxes and superfan labels. It has everything to do with a sea change in mentality. Fans who have been aggrieved in a thousand different ways over decades of questionable administrative missteps need to get over themselves. If you want to see Pitt succeed athletically, the one thing for certain you can do is attend games and/or financially support the general athletic program. No there isn't any moral obligation. But you don't need a degree in Finance to recognize that in the world of major college athletics, money drives the bus and opens up the opportunity for potential success far more than penny pinching and razor thin budgets. Attending games and donating isn't a moral dilemma, it's a practical one.

Marcus Carr didn't tear down Pitt Stadium. Ryan Luther didn't give us the Angry Seal logo. And for as much as everybody seemingly hates Kevin Stallings for his suspicious time out usage, his on court demeanor, his haircut, or for running poor Rozie Nix out of town...he didn't hold the door open for Jamie Dixon to go to TCU.

Now go move the goalposts again and tell me how I need to tell this to everyone that doesn't attend gymnastics meets.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I'm not fixated on anything. What are you going to do, stand on your soapbox outside the Pete with a megaphone cursing at people who dare not attend games? I don't get your point here. How do you fill the place?

Again, nobody is morally obligated to spend money and show up to watch just because these kids put on a Pitt jersey. I have attended the first four games of the season because I like watching Pitt basketball, not because I owe support. We have plenty of athletes in other sports, and I don't imagine you show up to every home event they each have. Do you?

I'm not cursing anyone. The fact that you are defensive tells me that the hypocrisy of your duplicitous position hits close to home. You lashed out at those you called "entitled" again and again who thought a change in coaching was necessary to reinvigorate a stagnant program. Yet you use an entitled defense of those who choose to not participate and/or support the athletic program because recent graduates who only know success and one coach weren't wooed by previous administrators.

The current lack of attendance at men's basketball games and general lack of support of the program right now has nothing to do with soapboxes and superfan labels. It has everything to do with a sea change in mentality. Fans who have been aggrieved in a thousand different ways over decades of questionable administrative missteps need to get over themselves. If you want to see Pitt succeed athletically, the one thing for certain you can do is attend games and/or financially support the general athletic program. No there isn't any moral obligation. But you don't need a degree in Finance to recognize that in the world of major college athletics, money drives the bus and opens up the opportunity for potential success far more than penny pinching and razor thin budgets. Attending games and donating isn't a moral dilemma, it's a practical one.

Marcus Carr didn't tear down Pitt Stadium. Ryan Luther didn't give us the Angry Seal logo. And for as much as everybody seemingly hates Kevin Stallings for his suspicious time out usage, his on court demeanor, his haircut, or for running poor Rozie Nix out of town...he didn't hold the door open for Jamie Dixon to go to TCU.

Now go move the goalposts again and tell me how I need to tell this to everyone that doesn't attend gymnastics meets.

To be fair, Levance has said he would have bought season tickets (I think he said that) or tickets to WVU if they were accurately priced. The Athletic Department has not done Kevin Stallings any favors in terms of ticket pricing. If tickets were more in line with the rest of college basketball and deep discounts were given for the worst seats, Pitt actually may, wait for it, get more fans to come.

I understand the philosophy is "we sold ot out at these prices before and we will do ot again." Well, no they wont. Those days are over. If Pitt makes the NCAAT this year, I would be there's only maybe a 10% increase in season ticket purchases at these prices. It is not 2003 or 2009 anymore. Pitt needs to put forth a better effort to get fans to attend.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

To be fair, Levance has said he would have bought season tickets (I think he said that) or tickets to WVU if they were accurately priced. The Athletic Department has not done Kevin Stallings any favors in terms of ticket pricing. If tickets were more in line with the rest of college basketball and deep discounts were given for the worst seats, Pitt actually may, wait for it, get more fans to come.

I understand the philosophy is "we sold ot out at these prices before and we will do ot again." Well, no they wont. Those days are over. If Pitt makes the NCAAT this year, I would be there's only maybe a 10% increase in season ticket purchases at these prices. It is not 2003 or 2009 anymore. Pitt needs to put forth a better effort to get fans to attend.

Again, if you can afford tickets...especially in the context of STH...based on your arbitrary price point needs...we're talking, what, $10 a week difference? I mean does a $10 price tag a week sway you in any purchase decision you've ever made?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

To be fair, Levance has said he would have bought season tickets (I think he said that) or tickets to WVU if they were accurately priced. The Athletic Department has not done Kevin Stallings any favors in terms of ticket pricing. If tickets were more in line with the rest of college basketball and deep discounts were given for the worst seats, Pitt actually may, wait for it, get more fans to come.

I understand the philosophy is "we sold ot out at these prices before and we will do ot again." Well, no they wont. Those days are over. If Pitt makes the NCAAT this year, I would be there's only maybe a 10% increase in season ticket purchases at these prices. It is not 2003 or 2009 anymore. Pitt needs to put forth a better effort to get fans to attend.

Again, if you can afford tickets...especially in the context of STH...based on your arbitrary price point needs...we're talking, what, $10 a week difference? I mean does a $10 price tag a week sway you in any purchase decision you've ever made?

I can afford season tickets. That isn't the issue. Its a matter of principle. I know they are way too expensive. Your argument flies in the face of basic rules of economics.

If you buy milk once a week and you can either pay $4 for the national brand or $8 for the local farmer's, which would you buy? I know, you want to support the local guy but at a price that is 100% higher, very few people will. Its basic economics.

Pitt's tickets are too expensive for even a good team. They are out of this world expensive for a bad team.

 

[levance2]

Again, if you can afford tickets...especially in the context of STH...based on your arbitrary price point needs...we're talking, what, $10 a week difference? I mean does a $10 price tag a week sway you in any purchase decision you've ever made?

If all you care about is the $, then why not just write a check and skip the games? The reason I don't have season tickets this year is because I have other obligations and I know that I (and the friend that usually joins me) will miss a significant number of games. I will go to games when I can and buy tickets when they are priced reasonably (i.e., not Duke).

 

[eastcoasthoops]

If all you care about is the $, then why not just write a check and skip the games? The reason I don't have season tickets this year is because I have other obligations and I know that I (and the friend that usually joins me) will miss a significant number of games. I will go to games when I can and buy tickets when they are priced reasonably (i.e., not Duke).

Yeah, good. Do what you want. Buy tickets, don't buy tickets. Go to games, don't go to games. Donate, don't donate.

Free country and all, ya know.

But you know what...when you hear "Eat Sh!t Pitt" rain down from the rafters, when Pitt can't afford to chew on the buyout of a coach you don't like, when prep athletes turn their nose up at a lack of support - YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.

Funny how that phrase works for lots of different people.

 

[levance2]

I'm not cursing anyone. The fact that you are defensive tells me that the hypocrisy of your duplicitous position hits close to home. You lashed out at those you called "entitled" again and again who thought a change in coaching was necessary to reinvigorate a stagnant program. Yet you use an entitled defense of those who choose to not participate and/or support the athletic program because recent graduates who only know success and one coach weren't wooed by previous administrators.

I'm not being defensive at all. I just don't think you make any logical sense. You are saying that every graduate who can afford $500 a year should have a personal calling to buy Pitt season tickets. When games draw 2,000 fans, you are clearly wrong. There's a disconnect between reality and how you are representing it. If you refuse to accept and understand why nobody is showing up, whether the fault of prior administrations or the current, you don't have the ability course correct and solve the problem for the future.

If someone doesn't care about basketball or doesn't find it worth their time to drive into Oakland twice per week, that doesn't make them entitled, that makes them disinterested. I am not interested in attending every wrestling match or volleyball match. Some people are, and that's great for them and for Pitt. I want to see Pitt succeed in all sports, and I try to attend the Olympic sports on occasion.

People who I label as "entitled" are people who make a point of refusing to support monetarily or with attendance. If someone says, "I will not donate to Pitt until Script is our primary logo," that person is not disinterested, they are entitled. I have never claimed that I am withholding my season ticket purchase because KS is the coach. I had season tickets a year ago and he was the coach. If my personal priorities change next year and/or the team is more competitive and/or the prices come down, I may have season tickets again. If someone else has pulled their donation and said they won't attend a game until he's fired, then yes, that person is entitled.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

I can afford season tickets. That isn't the issue. Its a matter of principle. I know they are way too expensive. Your argument flies in the face of basic rules of economics.

If you buy milk once a week and you can either pay $4 for the national brand or $8 for the local farmer's, which would you buy? I know, you want to support the local guy but at a price that is 100% higher, very few people will. Its basic economics.

Pitt's tickets are too expensive for even a good team. They are out of this world expensive for a bad team.

Once you've had the big guns of the price of milk at Aldi's versus the price of milk at Giant Eagle pulled on you, you know the argument has run its course.

You win alligator arms.

 

[levance2]

But you know what...when you hear "Eat Sh!t Pitt" rain down from the rafters, when Pitt can't afford to chew on the buyout of a coach you don't like, when prep athletes turn their nose up at a lack of support - YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.

Funny how that phrase works for lots of different people.

Wow, man. You are all over the map. Take some deep breaths.

I have no problem with Hoopies coming in here and chanting. I was on the other end of that plenty of times. Pitt made their decisions to get to this point, including pricing the game far too high.

I made my point clearly several times, and I'll assume any sane readers (and SMF) got the gist, so I'm bowing out.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

I'm not being defensive at all. I just don't think you make any logical sense. You are saying that every graduate who can afford $500 a year should have a personal calling to buy Pitt season tickets. When games draw 2,000 fans, you are clearly wrong. There's a disconnect between reality and how you are representing it. If you refuse to accept and understand why nobody is showing up, whether the fault of prior administrations or the current, you don't have the ability course correct and solve the problem for the future.

If someone doesn't care about basketball or doesn't find it worth their time to drive into Oakland twice per week, that doesn't make them entitled, that makes them disinterested. I am not interested in attending every wrestling match or volleyball match. Some people are, and that's great for them and for Pitt. I want to see Pitt succeed in all sports, and I try to attend the Olympic sports on occasion.

People who I label as "entitled" are people who make a point of refusing to support monetarily or with attendance. If someone says, "I will not donate to Pitt until Script is our primary logo," that person is not disinterested, they are entitled. I have never claimed that I am withholding my season ticket purchase because KS is the coach. I had season tickets a year ago and he was the coach. If my personal priorities change next year and/or the team is more competitive and/or the prices come down, I may have season tickets again. If someone else has pulled their donation and said they won't attend a game until he's fired, then yes, that person is entitled.

Who on earth is arguing that EVERY graduate who has $500 burning in their pocket is a potential basketball STH? How many ridiculous straw men can you throw up to justify deliberate apathy of Pitt basketball fans who USED to attend and support the program and who no longer do because of personal grievances?

 

[TD_istheman]

If we fired Stallings and hired the coach of whoever wins the MAC, MAAC, America East, CAA, Horizon, etc, why would you view that as an upgrade?

Only a knucklehead would fire Stallings until he gets four years , a big damn fool actually

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

If all you care about is the $, then why not just write a check and skip the games? The reason I don't have season tickets this year is because I have other obligations and I know that I (and the friend that usually joins me) will miss a significant number of games. I will go to games when I can and buy tickets when they are priced reasonably (i.e., not Duke).

Yeah, good. Do what you want. Buy tickets, don't buy tickets. Go to games, don't go to games. Donate, don't donate.

Free country and all, ya know.

But you know what...when you hear "Eat Sh!t Pitt" rain down from the rafters, when Pitt can't afford to chew on the buyout of a coach you don't like, when prep athletes turn their nose up at a lack of support - YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE.

Funny how that phrase works for lots of different people.

For the record, there were roughly the same amount of WVU fans at the last game in 2012 when they beat us by 18 and the "Lets Go Mountaineers" and "Eat $hit Pitt" chants were very loud.

 

[TD_istheman]

For the record, there were roughly the same amount of WVU fans at the last game in 2012 when they beat us by 18 and the "Lets Go Mountaineers" and "Eat $hit Pitt" chants were very loud.

There you go blowing the narrative put of the water. You are correct