The fundraising arm that supports Univ. of Kansas athletics in '18 will "restructure the way it distributes seats for season-ticket holders to all of KU’s ticketed, home sporting events," according to Matt Tait of the LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD. No longer will the process, known as Select-A-Seat, be "based entirely on a donor’s lifetime accumulation" of points toward the Williams Education Fund. Instead, those who "donate at the highest levels on an annual basis will be given priority." After seeing the Williams Fund’s annual revenue grow from $5M in '03, when the point system was first installed, to $20M in '16, Williams Fund revenue has been "stuck in neutral," netting between $19-20M a year during the past five years. The price of education "continues to rise and student-athletes, who now also receive a pay-for-play stipend, cost the athletic department an average of $87,000 per year, per athlete." KU Associate AD/Marketing & Sales Matt Baty and Associate AD/Public Affairs Jim Marchiony said that finding new ways to create revenue were "more important than ever." This will "do exactly that, while at the same time giving donors even more incentive to continue to donate money to support their favorite programs and athletes." Baty said that KU’s top 200 or so donors -- those who have "accumulated the largest number of lifetime priority points or who have surpassed $500,000 in lifetime donations -- are exempt from the new process" (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, 8/24).
