April 27, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Baltimore Sun printed a front-page article on the Comcast Seating Plan in the Saturday, April 27th, 2002 edition. Click here to access the Sun article.

The article (a) deleted significant, comparative data provided to their reporters and (b) also included factually inaccurate information. These are listed below:

1. The University of North Carolina requires a $75,000 scholarship fund donation to secure tickets in their basketball arena. I provided this fact regarding UNC as part of my quote (which also included the Duke information), but the writers chose not to include that information. You will see that clearly, because the rest of my quote was, "Ours is more of a people's plan than you would find at either of those places." The "either" was in reference to my comment about UNC, which the Sun intentionally deleted. We can only surmise that to have included the UNC information (when contrasted to our requirement of only approximately 198 Terpoints -- equal to a $2,500 donation) would have unquestionably demonstrated the fairness and inclusive nature of the Maryland plan. Thus, the article would not have had factual support for its controversial nature. The deletion of that part of the quote regarding the UNC requirement for tickets is at best misleading.

2. The subheading of the article reads: "Hundreds of Maryland season ticket holders will have to increase donations if they want to keep their seats" (emphasis added). This, of course, is not accurate. There are multiple other ways to increase Terpoints ... by working to secure membership referrals where 4 points per $100 of another member's giving can be earned and by purchasing football and women's basketball season tickets.

The Sun chose to specifically lift out one method of earning Terpoints, which sensationalized the subheading, instead of providing the plenary facts of the multiple means by which an individual could earn points as part of the subheading, including a way that required no donation by the individual who secures a membership referral.

3. One Terrapin Club member in the article was said to be a "nine-year" donor who was "with them [Maryland] when they weren't so good." The fact is that this person joined the Terrapin Club in 1995, the year after we had made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. By objective standards, that would make us a pretty good team when he joined the Terrapin Club. The number of years of membership since 1995 is not nine years, either.

4. Another person was quoted as saying, "It's going to squeeze out some longtime fans, and you'll just have a bunch of rich people hobnobbing at Comcast ...".

This is inaccurate. There is a waiting list of approximately 1,900 people, many of whom will not secure tickets. However, within the waiting list ARE CURRENT TERRAPIN CLUB MEMBERS WITH AS MANY AS 45 YEARS OF CONSECUTIVE MEMBERSHIP. Many long time Terrapin Club members now wish to purchase basketball tickets for the first time. Their years of loyalty have earned many Terpoints. They will be a part of those who secure tickets and could replace others, like this person, who has only a few years of Terrapin Club membership, in his case, since 1995.

Summary

The University-Wide New Arena Seating Plan Committee did a magnificent job. The Maryland seating plan will be held up as a model of how to successfully seat new collegiate arenas in our industry for many years to come.

We are grateful for their leadership, sense of fairness and wisdom in advising us regarding how to achieve our financial goal of raising $20 million for construction costs, while also taking care of long time Terrapin Club members.

We are proud of the plan and the clear majority of our Terrapin Club membership recognizes the overall excellence of the seating plan.

Sincerely,

Josiah C. Hull
Interim Senior Associate Director of Athletics
for External Operations