Moving the student seats
(Written by kencraw)
UPDATE on June 25th: This post has been getting a lot of attention lately so I talked with the Athletic Office today to see what the probability of moving the students is. The answer I got from Herb Beneson was that this is not a discussion point and while not every decision has been made, there’s been no indication that the students will be moved. Herb also pointed to the Haas Pavilion where the Basketball team plays. When they moved there from Harmon Gym, the students still got mid-court seats on one side. So looks like the Athletic Office views things very similarly to use regular folks. I’m going to be working with Herb to get an interview with one of the people in the know to get more details on how the seating will be arranged after the renovation, with the caveat that things are still in flux, so look for additional blog posts on the subject in the coming weeks.
bar20 made the comment down in my new stadium seating analysis that I was completely overlooking the idea that the student seats may be moved from the 50 yard line premier seats to make room for displaced donors and longtime season ticket holders.
It’s true, I did.
But I guess that’s because I don’t want to even consider the possibility. Every stadium I’ve been to where they displace the students into the endzone has felt wrong to me. It might as well be a pro-stadium, potentially an old one, but a stadium where there’s no more ownership of the team than owning season tickets.
In my opinion, students deserve good seats. It’s their school afterall. Not to be too harsh, but every alumni who wants to push them out in my opinion is taking an “I got mine” attitude, because when they were students, they got the best seats. Now, instead of handing down that tradition and benefit they received they want to be the group that gets the best of both worlds, the best seats in college and those same seats as donors.
Yes, yes, I know that’s what all the other programs are doing. I’ve never accepted that as a reasonable answer. You do something because it is the right thing, not because it is what the herd is doing.
But maybe I’m off base. Answer my new survey on the sidebar and add you comments: Are you willing to accept worse seating so that the students don’t have to be displaced?
June 11th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
i had my time on the hill-side 50: it was great and my face–and voice–burned on more than a few Saturdays. Keep the students there and Oski awkward, and roll on.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I’ll sit in the corner, or sneak over into the Student Section, like I do now. I would absolutely abhor moving the students. They’re the loudest, most important part of the cheering section, and I think marginalizing them hurts the home-field advantage of Memorial Stadium.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Agreed…keep the students where they are. Wisconsin has the students in the corner endzone!
Thanks for having a great blog.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
OMFG – I’ll get my old sorry blue ass up in the trees in front of…..wherever I can to stop that madness! It’s already awful that they got moved back in the Harmon expansion. Moving the students off the 50 is a sign of the apocalypse.
June 11th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I agree, one of the things I like about CAL football is the students and the band around the 50 yard line. The student section is by far the loudest in the stadium. If they get moved to the end zone area you lose that noise on the opposite end of the stadium. However when the University can get 10 times what the students pay for tickets from the alumni plus seat licensing fees, some day they may just go in that direction. I hope it never happens!
June 12th, 2009 at 1:17 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if the students were moved from the 50-yard line. It’s being done at other programs and there seems to be a disconnect between people making decisions on these matters and the people affected (See: length of time it took to get the CALIFORNIA banner hanging again; piping in recorded music when we have the band to play; use of “other programs are doing it” excuse (a stupid excuse, because it ignores the tradition/history of Cal football being its own animal)). There are some people in the Athletic department who definitely see the students as the source of greatness during Cal games (fans, supporters, and athletes), but at the same time, there are definitely some people who do not hold that as a high decision-making priority.
June 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
As a season ticket holder but not an alum I cannot believe that Cal would be stupid enough to move the student section. Thats where everyone wants to be. My seats are in QQ and that exactly where i wanted them.
Close to the band, the students and the action. The students on the 50 are what Cal is all about.
These student sare the heart of the effort.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Dear Ken… Its time for a petition. You seem like the best person in the world to organize this.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Duke, I’m not sure what the actual plan is. Seems kinda pointless to start a petition if that’s already the plan…
However, I’ve been thinking of doing an article for BearTerritory.net about the stadium renovation. Sounds like a have a good “excuse” to go find out this info.
If I find out that it’s not as we would like, I’ll be sure to start a petition.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
We’re not U$C, keep the kids midfield. I’m 4 seats from the student section in section T and I love it — love the energy.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I am a grad student at USC, but I went to undergrad at CAL and I am still, and forever will be a die hard CAL fan. One of the arguing points that shuts up the SC fans is the fact that CAL has the student seats on the 50 yard line, while recently (I believe 2006) SC moved more of their students seats and gave those seats to donors.
I don’t care that my current seats at Memorial Stadium are to side of the 50 yard line. I don’t care that they might be a little farther from center field a few years from now! What I do care about is the amazing times I had on Saturdays during undergrad, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from future students just because I might have money. The CAL experience is not about money. In fact its the complete opposite of it. That is why I mentioned the CAL-USC comparison at the beginning of my post. So lets keep that great CAL tradition going by keeping the students around the 50 yard line.
I agree with previous posters. Lets face it, “Hey alumni make some noise” and “Hey alumni GO” will not sound so sweet, nor will it have the same affect coming from anywhere but the center of the field.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Ken, something you said in an earlier post that I thought I’d add here – the idea that season ticketholders must “start ponying up the donor fees” or move out of the new swank sections.
That’s really not accurate. We’ve been ponying up the donations. When I started paying for Cal tickets in the ’90s, we paid maybe $2000 a year for four seats. This year, donation included, it was more like $6000. A 300% increase over the past 15 years, but I’ve paid it.
This new system that’s being used to fund the upgrades — hey, as I’ve said elsewhere, if they can sell it, they should. But I will be surprised if they can truly sell all the seats they need to in the 30-year model. Because the new costs for a _single_ seat in my area will be roughly what I currently spend on four seats. That’s a huge leap on top of the increasingly escalating costs of being a Cal football season ticketholder.
Rather than dropping to two seats and depriving my children of the chance to see Cal games as I did growing up, I’ve resigned to either getting season tickets in a more affordable area out of the cushy seats or dropping entirely and buying single-game seats a few times a year. It’s a shame it’s come to this after the seats have been in my family for 40 years, but there’s no way I can possibly justify (or, indeed, afford) four seats at the new prices. And this is coming from someone with the word “Vice President” in his job title.
I don’t begrudge them trying to sell 30-year commitments, though. If the program goes in the tank they will be coming back to us loyal supporters begging for help, and asking for long-term commitments is a way to buffer against the vagaries of football programs.
I obviously have more to say on this subject but quite honestly my response has been so emotional that I’m trying to give it a few months before I respond in any detail. I am happy that Cal is moving forward in trying to upgrade the stadium. I just fear what we’re getting is New Yankee Stadium — ridiculously overpriced and potentially underpopulated seats. We’ll see.