MOB refuses to pay for tix; Aggies make an offer

[smusportspage]

Oh my, how did college football ever survive not charging the other school's band for tickets. Some things just don't make sense unless you are the devil and then it all makes sense. Just because the Big XII decides to do this doesn't make it right. Everything simply can not be about money. Takes all the fun out life. Some of it can, but not all of it.

[Chnash318]

UT issued the following statement in light of all the commentary about Texas charging schools for band tickets ...

***

Over the past few days, there have been several questions and some misinformation regarding the travel of marching bands to football games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium and at road games in which we participate.

For non-conference play, we have provided 300 complimentary tickets to both Rice University and the University of California at Berkeley for their marching bands. These tickets are specified in their contracts and have been provided to both institutions by The University of Texas. We are disappointed that the MOB from Rice University has chosen not to attend, as we were excited to host one of the great traditions of college football. We are excited to host the band from the University of California at Berkeley at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium and will enjoy the pageantry that they will add to our gameday environment.

For Big 12 Conference games, six of the 10 schools in the Big 12 have historically charged visiting schools for both band and fan seats. The four Texas schools had a gentleman’s agreement to simply charge the fans for the tickets and provide complimentary tickets to the marching bands. The change to smaller venues across the conference, such as TCU and Baylor, caused a shift in that agreement.

Last year, when Texas traveled to Lubbock to play Texas Tech, we were charged for and paid full price for all tickets, including the tickets provided to the Longhorn Band. The current policy, clarified and approved by Big 12 business managers this past summer, states all visiting schools pay for all seats they use at full price. Texas did not initiate the discussions on this policy. We are merely following the practice approved by the Big 12 member institutions.

The Athletics Department at Texas will be paying for the seats for the full Longhorn Band when we travel to Baylor and TCU this year, and at the AT&T Red River Showdown against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. We will pay full price, again, for our tickets when we return to Lubbock to play Texas Tech in 2016.

We hope that these facts provide clarity to the situation and clear up the misinformation.

[PonySnob]

Guess this article was wrong:

http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2015/9/1 ... ets-to-dkr

Maybe you can't believe everything you read on the internet?

[Charleston Pony]

we should have known this was TCU and Baylor's fault. Those darned private schools

[docabel]

we should have known this was TCU and Baylor's fault. Those darned private schools

That was the first thing that stuck out to me in this statement as well. It adds nothing to their argument/point, but just needed to take a poke.

[Digetydog]

we should have known this was TCU and Baylor's fault. Those darned private schools

Damn them for spending millions of dollars on state of the art stadiums. (Aren't both new stadiums larger than the ones they replaced?)

Plus, doesn't UT have the largest band of the B12 schools in Texas? For years, they were getting excess free tickets?

[Stallion]

capacity for both new stadiums at TCU and Baylor are slightly smaller by about 3-4,000 or so

[Charleston Pony]

to be fair, capacity of TCU & Baylor's stadiums is 5k less than anyone else in the Big XII

[Topper]

I agree. Bands are part of the package for alumni and visitors and another way to get students involved.


Look, I didn't grow up in Texas and I got to SMU after SMU played Texas on a regular basis so I don't have the inherent hatred for UT that alot of others do but I am starting to really pull against UT and it has everything to do with Patterson.
THIS is the mentality of an AD who thinks college football is nothing more than 'a buisiness,' that he's doing nothing but making widgets and not providing an education for kids, representing a larger university and taking care of somebody's tradition and school spirit. This guy has gouged his boosters and alumni, cut ties with the academic (i.e. CORE) part of the university, screwed over his olympic sports and football coaches and done everything he could to cut costs at a program that is in a position, at least financially, to do it the RIGHT way.
I want Texas to lose this year, and lose a lot, and I don't enjoy pulling against schools inherently. Strong seems like a decent guy and good coach, and I'm sorry that he is going to be tainted by being Patterson's hire, but I don't want Texas to be successful and have other AD's thinking this is how you do it. I don't want other AD's to look at Presidents, Boards of Directors, and alumni and say "This is how they do it at Texas and they are winning." I want other AD's to look at Patterson and see a cautionary tale, someone who lost sight of what he was there to do, and who lost not only on the field and on the court but also had a mutiny on his hands for trying to turn a college athletic program, ANY college athletic program, into GM.

Last year he charged a group of alums, I think it was their 40th Homecoming reunion, something like $25 or $50 per head to have their pictures taken on the field.

[longbuzzer]

Ironically, high football ticket prices just might provide the Mustangs with a solution to our attendance problem.

Might be expensive to donors and local businesses to absorb the real costs of putting on a football game experience, but if we keep our prices and atmosphere "family friendly," and continue to improve our product on the field, we just might creep up the attendance charts.

Poor snobby SMU. The Cowboys moved 20 miles away and left us with 2-3 million people close to our stadium. We respond with cheap prices and first rate football.

Just like the Mustang Mania days. Back when, people told me the only way SMU could fill it's stadium was to cut prices. I used to say, "Who cares?. We win and have fun."

Big teams like Texas are treating athletics like a financial line item in their budget. Seems like that is counter to the student athlete model that makes college football special.

Just saying.

[ponypatrick]

You know bands do provide entertainment for the crowd-free. I'm probably alone but I enjoy the color and pageantry added by the opposing teams like the Aggy Band, the Texas Band, the Baylor Band and yes the Rice Band. This policy sucks. Again we need an Intercollegiate Convention on the Fair Treatment of Visiting Teams. These are college football's best fans and Bands differentiate College Football from the crap we see in the NFL.

Well said ! I agree completely !

[GreenbeltPony]

Ironically, high football ticket prices just might provide the Mustangs with a solution to our attendance problem.

Might be expensive to donors and local businesses to absorb the real costs of putting on a football game experience, but if we keep our prices and atmosphere "family friendly," and continue to improve our product on the field, we just might creep up the attendance charts.

Poor snobby SMU. The Cowboys moved 20 miles away and left us with 2-3 million people close to our stadium. We respond with cheap prices and first rate football.

Just like the Mustang Mania days. Back when, people told me the only way SMU could fill it's stadium was to cut prices. I used to say, "Who cares?. We win and have fun."

Big teams like Texas are treating athletics like a financial line item in their budget. Seems like that is counter to the student athlete model that makes college football special.

Just saying.

Agreed. Whenever I'm around Dallas and football is brought up I mention that SMU football is relatively cheap to attend and it's family-friendly. Word of mouth can go far, but we do need more Ws.