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Been awhile since a marketing rant


bonwich

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OK, someone please check me on this, but I just went to the Billiken Ticket Office page. Clicked on 2016-17 Men's Basketball Single Game Tickets. Clicked on Continue to the right of 2016-17 Mens Basketball (the one with the Billiken head next to it). Got this:

 This item currently does not have available tickets for purchase. You can check back later or click the 'view all events' button to see all other items for sale.

I can kinda sorta tell why -- the one on the buy tickets page is supposed to say 2016-17 Mens Basketball Season, as does the corresponding entry on the women's page. Only it doesn't. And it's the first thing someone trying to buy single game tickets sees. (Not to mention the link from the Billiken Ticket Office page says "Single Game Tickets.") 

Does anyone down there ever test any of this stuff, if nothing else than for Schitzengiggles

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Bonwich, I got directed to a Ticketmaster splash page or something. Looks like you have to then set up an account to proceed with single game tickets, probably so TM or the SLU Marketing people will spam your email account on gameday.

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/slu/EN//buy/staticmap/1617MBB

 

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7 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Every season ticket holder should be asking why the marketing department moron is devalueing season tickets with all the deals they are putting out.

Hey man, family members might read this board. Don't attack our marketing department members. 

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42 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Every season ticket holder should be asking why the marketing department moron is devalueing season tickets with all the deals they are putting out.

Learn to spell, morans (Inside political joke if you're unfamiliar.) Who's got the pic of the Cardinal's fan holding the sign at a McCain rally, reading, "Learn to spell, Morans!"

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1 hour ago, bonwich said:

OK, someone please check me on this, but I just went to the Billiken Ticket Office page. Clicked on 2016-17 Men's Basketball Single Game Tickets. Clicked on Continue to the right of 2016-17 Mens Basketball (the one with the Billiken head next to it). Got this:

 This item currently does not have available tickets for purchase. You can check back later or click the 'view all events' button to see all other items for sale.

I can kinda sorta tell why -- the one on the buy tickets page is supposed to say 2016-17 Mens Basketball Season, as does the corresponding entry on the women's page. Only it doesn't. And it's the first thing someone trying to buy single game tickets sees. (Not to mention the link from the Billiken Ticket Office page says "Single Game Tickets.") 

Does anyone down there ever test any of this stuff, if nothing else than for Schitzengiggles

-looks like it got updated, now why there are still events in the left banner on the Single Game page that have long since passed I'm not able to say

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1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

Every season ticket holder should be asking why the marketing department moron is devalueing season tickets with all the deals they are putting out.

In fairness, I see my season ticket as partly a way to support the program.  I think for almost any season (but especially this one), you could get a ticket to each game for well below my season ticket.

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3 minutes ago, SluSignGuy said:

In fairness, I see my season ticket as partly a way to support the program.  I think for almost any season (but especially this one), you could get a ticket to each game for well below my season ticket.

....and if you want good tickets for next year (and following years)  I believe current season ticket holders will (all other things being equal) get first dibs.  You get no credit for buying cheap, single game tickets this year.

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Seems like a good spot for my anecdote.

Ya know that bonus women's game ticket in the back of the (men's) season ticket book?  I gave it to a friend the other day for last week's women's matinee. She and her husband are raising their two grandsons and they all love going to the women's games. When she offered it at the box office to exchange for a ticket she was told to just give it to the ticket taker. The ticket taker told her she had to go to the box office. After some back and forth, the ticket taker just waved her in and gave her the ticket back. So now she can use it again.

Just one more example at SLU of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. I swear these people couldn't run a lemonade stand.

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41 minutes ago, Billiken Rich said:

They ought to let employees in for free.......

Well, in the old days, they did. I attended my first 10 years or so of Billiken games on faculty-discount season tickets. They were half price, maybe less, of regular season tickets. For quite a while they tended to be center-court behind the student section, which was center court next to the floor back then. That changed after the Arena-Kiel-Checkerdome-Kiel move, but the faculty seats will still pretty darn good. 

Between the lack of overall tradition and the fairly crappy way the faculty has been treated in the past 20 years, bringing that perq back would seem to be a no-brainer. But this goes back to the whole "oh, we're going to sell out all the time, we need to have as many seats available for season tickets as possible" mentality that was prevalent when we moved from TD Scotkielvis to the 'fetz. (A parallel mentality to the "students will come to games if we have an on-campus arena" mentality.)

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1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

On another note, I was a little disappointed in the lack of coupons in this year's season ticket book. The cost of my tickets went up, but it seems like the overall value went down. It's a minor complaint, but still one nonetheless. 

I also appreciated the coupons.  I have no idea what deal SLU has worked out with the operators of Chaifetz, so maybe it was a non-negligible cost.

1 hour ago, Billiken Rich said:

They ought to let employees in for free.......

Damn straight.  

We do get a staff discount though, which SLU was nice enough to let me transfer my parents tickets to my name (and add one for me), which are now all under the staff price.  The funny thing is my SLU fandom started when my Dad split season tickets with a co-worker whose spouse worked for SLU (getting the staff discount).  These were then transferred to my parents (as normal tickets) and now back to me (as staff tickets).  So the Rogers family tickets really have gone full circle in the last 20 years.

Also in an unexpected perk, being a member of the Billiken Club lets me get a customized care license plate at discount (normally you have to pay a donation/fee to the school and the state of Missouri, but the Billiken Club membership lets me waive this fee from the school).

They used to let you buy your tickets directly out of my paycheck (so people could get them pre-tax), but I don't think is an option anymore.

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26 minutes ago, SluSignGuy said:

We do get a staff discount though, which SLU was nice enough to let me transfer my parents tickets to my name (and add one for me), which are now all under the staff price.  The funny thing is my SLU fandom started when my Dad split season tickets with a co-worker whose spouse worked for SLU (getting the staff discount).  These were then transferred to my parents (as normal tickets) and now back to me (as staff tickets).  So the Rogers family tickets really have gone full circle in the last 20 years.

Interesting. How is this reflected in your Billiken Club point total in terms of "years as a season ticket holder"?

I was pretty annoyed when they didn't let points transfer when tickets were "passed down" from one generation to the next. I paid for two of my parents' four season tickets probably for 25 years but had to reset to zero after my dad died a year or two before the 'fetz move. I'm pretty sure the marketing professor in him would have chosen the value of goodwill to extra-long-time season ticket holders over the expected value of freeing up new seats for each new generation -- but I'm also pretty sure that the marketing professor in him is the primary reason I get so ticked at the seemingly endless progression of boneheaded marketing moves by the athletic department.  

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1 hour ago, SluSignGuy said:

They used to let you buy your tickets directly out of my paycheck (so people could get them pre-tax), but I don't think is an option anymore.

As a CPA, this sounds like it would be totally against IRS rules.  Maybe before my time it was allowed and hence SLU has stopped doing it, but tickets to sporting events (or even charitable donations, if they are trying to go that route) are not deductible pre-tax.  They could totally buy them directly out of your paycheck, but you'd still be subject to FICA and income taxes on that amount.

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46 minutes ago, bonwich said:

I was pretty annoyed when they didn't let points transfer when tickets were "passed down" from one generation to the next.

Yeah, my late father and I had two tickets (in his name) from the end of the Bonner years at the old Kiel and all the subsequent venues up until Chaifetz. I didn't get any credit for those years and even some of my points at Chaifetz are missing. He's still in their system and I suspect he's got 'em. I've gotten used to the incompetence and the under-competence of the whole outfit.

It's damned hard work being a Billiken's fan.

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I usually buy a ticket to the women's game to support the program.  If you really want and come really early or a little late they will just let you in without a ticket.

Don't get me started with the points system.  My family has had season tickets since 1955.  My grandfather started going to the games in the 40s as he has a local HS bball coach and got tickets for free.  After a few years he started buying tickets.  He quit going to the games in the 70s due to health problems and my father took over his tickets.  When the Billikens moved to the checkerdome and they were divvying up seats my father found out all his points had been going to his father who had been dead for 10 years.  My father had essentially no points and had season tickets since 1972.  I sponged off my father's tickets till 01 when I started buying my own ticket.  My fathers name is my middle name so when I bought tickets they just credited it to his account.  When we moved to chaifetz I found out once again they had botched our family's points.  They had just given my points to my father but had also been crediting my father with buying 2 season tickets plus mine when he had only been buying 1 for several years.  They never gave me my points back.  Now last season my father was season ticket holder of the game, and when they emailed him about it they said he was one of the oldest season ticket holders they had and couldn't believe he hadn't been given this honor yet.  They had him listed as first getting season tickets in 1955.  He was 6 years old in 55.  

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