Believe it has been mentioned here recently the mounting problems facing Athletic Director Jeremy Foley. Remember that vote of confidence for Muschamp? When Jeremy Foley starts a movement to bring declining numbers back to football games, there are problems for everyone concerned in Gainesville.
Foley mentions that all of the athletic teams need support from those that drive great distances, tailgate, buying overpriced tickets and it goes on and on. Football as we all know is the cash cow. Want bodies in the stadium? Talk to Nick Saban. Saban has the answer . . . . winning.
Sounds more and more like the folks in Washington, D.C. Want to take our money and . . . . . make us feel better.
Interesting read gathered from the Orlando Sentinel, long but interesting.
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School officials stressed the changes were prompted by the results of summer fan surveys, not the team’s current record.
Here is a copy of the letter Foley sent:
October 30, 2013
Dear Gator Booster:
Thank you for your incredible support of the Gator athletics program. It is because of your passion, commitment and loyalty that we are able to be one of the most successful comprehensive athletics programs in the nation.
From feedback we've received, many fans believe that television contracts and sponsors fund the majority of our athletic department budget. In fact, the University Athletic Association receives more than 60 percent of its revenue from you - our loyal supporters. Your support provides scholarships for our 400-plus student-athletes and enables us to provide world-class facilities in which they are able to study, train and compete.
Over the summer, we conducted an extensive, randomized survey of current and former season ticket-holders, as well as met with focus groups throughout the state. Many of you have expressed concern that Gator Boosters and the UAA have not been in tune to the issues facing our loyal fan base, and we have heard you. Based on this feedback, we began developing a plan this fall to address those concerns. Now, before we mail 2014 Gator football season ticket information in December, we want to make you aware of those major changes that we are implementing for our Gator Booster membership.
1. There will be no football Booster contribution increases for a minimum of three years.
2. Increase length of payment plan - There was a payment plan instituted this past football season to allow fans to spread payments out over 4 months. We are now going to extend the payment plan to up to 6 payments for those who select that option.
3. Increase Gator Booster Loyalty Points for each consecutive year of having season tickets from 5 points to 10 points - Currently, a booster receives 5 priority points for each consecutive year of having football season tickets and 5 priority points for each consecutive year of having basketball season tickets. Effective for the 2014 football season and the 2014-15 basketball season we will increase Loyalty Points for each consecutive year to 10. This will be retroactive and directly rewards the loyalty of our booster/season ticket holders. Simply stated, we are doubling the number of Loyalty Points you currently receive.
4. Establish "Loyalty Milestone Bonus Points" - For each decade of having football season tickets and each decade of having basketball season tickets, you will receive 50 "Loyalty Bonus Points." At 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years, etc., you will receive 50 Loyalty Bonus Points. This will be retroactive. The longer you are a booster/season-ticket holder, the more you will be rewarded. This applies to both football and basketball.
5. Establish a "Loyalty Lottery" - For cases in which you are not able to have access to a high-demand away game or post-season game, you will be entered into a lottery for a chance to win the opportunity to purchase 2 tickets. Chances are weighted based on number of years having season tickets.
6. We will provide a 3-month window from January until March of 2014 to allow the transfer of tickets to anyone. Currently, we allow tickets to be transferred only within a family. All other rules of the Transfer Policy will still apply. When this window closes, we would once again only allow the transfer to occur within a family.
7. Updated Ticket Transfer Policy - The cost for transferring tickets has been reduced. The updated policy can be viewed at gatorboosters.org.
8. Gators Ticket Exchange - Season ticket-holders who cannot attend a game can now sell their tickets on-line at gatorzone.com, and the purchasers will know that the tickets are authenticated.
9. We will provide season-ticket holders opportunities to attend a football practice for the 2014 season - Available only to season-ticket holders and not the general public.
10. We will also continue our Early Pay Bonus Plan - Fans can take advantage of our Early Pay Bonus and will receive 25 bonus loyalty points if they make their full payment by Feb. 15, 2014.
We are announcing these changes as we have listened to your thoughts, opinions and concerns as Gator Booster members. We hope that you welcome these new approaches, and we look forward to unveiling additional upgrades to the fan experience in the future.
Again, we want to thank you for your support of Gator Athletics. Without you, the Gators' success would not be possible.
Sincerely,
Jeremy N. Foley
Director of Athletics
University of Florida
