More on the Season Ticket Morass

In an article posted last night on PennLive.com, David Jones of the Patriot-News amplifies upon the earlier report regarding the Penn State administration’s intention to charge additional fees for season ticket holders and to relocate the student section at Beaver Stadium.

Jones takes no pro or con position on the fees themselves, letting conceptual validation stand up to the fundamental microeconomic principles of supply and demand. He posits that as long as demand exists for the product Penn State is putting out, alumni and fans will pay the freight. However, in the unrestrained manner to which we are accustomed from Jones, he proceeds to go off on the quality of the product, to wit:

“Where I have a real problem with Penn State is part of the product — the pansy scheduling that so transparently reeks of money-grubbing. As a fan of college football, I hate seeing the current trend, not just here but around the country, of power schools scheduling pancakes just in order to get a home game and an extra payout.

…

“Running a business to succeed is one thing. Marketing a product without value is another. And Penn State football this year had very little.”

Although to say that Penn State football this year had very little value might seem like a wee bit of over the top hyperbole, it’s not very far from the truth. Season ticket holders were treated to such finery as sure wins against ho-hum opponents Akron, Syracuse, Temple, and Eastern Illinois, in which the Nittany Lions underperformed, apparently thinking they could “mail it in”. Paying customers were further tormented by the inability of this year’s team to rise to the level of Iowa and Ohio State, and they were wrung out watching a half-assed effort against Indiana. Alas, the homecoming game with Minnesota, won by PSU 20-0, might have been the only truly entertaining game of the year, but because of the snowstorm, it was sparsely attended, the vast confines of Beaver Stadium appearing to be half empty. In summation, the home fans attending games at Beaver Stadium were treated to three halves of football: half-assed, half-gassed, and half-vast.

As I mentioned in my previous post on this subject, I know a long-time season ticket holder who has had enough of this crap and will definitely not be renewing his contract. I know that there are more like him who will raise hell, and many more who will silently pull out. Raising the price of a product while reducing its quality is an arrogant gesture that takes unfair advantage of the fierce loyalty we all feel for Dear Old State. David Jones hits the bullseye in that regard.

Read Jones’ article here.