Wow.
In order to get season tickets to Longhorn football games, most donate to the Longhorn Foundation, the organization that oversees how season tickets are distributed, along with TX/OU tickets, away game tickets, championship game tickets and bowl games.
It appears that this year's donation level is above the $1500 mark. For a unit of measure, in 2005 the cut-off was $651.
While I'm all about capitalism and making a dollar, it is quite ridiculous how the average fan is being priced out of these things. There were 32,000 requests for tickets through the Foundation, and sadly a large number of those are people out to run the price up on fellow Longhorns.
The Foundation is at risk of a large number of people canceling their season tickets, as most donate just for opportunities such as this. Why donate $1000 a year to see Rice, North Texas and Louisiana Monroe when you don't even get bowl tickets out of it? You can find Rice tickets on the street for $20, can find a Texas/OU ticket for $200, and you're way ahead of where you would be if you donated.
The Longhorn Foundation does a lot of good for our school and our athletic department, but if they're not careful, they're going to erode their base of donations. Yes, there are plenty of big time donors to keep the department afloat...in good times, but what happens if we, shudder, suffer through a 7-5 season? If you've already priced out your donation base, and the top donors cut back, you're really in a jam.
I don't know what the perfect system is, but needing to donate the equivalent of a month's mortgage payment doesn't seem to be it.
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