[NU Sports] ticket donation thoughts

[Jonathan Hodges]

Note that Northwestern HAS to buy its designated allotment of tickets to the
bowl (11,000 for the Outback, I believe), so they're going to have to get
that money from somewhere.  Read this article about how most bowl teams
actually lose money on bowl trips since they are forced to pay for a bunch
of seats that fans/alumni/etc. don't purchase:

http://www.thewizofodds.com/the_wiz_of_odds/2009/12/playing-in-a-bowl-game-often-a-bad-business-decision.html

Yes, it's a bad system, since bowls typically survive only thanks to these
required ticket allotments (plus TV revenue), especially in light of the
recent Fiesta Bowl campaign contribution story (see following article):

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/12/18/20091218fiesta-bowl-investigation.html

But as a Northwestern fan & alum I'm definitely all for feeding the system
in order to get the NU team in better bowls down the line.  I was one who
thought NU would never be given a chance and would always fall to the bottom
of the pile when it came to bowl selections, but the Outback Bowl obviously
gave NU the chance this year.  It definitely wouldn't look good to "blow it"
by not selling the allotment (which is looking inevitable at this point).

Jonathan

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM, Arthur Miller <artmiller_news at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Regarding the numerous pleas to purchase tickets so as to buy out our bowl
> allotment:  Wouldn't it be a better choice to simply make an equivalent cash
> donation to the Athletic Dept.?  After all, why not allow Phillips & Co. do
> determine the best use of their funds in consideration of ALL the needs of
> the football program.  Perhaps in their judgement the best use of an extra
> $210,000 would indeed be to buy an additional 3000 bowl tix, but I'll bet
> there are more pressing uses for this money that would make a more direct
> and lasting impact to our program.
>
> Besides, by donating cash the giver is able to claim a tax deduction,
> potentially allowing them to give more for the same net after-tax cost.
>  Besides, we have no assurance that the recipients of donated tickets will
> wear purple or even root for the Cats.
>
>
>
>
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