The argument Maryland needs to make to fans --- but isn't

Maryland's football players are disappointed about their freefall in the bowl selection process.

So is coach Ralph Friedgen.

And so, especially, are Maryland fans.

So while Friedgen makes the argument fans need to show up to demonstrate there is support for his program, there's another take that needs to be offered up.

No one seems to be making it, though.

Let's suppose fans were willing to buy a roundtrip flight to Orlando (minimum $200), spend two nights around Disney (another $200), buy a ticket (most are $65 a pop, though some outside each school's ticket allotment are as cheap as $25), get around town somehow (go ahead and check out the rental car rates during that week) and buy a couple nice meals. That doesn't even account for things like parking at the airport and other travel incidentals.

That's a lot of numbers to toss around. How about a very conservative estimate of $550 for one person and $825 for two people to make that trip.

Meanwhile, at the Military Bowl, the best tickets are $90 (a bit pricey, and more on that in a bit) and upper bowl seats at $55. Parking is $20. One local fan could do that game in $75 plus concessions, while a couple could make it work for $130.

(There are $25 tickets available, but those don't appear to be included in Maryland's allotment. Crafty.)

The point is, if someone was willing to invest $550 or more (granted, for a nice getaway), why wouldn't they be willing to plunk down less than 15 percent of that for another game?

Sure, there are some obvious reasons. It will probably be cold, and that's valid. RFK Stadium is an architectural relic from a time cities believed seven-story cereal bowls could suit all their needs, though it's not unfair to describe the Florida Citrus Bowl as a Depression-era erector set. Facing a 6-6 team of any lineage doesn't generally feel like a great way to end a season.

But it's pretty clear economic reasons send Maryland reeling down the pecking order. And a rational economic argument --- if you would have been willing to pay seven times as much for another trip, why wouldn't you buy a ticket to this game --- probably should be considered.

That said, it's understandable why there might be some backlash to spending money on a pricey bowl:

Pick	School	Game	Tix
1.	Virginia Tech	Orange	$195/$160/$150/$135/$95/$65
2.	Florida State	Chick-Fil-A	$80
3.	N.C. State	Champs Sports	$65
4.	Miami	Sun	$60/$50/$40/$30
5.	Clemson	Meineke Car Care	$95/$75/$40
6.	North Carolina	Music City	$80/$60/$39
7.	Georgia Tech	Independence	$47/$37/$14
8.	Maryland	Military	$90/$55
9.	Boston College	Fight Hunger	$75/$50

(It should be noted Georgia Tech is selling half of its 10,000-seat allotment for $14; the other prices for the Independence Bowl are general public rates).

In any case, the best seats available as part of the school's ticket allotment are higher for Maryland than most of the other ACC fan bases. Sitting in the upper deck won't set Terps fans back as much as supporters of other teams in other venues.

Regardless of whether the Military Bowl tickets are costlier than they should be, Maryland is only going to do better in bowl selection in the future if it wins really big or its fans buy tickets now. And if they were willing to book flights and buy hotel rooms for a mini-vacation, it isn't unrealistic for Maryland to plead with those fans to spend a lot less money to provide the program a bump despite the general disappointment of playing in a cold-weather venue.

Comments

[Jordan]

I just bought three tickets this morning to the Military Bowl. I skipped buying the Maryland allotment tickets and got the $25 ones (plus $6 for ticketmaster, grumble), and added on the all-you-can-eat before game Tailgate deal for another $20 more per ticket. Seats were fourth row in upper deck, which at RFK isn't that far from the action, despite the distorted map here: http://www.militarybowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RFK-MD-ECU-2010.pdf

Hard to imagine all that many current students showing up to this -- $55 through the school is an awful lot for a student on a cold game during holiday break.

[Shawn]

Jordan, you made a mistake (although you couldn't have known better). I just found out that as of today, I think if you call the Terps ticket office on the phone, they will sell you the $25 tickets, even though the online form still only offers the $55 and $90 tickets.

I bought a bunch of the $25 tickets today and donated a couple too for good measure.

Although it's true we're all saving a lot of money on flights, I'd really have to hold my nose to pay $90 for a MD-ECU ticket. It feels ridiculous that the bowl set the prices so high and are forcing fans to pay those prices when they buy through their school.

Patrick, thanks for writing about this. Do you have any idea why the military bowl thought it could get away with these prices? I guess when they have 20,000 guaranteed sales and are going to give away the rest to the military, why not ripoff the people who are committed to paying for the tickets? It sucks.

[Shawn]

And $55 is the price for student guests - students can go for $25

[Jordan]

Good to know that students have to only pay $25. I really had a hard time believing there was no cheaper option for students.

I'm OK with my purchase, esp. since I was able to get them on the Maryland side, but yea, I definitely would have gotten them from the school's allotment if I knew!

I had to go through an upsell attempt anyway by Ticketmaster as the guy over the phone first tried to tell me that no $25 were left and that I should get the $55 ones, despite the online site showing me no trouble in buying them.

Ticketing issues aside, I'm still looking forward to attending my first bowl game.

[D1scourse]

Shawn ---

Im not sure why $90 is the high-end price. I know if I was a Maryland student now, Id channel my days in the Phillies final years at the Vet and buy 700 level seats and meander down to the 300 level almost immediately. Certainly easy to understand why people wouldnt plunk down $90/pop.

My best guess is that any bowl game (not just this one) figures it will be able to tap into the season ticket base of any school that comes to its game, and that those are the folks who are easiest to make money off of. If someone is willing to make a significant investment in a program (season tix + booster club donations), whats an extra $100 around the holidays?

[Adam]

Are the $25/$55 student/guest tickets located in the upper deck?

[D1scourse]

Adam ---

Yep, though the seats closest to the field --- the ones where your view is obstructed by sideline personnel --- are also $55.

Heres the seating map:

http://www.militarybowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RFK-MD-ECU-2010.pdf

[Shawn]

Of course every bowl game thinks like that, but for some reason the military bowl wants more for lower level seats than almost all the other ACC bowls (and more for many of their best upper level seats too). It just doesn't make sense considering how much thought goes into setting prices for a bowl game.