More Videos
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- NBA D-League On The Rise
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Boise State Stock Plan: An Early Success
- Dollar Signs Seen In Young "Buck" Jennings
- Iverson Wasn't A Popular "Answer"
- My Top 10 Marketing Ideas For Winless Nets
- Airlines Add 'Super Bowl' Tax
- Chicken Wing Finder Makes Debut
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- Chinese Overcapacity is Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Trader Talk
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- China Overcapacity Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Investing in Good Karma – and Making a Profit
- China Unveils Carbon Target Ahead of Copenhagen
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- UK Banks Must Disclose Top Pay: Review
- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink; Greenback Gets the Blues
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
Sports Biz
Text Size 
So the folks in the Michigan State athletics department felt like they needed to raise ticket prices for the upcoming football season. Except they had a problem. They're based in Lansing, the capital of Michigan, the state that has been among the hardest hit from the economic slowdown.
Their strategy?
Come up with a good way to explain it. The result? The most economically motivated sports news release we've ever seen.
Check this one out.
**************
MSU Announces 2009 Football Ticket Prices
The Spartan Ticket Office will begin accepting online renewals on Monday, Feb. 16.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State Athletics Department announced 2009 football season ticket prices Sunday, Feb. 15 as part of a comprehensive plan in response to challenging economic conditions in the State of Michigan and nationally. Other aspects of the plan result in significant budget reductions throughout the Department.
For the first time since 2005, season-ticket prices will increase $3 per ticket for some categories, while others will remain unchanged. Prior to the four-year freeze, football ticket prices had increased every other year since 1996. This equates to a 1.782 percent annual rate increase (for the general public) over the last four years, falling well below the annual inflation rate (3.333 percent average over the same period).
Michigan State, Connecticut and Colorado were the only Bowl Championship Series schools not to raise season ticket prices from 2005-08 ..."We are very sensitive to the environment that we live in today, making this a difficult but necessary decision," MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said. "While football ticket prices have remained the same since 2005, our operational costs have risen significantly, including scholarships (tuition, room and board), utilities, facility maintenance and transportation.
"The MSU Athletics Department isn't insulated from the current economic conditions that have impacted many residents in our state, and as a result, we have and will continue to conduct careful examinations of both revenue streams and expenditures. This price increase could generate in the neighborhood of $600,000 in additional ticket revenue, but that doesn't come anywhere near covering the increased operational costs. We have asked every unit within the Athletics Department to reduce expenditures by 10 percent. This follows a Department-imposed freeze on all non-sports operating budgets for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
"Spartan football season tickets continue to be one of the great values in the Big Ten Conference, with public season tickets priced in the mid-range of the conference, the family plan providing nearly 30 percent of our sales with a discounted seat, and scholarship seat donations required in approximately 20 percent of the stadium," Hollis said. "We continue to strive for championship success with true value for our fans."
Michigan State's season-ticket price for the general public remains in the middle of the Big Ten Conference. Prior to the increase, MSU's (general public) season-ticket price ranked sixth in the Big Ten, trailing Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Illinois.
Single-game tickets also have increased $3 from $46 to $49, while the home game against Michigan remains priced at $70.
*****************
While we can't believe the intricacy of this release, we'd actually like to compliment the Spartans PR staff. They obviously understand that they must try to deflect the anticipated negative sentiment over a price increase in this environment at the same time they tell fans of the details.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes