Comcast Center Seating Results
8/19/2002 8:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
Aug. 19, 2002
Comcast Center Seating Results
Below are answers to a number of the common misconceptions regarding the University New Arena Seat Committee Plans for Comcast Center.
Concern: The people who developed this plan are forcing out season ticket holders in favor of those with deep pockets.
Fact: At present, over 200 donors have selected seats in Comcast with lifetime giving as low as $1,500. They are eligible for seats because they accumulated Terpoints in other ways than gift-giving, like membership referrals. The ability to seat donors with such limited lifetime giving is not the norm in collegiate seating plans at high-profile programs with similar demands for tickets. UM has tried hard to accommodate such individuals.
Fact: There were 3,164 total ticket accounts in Cole. Of these, at least 92.3% will transfer to Comcast for full or partial ticket packages.
Fact: The athletics department did not arbitrarily determine the number of Terpoints necessary to qualify for Comcast Center seating. We utilized the University New Arena Seat Committee Plan. Our Terrapin Club members established that figure based on their years of membership, number of referrals, personal contributions, and season ticket purchases for football, men's basketball and women's basketball for years in which that individual was a Terrapin Club member.
Concern: Why not build a larger facility to meet the demand for season tickets?
Fact: The size and scope of the building, including permanent seats, was capped by the state. The 292 portable seats will be of benefit to those who did not qualify for seats in the permanent bowl.
Concern: The seating plan is unfair and disregards loyalty.
Fact: Loyalty is a foundational tenet to the plan, which was developed by a group of 31 individuals, many of whom came from all giving levels of the Terrapin Club. Their plan was recommended to the athletics department. The term "loyalty" is clearly defined through the "Terpoints" formula - it is a definition that eliminates any and all subjectivity of the seating plan. Details were provided to all Terrapin Club members on multiple occasions, beginning in September 1999. This was done in order to allow members as much opportunity as possible to accumulate Terpoints.
Fact: Terpoints, which are a reflection of loyalty to the program, reward: 1) length of membership in the Terrapin Club; 2) membership referrals; 3) season-ticket purchases in football/men's and women's basketball in years when a Terrapin Club member; 4) annual donation amount to the scholarship fund; 5) and lifetime contributions in support of athletics.
Fact: Assigning seats in Terpoint rank order is the best objective means to recognize the relative support and loyalty of our members.
Fact: More than 150 Terrapin Club members who did not have tickets in Cole, but have been members of the Terrapin Club for at least 15 years exercised their option to purchase tickets in Comcast, which is their right.
Fact: One of the primary ways of accumulating Terpoints does not require a donation - it is simply membership referral. Approximately 25% of the donor accounts in Comcast have earned Terpoints via membership referrals. In fact, one Terrapin Club member has earned Terpoints for referring 48 individuals for membership in the Terrapin Club.
Fact: Only 2% of the Comcast ticket account holders are first-year Terrapin Club members.
Concern: The blue-collar fan is being squeezed out by big, corporate money.
Fact: Only 3% of the 300 Building Partners are corporate donors. (The Building Partners, who account for approximately 1,600 of the more than 17,000 seats in the arena, contributed more than $20 million to the building project).
Concern: The Terrapin Club and the University New Arena Seat Committee don't care about their fans.
Fact: Not only do we care, we consider our supporters to be the lifeblood of our athletics program. With a self-supporting, $38 million operating budget that does not include any state monies, our supporters and their gifts to the scholarship fund are critical to our efforts to field a nationally competitive athletics program.
Fact: The reality is demand for tickets, particularly after a national championship season and back-to-back Final Four appearances, is at an unprecedented level and exceeds the supply. It's unfortunate not everyone who wants a season ticket will be able to get one.
Fact: As a follow-up to three years of written notifications, staff and volunteers in April 2002 placed courtesy phone calls to provide additional, updated information to Cole Field House ticket holders who might not qualify for season tickets in Comcast.
Fact: To accommodate as many Terrapin Club members as possible, the athletics department has elected to add, at its own expense, approximately 292 additional, portable seats in the end zones. The one-time cost for these additional seats is approximately $200,000.
Fact: We also have created a 9-game season ticket package to allow twice as many Terrapin Club members, who did not qualify to be seated in the permanent seating bowl, access to the additional end zone seats in Comcast Center.
Fact: Also, if single-game tickets are ever available, Terrapin Club members who do not have season tickets in Comcast will receive priority for purchase of those tickets.
Question: Why did the athletics department split the ticket packages for the additional, portable end zone seats?
Answer: In order to accommodate as many Terrapin Club members who did not qualify for seating in the permanent bowl.
Question: What happened to the April 2002 projection of 198 Terpoints as the cutoff for season tickets in the Comcast Center?
Answer: It was only a projection, based on the information available at that time. As it stands, Terrapin Club members with at least 193 Terpoints received either full ticket packages in the permanent bowl or partial ticket packages in the portable end zone seats.
Question: Can tickets be renewed in the portable end zone seating?
Answer: All Terrapin Club member seats in the Comcast Center (except for Building Partners) will be re-evaluated every three years. The seats in the Red and White sections will also be a part of this triennial re-evaluation. The guidelines to follow to 1) maintain seat locations or 2) to upgrade seat locations will be published in the winter/spring of 2003.
University New Arena Seat Committee Members Dr. Charles Wellford, Chair Mr. Dan Hartle Mr. Terry Arenson Mr. John I. Heise, Jr. Mr. Robert Baker Mr. George Kaludis Mr. Bryan Borda Mr. Rohit Kishore Mr. Earle Palmer Brown Mrs. Deborah Lawrence Mr. John Brown Mr. John Llewellyn Dr. Jackson Bryer Mrs. Jane McCarl Mr. Conrad Carpenter Mr. Robert V. Miller Mr. Barry DesRoches Mr. Renaldo Nehemiah Mr. Michael Egan Dr. Erwin Raffel Mr. Leonard Elmore Mr. Gilbert Rosenthal Col. Thomas Fields Mrs. Peggy Schiff Mr. Edwin R. Fry Mr. Todd Schoenberger Mr. Robert Gonzales Mr. Howard Skall Mr. Barry Gossett Mr. R. Calvert Steuart Dr. Robert C. Hardy
