Univ. of Michigan AD Dave Brandon said he believes the "disconnect" with the school's student body "began two seasons ago" after his decision to implement general admission seating for football games, according to Mark Snyder of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. After UM students last week called for Brandon's ouster, he "wants to work to repair that divide." Brandon: "There was a clear problem: we had thousands of empty seats, students weren't coming. It wasn't a revenue problem -- they were paying for the seats, the revenue had been collected -- it was just a function they weren't showing up (for). We were getting pretty frustrated. It really hurt the game day atmosphere, our student athletes were noticing, our coaches were noticing it. We had to do something to see if we can't motivate our students to get into the game and show up on time and be there. ... We started seeking advice from programs that had dealt with similar problems and it seemed like every answer was general admission, because the motivation is you get there early, you get the great seat. So we put that plan together. How did we screw up? I don't think we did a good job engaging with our student body, (just) saying everybody's telling us this is the answer." Snyder wrote the "biggest issue was simply that the students who had spent years improving their location were suddenly robbed of the value they built," which "sapped their motivation." Brandon said of the school's ticket plan, "We launched it and in the first year it didn't achieve its purpose. ... Then we end up with 8,000 less requests for student tickets (for 2014)." The athletic department then "had to scramble to sell thousands of seats that they expected to be accounted for." Brandon: "We want to have more than 8,000 students in our student section. I look at this and we're not where we need to be yet" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/5).
THE WAY THINGS WERE: SI's Michael Rosenberg writes UM has "gotten away from what made it successful off the field." Brandon, who would "sell naming rights to his bedroom pillows if he could, has tried alternate uniforms, piped-in music and fireworks (which the school's regents shot down)." UM was once the country's "most fundamentally sound program," but it has "traded substance for hype in hopes of 'extending the brand'" (SI, 10/6 issue). In Detroit, Angelique Chengelis noted Brandon is facing a "number of ticket marketing issues gone awry this season." It has been "a struggle to fill Michigan Stadium this fall, in part because of an unappealing home schedule and the fact the Wolverines were coming off a 7-6 season." Brandon on Thursday said, "Attendance is a big issue for us. We've got the biggest stadium in the country, so it's a challenge for us to try to maintain the kind of level of attendance and excitement in the stadium that we've grown to expect in Michigan football." Chengelis wrote a big part of the issue "is that student season-ticket sales dropped to about 13,000 this season from 19,000" in '13. The promotion before the Minnesota game "was a black eye," as Coca-Cola "was offering two free face-value tickets, valued at $150, for the purchase of two drinks." Brandon: "We reach out and we do some promotion and marketing we haven't done before, and some people have objected to that. But the intent was really to try to get people in those seats and fill that gap" (DETROIT NEWS, 10/5).
THE BRADY BUNCH: The N.Y. Times’ William Rhoden said, "Michigan can fire (football coach) Brady Hoke and get rid of the athletic director, but the coach and administrator are merely the symptoms of a much larger problem that looms when money and profit become the highest value” (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN2, 10/5). ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit: "This whole discussion this week about the injury and who is responsible is getting us away from where we are at Michigan. You have an athletic director that's under fire … and that's been bubbling before the season started. ... What's inevitable to me -- it's not going to happen during the season -- but there's going to be change" ("College Gameday," ESPN, 10/4). FS1’s Stewart Mandel said, “The good news for Brady Hoke, if there is such a thing in this situation, is that Dave Brandon the athletic director, absolves him of any blame in this saying that the medical staff is the one to blame for not informing him of the injury or not diagnosing it in time” (“Fox Sports Live: Countdown to Kickoff,” FS1, 10/3).
WHAT ABOUT SPARTY? In Detroit, Joe Rexrode reported Michigan State Univ. on Saturday "came up a few hundred tickets short of a sellout" for its home game against Nebraska. MSU coach Mark Dantonio said, "I appreciate the fans that did stay, and the fans that left, that's just not right." MSU S Kurtis Drummond said of students leaving early, "Yeah, you notice it. I mean, it's noticeable. But I mean, it is what it is. You'd love to see your students stay throughout the game, but I understand, maybe they thought the game was over. They had other things to do, I guess" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/5).
