I Really Disagree with this Letter to the Editor in BDC

[Rich K]

Maybe we should ask Portland State or UNCU how they deal with problems like this? haha

[CodyCat]

I get it, it’s frustrating. But, it was handled properly.

[AFCAT]

@AFCAT thanks for the reminder. I do know a few season ticket holders, but before I ask them, maybe you could explain a bit more to me. Would I ask them to purchase extra season tickets, then somehow transfer ownership to me? I just don’t know the protocol. I guess the place to start is just call the ticket office and ask them the protocol.

Season ticket holders have priority to purchase new season tickets every year. That’s how I went from two season tickets to ten. There may or may not be some extra tickets available this next year. Ask your friend(s) to call the ticket office when they open up for new sales. Season ticket holders get a notice every year about new sales. The tickets will belong to the season ticket holder and they transfer them to you at the start of the season. I do this with my ten tickets. I transfer them to my family and a couple of friends that are on my plan. I also keep two tickets in reserve as giveaways to others. Not sure about transferring ownership, but that might be able to be done. I like keeping everything together in one plan though, because that helps me with my priority point ranking. You can always drop out if the stadium expands and you can get your own plan, but this is a way in the door.

So you buy extra and get all the benefit of priority points rather than the new ticket holders. This is the type of thing people are complaining about. New graduates, fans who moved back to area, family situation changes so person can start attending do not have much chance. Current holders get first chance and if they use a scenario you lay out they get some tickets but none of the extra over the years. Is there incentive for the person you help to donate more. Do you see the concern with this and not opening up for new ticket holders first. It wasn't an issue for a long time but being at capacity it definitely can be.
I am not directing this at you as you just utilize what is available.

Just having season tickets doesn’t move you very far up that priority points list, many on here have already written about that. You have to do much more. Donate to the Bobcat collective, I do a monthly allotment. Become a QB club member, Fast break club member, Sixth man club, etc. Heck, I can’t count how many times during the year we are asked to donate more to the QB club to cover additional things like medical equipment for the team, coaches bonuses, travel funds for athletes, recruiting money. Even the QB club meetings are set up to donate extra money every week. Purchase 50/50 tickets at the meetings and if you win, most people donate that money back to the athletes.
You also have to donate lots of extra money every year to funding of things like the BAC, indoor facility, etc. I have a yearly allotment set up for those projects. Just paid off my BAC pledge this year. Go to the Bobcat Club events when they come to your town and donate at that event too.

My season tickets alone barely make a dent in what I have to give every year to be higher up on the priority points list. If my friends and family want to donate more money to move higher up on the priority list on their own, they can certainly do so, but the benefit to them would be about the same as what they get now. However, none of us really donate to benefit ourselves.

The “incentive” or benefit of being higher on the priority points list is being able to purchase those eight playoff game tickets and six tickets to the championship game, if the Cats make it that far. That’s about it. That’s the benefit. Thousands and thousands of dollars donated every year and I get those two things, the opportunity to spend more money. Oh, and I get six free parking opportunities in the parking garage every year for being in the Presidents club, which I’ve never used. My real incentive to give to MSU isn’t those extra tickets, it’s because I love MSU.

[damnyoutuesday]

There were 22,000 people there, and that demand from that game could've filled an NFL sized stadium if the state of Montana had one that big. There were always going to be people who didn't get tickets and were going to be unhappy. It was inevitable

[WalkOn79]

@AFCAT thanks for the reminder. I do know a few season ticket holders, but before I ask them, maybe you could explain a bit more to me. Would I ask them to purchase extra season tickets, then somehow transfer ownership to me? I just don’t know the protocol. I guess the place to start is just call the ticket office and ask them the protocol.

Season ticket holders have priority to purchase new season tickets every year. That’s how I went from two season tickets to ten. There may or may not be some extra tickets available this next year. Ask your friend(s) to call the ticket office when they open up for new sales. Season ticket holders get a notice every year about new sales. The tickets will belong to the season ticket holder and they transfer them to you at the start of the season. I do this with my ten tickets. I transfer them to my family and a couple of friends that are on my plan. I also keep two tickets in reserve as giveaways to others. Not sure about transferring ownership, but that might be able to be done. I like keeping everything together in one plan though, because that helps me with my priority point ranking. You can always drop out if the stadium expands and you can get your own plan, but this is a way in the door.

So you buy extra and get all the benefit of priority points rather than the new ticket holders. This is the type of thing people are complaining about. New graduates, fans who moved back to area, family situation changes so person can start attending do not have much chance. Current holders get first chance and if they use a scenario you lay out they get some tickets but none of the extra over the years. Is there incentive for the person you help to donate more. Do you see the concern with this and not opening up for new ticket holders first. It wasn't an issue for a long time but being at capacity it definitely can be.
I am not directing this at you as you just utilize what is available.

Just having season tickets doesn’t move you very far up that priority points list, many on here have already written about that. You have to do much more. Donate to the Bobcat collective, I do a monthly allotment. Become a QB club member, Fast break club member, Sixth man club, etc. Heck, I can’t count how many times during the year we are asked to donate more to the QB club to cover additional things like medical equipment for the team, coaches bonuses, travel funds for athletes, recruiting money. Even the QB club meetings are set up to donate extra money every week. Purchase 50/50 tickets at the meetings and if you win, most people donate that money back to the athletes.
You also have to donate lots of extra money every year to funding of things like the BAC, indoor facility, etc. I have a yearly allotment set up for those projects. Just paid off my BAC pledge this year. Go to the Bobcat Club events when they come to your town and donate at that event too.

My season tickets alone barely make a dent in what I have to give every year to be higher up on the priority points list. If my friends and family want to donate more money to move higher up on the priority list on their own, they can certainly do so, but the benefit to them would be about the same as what they get now. However, none of us really donate to benefit ourselves.

The “incentive” or benefit of being higher on the priority points list is being able to purchase those eight playoff game tickets and six tickets to the championship game, if the Cats make it that far. That’s about it. That’s the benefit. Thousands and thousands of dollars donated every year and I get those two things, the opportunity to spend more money. Oh, and I get six free parking opportunities in the parking garage every year for being in the Presidents club, which I’ve never used. My real incentive to give to MSU isn’t those extra tickets, it’s because I love MSU.

Great post. In 2021 I wasn’t in BQC, 6th Man, Fast Break,Side Out, BAC, Indoor, etc. etc. etc, and my priority number was miles away from getting tickets to Frisco. I was lucky my company had access to some tickets so I got to go, but I vowed never to rely on others again. My allotment was 4 in 2024 and 6 this year. Those tickets are costing me thousands, but I’ll echo what AFCAT said. I’m not doing it for championship tickets alone. I do it because I’m inextricably tied to this University. And I’m Bobcat and Montana State til I die!!

[lutecat]

This from a griz fan I was talking to. You can't argue with people like this. Here's some tidbits she was texting me:

Season ticket holders could get first dibs...but EIGHT extra tickets each??? Absolutely not. And why wouldn't you want the rival team fans, more importantly other Montanans in general, to attend a historic game? What's there to hide?? And justifying $500+ per ticket?? Seems ridiculous and off to me. But I'm just a dumb Griz fan.

We would NOT have offered that many extra tickets and would have encouraged attendance from BOTH sides. Because the game is for and about Montana, and a historic one at that.

When you're ahead of a team like that in the end, ANY team, the only reason you leave starters in at the end and risk a HURT QB like that is to kick the other team when they're down. Make an example of them. Great job.

[lutecat]

Her insistence that this was for all Montana....

When pressed she said, yes this should've been first come first serve for all Montanans. No priority.

[catscat]

This from a griz fan I was talking to. You can't argue with people like this. Here's some tidbits she was texting me:

Season ticket holders could get first dibs...but EIGHT extra tickets each??? Absolutely not. And why wouldn't you want the rival team fans, more importantly other Montanans in general, to attend a historic game? What's there to hide?? And justifying $500+ per ticket?? Seems ridiculous and off to me. But I'm just a dumb Griz fan.

When you're ahead of a team like that in the end, ANY team, the only reason you leave starters in at the end and risk a HURT QB like that is to kick the other team when they're down. Make an example of them. Great job.

Says all you need to know right there. Kudos, though, most of them won't admit it.

[grizzh8r]

This from a griz fan I was talking to. You can't argue with people like this. Here's some tidbits she was texting me:

Season ticket holders could get first dibs...but EIGHT extra tickets each??? Absolutely not. And why wouldn't you want the rival team fans, more importantly other Montanans in general, to attend a historic game? What's there to hide?? And justifying $500+ per ticket?? Seems ridiculous and off to me. But I'm just a dumb Griz fan.

We would NOT have offered that many extra tickets and would have encouraged attendance from BOTH sides. Because the game is for and about Montana, and a historic one at that.

When you're ahead of a team like that in the end, ANY team, the only reason you leave starters in at the end and risk a HURT QB like that is to kick the other team when they're down. Make an example of them. Great job.

Someone get this woman a Costco-sized cheese tray to go with all that whine...

[PHAT CAT]

My family has had season tickets in the same area since 1974. Where were this people when I couldn't give tickets away in the late eighties? We had eight of them. A lot went unclaimed and into the trash. Every year my dad paid booster fees and bought our tickets. Every year. I took them over long time ago after he got killed mowing our lawn. We didn't miss games even when we sucked and Reno H. Sales was empty. We kept buying our season tickets and paying the booster level fees. Now that we're damn good, people are belly aching that they can't get in? Guess what pal? Go pound F--king sand. I stood inline and got four extra tickets for Bobcat friends. Sold them for what I paid. Sorry some people are late to the party. But for a lot of us. We did the heavy lifting, long before the party line formed. Sorry if we want to dance first.

Wow, talk about entitled. Maybe some fans didn't graduate until the last 20 years and needed to get their feet on the ground before being able to take on season tickets. Do we not want a new batch of fans. I get the hate for the letter writer, but you cast a broad brush.

Seniority has priority. Entitled? Yeah, right. MSU didn't sellout of season tickets until two years ago. Where was this dude? Cry me a river.

[BornBobcat2000]

My family has had season tickets in the same area since 1974. Where were this people when I couldn't give tickets away in the late eighties? We had eight of them. A lot went unclaimed and into the trash. Every year my dad paid booster fees and bought our tickets. Every year. I took them over long time ago after he got killed mowing our lawn. We didn't miss games even when we sucked and Reno H. Sales was empty. We kept buying our season tickets and paying the booster level fees. Now that we're damn good, people are belly aching that they can't get in? Guess what pal? Go pound F--king sand. I stood inline and got four extra tickets for Bobcat friends. Sold them for what I paid. Sorry some people are late to the party. But for a lot of us. We did the heavy lifting, long before the party line formed. Sorry if we want to dance first.

Wow, talk about entitled. Maybe some fans didn't graduate until the last 20 years and needed to get their feet on the ground before being able to take on season tickets. Do we not want a new batch of fans. I get the hate for the letter writer, but you cast a broad brush.

Seniority has priority. Entitled? Yeah, right. MSU didn't sellout of season tickets until two years ago. Where was this dude? Cry me a river.

Kind of sad to see that this situation has caused some in fighting between us fans during the best stretch ever of Bobcat football. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get tickets to the game, I would’ve loved to be there, but I also understand that the long time season ticket holders deserve priority. That’s how it should be, and no matter what people were going to miss out.

I think those of us who missed out can voice our disappointment in missing the biggest home game ever, while also being happy that the long time faithful fans all got to be there and we kept the Gr*z fans to a minimum. I also think the season ticket holders can sympathize in this discussion without being demeaning to those who don’t have the same situation in life. We’re not lesser fans just because we haven’t been able to get season tickets, so no need to take jabs at each other. Let’s enjoy this awesome season! We have a lot to be thankful for as a fan base.

[RockyBearCat]

I have 8 season tickets. Started and built up over 13 years. Still didn't get any or championship tix. That's the way it goes. My 8 requested were all going to Cat fans at face. 4 found some elsewhere, 4 didn't go.

But you got your regular 8 didn't you. You just didn't get additional?

Correct. Got our regular 8, no extrss.

[Bobcat4Ever]

My family has had season tickets in the same area since 1974. Where were this people when I couldn't give tickets away in the late eighties? We had eight of them. A lot went unclaimed and into the trash. Every year my dad paid booster fees and bought our tickets. Every year. I took them over long time ago after he got killed mowing our lawn. We didn't miss games even when we sucked and Reno H. Sales was empty. We kept buying our season tickets and paying the booster level fees. Now that we're damn good, people are belly aching that they can't get in? Guess what pal? Go pound F--king sand. I stood inline and got four extra tickets for Bobcat friends. Sold them for what I paid. Sorry some people are late to the party. But for a lot of us. We did the heavy lifting, long before the party line formed. Sorry if we want to dance first.

It wasn’t always this way …

Good post @PHAT CAT. I had season tickets from some time in the dark ages. One year I was very sick and no way could we go to ‘Cat/gris. So I had them shopped around my department — email, sign on the break room, word of mouth, etc. Sixty employees in that department, and I couldn’t give away two tickets four rows off the field in Section 104. Made me realize I had overpaid for a worthless commodity.

How did we end up in 104? We went to buy tickets in 106 which fit our budget better. We went in to buy them and were told that we needed to look at the chart and tell them which seats we wanted. We’d always been sitting in GA on the other side, so they said here is a map, go look at the seats and come back. We did, and came back with choices in 106, and also lower 104 because it was marked open on the map. We asked and were told that season ticket sales were going poorly, and they were opening the lower tier of 104 because they didn’t want a bunch of empty seats that close to the field. I think we sat there for three years, and then a bunch of us were asked to upgrade or move to 106. A lot of our bunch moved to 106 as a group and we sat there until physically unable to do so.

So, I agree — for those of us who supported that program for years and years, if we’d still been physically able to go we’d have tried to make it possible for others to get a break like we did.

To come around when the demand is way beyond capacity and then to accuse a “hand full” of ticket holders to block out others is just simply disingenuous. What’s a “hand full?” Six or eight or ten? Shame on you — ten of you bought up 80 extra tickets and blocked out the entire state of Montana.

[FTG247365]

Love to understand the rational thinking, of people being left out. We've had season ticket for 20 years, haven't missed many games in probably 35 years.
This year, everything lines up to play the gris at home in the semi finals. Probably the best scenario a Cat fan could ask for.
This is where I don't feel sorry. For the casual fan, that might go to 1 game a year or every other year. OR the This sounds like fun, never been to a Cat game. When these people start bitching and complaining about not being able to get tickets, sorry your not invested into the program or are as passionate about MSU Football.
On the other hand, it does go to show we need to expand the stadium.

[CelticCat]

No one is complaining that those who have waited in line "get to dance first". They are complaining you got more extra tickets than normal to the dance. Season ticket holders have admitted they sold or gave their tickets to people who wouldn't normally be able to go, or maybe wouldn't go normally. I said in another thread I bet there were quite a few fans in the stands attending their very first Bobcat game ever simply because of who they know. And yet people here are essentially saying "put up or shut up" in terms of spending money and time at MSU athletics. This is the attitude the author of the letter is arguing against.

This letter is ridiculous but MSU brought this upon themselves by not letting a single ticket go up for sale for anyone else besides season ticket holders.

[MSUBRONCO]

To much demand for tickets what a good problem to have... Expand the stadium

[GoodTimesAllTheTime]

No one is complaining that those who have waited in line "get to dance first". They are complaining you got more extra tickets than normal to the dance. Season ticket holders have admitted they sold or gave their tickets to people who wouldn't normally be able to go, or maybe wouldn't go normally. I said in another thread I bet there were quite a few fans in the stands attending their very first Bobcat game ever simply because of who they know. And yet people here are essentially saying "put up or shut up" in terms of spending money and time at MSU athletics. This is the attitude the author of the letter is arguing against.

This letter is ridiculous but MSU brought this upon themselves by not letting a single ticket go up for sale for anyone else besides season ticket holders.

I think it’s a valid complaint to say that 8 additional tickets was too many. Especially because they lengthened the opt in period after the matchup was determined. Six or four or , better yet, two apiece would have accomplished the same goal.

But all that aside, the tickets were never going to make it to a general public sale in any event and anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t thinking at all.

[kcatz]

Everyone seems to forget that season ticket holders get first access to extra tickets for every regular season home game. Including Cat/griz that never has extra tickets for the general sale. Maybe some SRO come available the week of but Cat/griz always sells out from season ticket sales.

MSU didn't do anything different or wrong....except maybe vocalinzing what we were all thinking.

There's approximately 4200 season ticket holders win about 16, 000 seats to season ticket holders. That left at best want 4500 tickets to sell.

No tickets were getting to the general sale regardless of how many each season ticket holder had access to.

This letter to the editor just about had me ready to get an account with BDC so I could respond. He sounds like a mad griz fan.

[Cataholic]

No one is complaining that those who have waited in line "get to dance first". They are complaining you got more extra tickets than normal to the dance. Season ticket holders have admitted they sold or gave their tickets to people who wouldn't normally be able to go, or maybe wouldn't go normally. I said in another thread I bet there were quite a few fans in the stands attending their very first Bobcat game ever simply because of who they know. And yet people here are essentially saying "put up or shut up" in terms of spending money and time at MSU athletics. This is the attitude the author of the letter is arguing against.

This letter is ridiculous but MSU brought this upon themselves by not letting a single ticket go up for sale for anyone else besides season ticket holders.

So not okay for season ticket holders to give tickets away to people they know, but better that completely random fans has access to tickets? That seems completely contrary to the goal of getting tickets into verified MSU fans. And I can’t imagine a better group of verified fans than season ticket holders. Kudos to MSU for making sure the stadium was packed with MSU fans.

Nobody has mentioned the number of student tickets purchased and donated by season ticket holders. I purchased 20 for every playoff game that were donated to students. How many of the casual fans made these completely voluntary contributions? How many of these casual fans complaining went to the Mercyhurst or San Diego games? The “outrage” of these casual fans not getting tickets is the very definition of entitled fan.

As far as this editorial, we are not sure if he has ever attended an MSU game in his life. Just feels entitled to having that option. We don’t even know if this guy waited in line or tried to call the ticket office or asked around his work or relatives for tickets. I know a lot of people who found tickets at face value by simply asking around. This guy will be complaining next year when he can’t get tickets to the regular season Cat Gris game.

[Cataholic]

Everyone seems to forget that season ticket holders get first access to extra tickets for every regular season home game. Including Cat/griz that never has extra tickets for the general sale. Maybe some SRO come available the week of but Cat/griz always sells out from season ticket sales.

MSU didn't do anything different or wrong....except maybe vocalinzing what we were all thinking.

There's approximately 4200 season ticket holders win about 16, 000 seats to season ticket holders. That left at best want 4500 tickets to sell.

No tickets were getting to the general sale regardless of how many each season ticket holder had access to.

This letter to the editor just about had me ready to get an account with BDC so I could respond. He sounds like a mad griz fan.

Exactly! If every season ticket holder requested just 2 extra tickets, it would have only got half way through the season ticket list. LOTS OF SEASON TICKET HOLDERS DID NOT GET EXTRA SEATS. And the majority of complaints are coming from the casual fans who has attended one or two games per year.