slu72 fan Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I just spoke with Mark Wright of the Athletic Department regarding the ticket plan. He indicated that the AD has reviewed IRS regulations and has tried to devise a plan that is equitable, yet assists in building the base of support for the AD. Mark is aware that I am posting this to the message board to assist in helping clear up the issue discussed at length in a previous thread regarding the annual contribution for a premium seat location. Based on this discussion, the current position of the AD is that they will issue a donation letter only to the holder of the account that was used to purchase the seats requiring a donation. Furthermore, the letter will only be for the amount of the check from the account holder. For example, if I purchase tickets for my brother through my account, because I'm higher on the priority than him, if I provide the donation to the AD, the letter will come to me for the full amount. If he sends a check for his portion of the donation, he will not receive a letter for IRS purposes, and the AD has not determined if they will accept the check from him. Again, the purpose is to increase the support base, not have others take advantage of a friend's position. Mark was extremely forthright and willing to discuss this matter. If you doubt the post, feel free to call Mark. I'm sure he'd be happy to discuss this with you. He indicated that public meetings were going to be offered later this year for discussion of the specifics of the plan. A sample of a suite has been set up at Busch and he thought the meetings might occur there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Good info - thanks for sharing. If the school will only give the name on the account the tax letter then there really is no point in having multiple checks written. Actually, this is the only fair way to implement this plan even though I know some will be unhappy - such as my brother who buys a tix from me but now is the time to clean this matter up rather than have it festering. The only problem with when the meetings will be held is that you have to send in your tix order for next year and reservations for the following year before the mtgs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 I agree with your thoughts. They are trying to do this the fairest way, but some won't think so. I've discussed this numerous times with Mark and have concluded no matter what they do some will be unhappy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If you want to be fair, just charge your other ticket holders 70% (or something similar) of the amount of the mandatory donation to reflect the tax benefit you will receive and they will not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 -i guess i don't see the point of not allowing larry and shemp to put their check in the envelope curly sends as the goals are (in no particular order): 1-raise money to pay off arena 2-fill the bldg 3-raise money for adept -i would not care if i got a letter, i would have a cancelled check for tax purposes, wouldn't that work? -do we need a b.com tax accountant to tell us if their are irs regs in play here? -i did post long ago there would be issues with arena seating, shortsided me did not think i would have an issue as the stooges example is my group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Is they are acting like they are going to have a rush on the high donation tickets. When in fact it will be the opposite, the rush will occur for the general admission and $150 donation seats. Those seats will be gone quicker than anything else and on those seats there is no donation or the amount it so small it is insignificant for tax purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Information that I got when I called: 1. The tix office is consistent about when they are saying only one letter will be given and in the name of the person who holds the tix. 2. If you have an odd # of seats you will in all likelihood be unable to buy in the Blue or Gold sections since the rows are even numbered. They will try to match the odd numbers tix requests with other odd numbers but the truth is trying to do that and make those groups sit in the same rows will be difficult. So, if you want the Blue or Gold you will need to be an even # order in all probability. 3. If you sign up for the Gold and decide to change to Red then you can transfer the $50 deposit without penality. This seemed the way it should be but better to ask specifically without assuming. 4. The 3 year review of seats may or may not take place - it is a disclaimer that the school wants the option to do so if it thinks it is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If you are lets say #20 on the priorty list for all you have done in the past and you want 5 tickets for your family in the blue or the gold...sorry you are out of luck unless you buy +/- one ticket or if they match you up with someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 This idea of odd number orders maybe not being part of the Gold section is simply one of logistics. The rows are even numbered so they don't want a bunch of single tix scattered around the arena the will never sell - I understand the issue. If you are correct that there will be plenty of empty Gold seats then I can still get in with my odd # order. As far as saying that those who have bought tix for years and supported the program are now being screwed - I am not so sure that is true. All you have to do is have joined a group two years ago and you could easily be sitting in a seats that many who have been giving for years can not access because one guy holds control for a bunch of people who are not Club members or simply buy a tix from time to time. From the way it has been explained to me by the school - I think they are going about it as fair as possible even though I admit that I have one tix for my brother who has been riding my coattails for years - he is the one who has to make the decision about how he plans to proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 And I am not, I would tell them they can take their tickets and any future donations and kindly shove them up their Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 Responding to your post based on what Mark told me, not what I think: 1. They believe their plan will raise more money than having people dovetail onto others, as currently happens. 2. Filling the building is not going to be an issue, if the team performs. That's why we have a new coach. 3.Their plan will raise more money for the AD's general use. They have not indicated that they will accept a check from anyone other than the account holder. So, you won't have a check for IRS purposes. The AD believes that IRS regs are in play here, which is why they've determined to handle this the way they have. Bottom line, they want everyone to set up their own account. David's approach works, but if the account holder leaves, dies, etc. the people giving him "net" checks will be out in the cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 But, they will have to work to sell them and a lot of them will be sold to people and businesses that are not current season ticket holders. I just think they might want to make it easy as possible for people that have been buying tickets for years that want the high donation seats to get them. I guess they will have a better idea how to proceed when they start getting back the season ticket renewals. It will give them an idea of what the demand will be for each area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 They believe that the building will be sold out, and I suspect they are probably right. There's only 9,000 seats to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I think it is a good thing. People who have not been making regular Billiken Club donations should not be ahead of me or others like me on the priority list. Even making them start paying the arena fee now won't make up for the 14 years they have skated by unless they pony up enough dollars to pass me on their own. Sorry, but I will be smiling if all who have been doing somehow get "screwed" Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 it wasnt fair that those not donating to the billiken club continued to sit center court while i sat in the corner unable to upgrade for the entire time we have been at the scott trade center either. now if you are telling me that all involved in a cartel were 100% pooling not only seat money but billiken club money, that is a slightly different story. imo, i say the answer to such a scenario is that they split evenly whatever priority points they have and start their individual billiken club memberships going forward. i would bet those scenarios are few and far between. but what isnt fair is that both would get the benefits of one billiken club's efforts. that isnt right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Unless you were planning on buying in the blue or the gold they are still going to get stay ahead of you. The tax money you get back from a $450 or $150 donation is so small it doesn't matter and for the general admission seats it is no issue at all. All this plan is going to do is clear out the best seats for people who in the past have not had season tickets and who have not made donations to junp in and get prime seats with their new money. This is a way to get those seats empty so they can get new sources of money for people who long term could give a ##### less about the school or the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 cowboy, i would think that the billiken club would allow you to one time split up your existing billiken club points, all four of you start billiken club memberships and when seat selection day comes, all four of you go together and select your seats together. seems simple to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 brian, the issue like you said earlier will be in the red and end seats. that is where the fight for priority is going to be. and in those sections, skip is right. skip and i have been in the corners for 14 years at the scott trade and now those that have been sitting center court without donating are going to get pushed out. now i will say this, to sit in those gold or blue seats, if someone was running a group before, their incentive to continue that just stopped unless they really buck up for it. the arena fee will likely force a whole new group of boosters to emerge imo. great for slu. and if those boosters want to donate enough money to get back in line, i think that is great. write the check or stay quiet. those that have sat center without being a billiken club member should remember that they got a better view of claggett, highmark, justin love, marque perry, tommie liddell and kevin lisch than i did when they shouldnt have. they have nothing to complain about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 For your seats fine. But, if you don't, I think you are going to be pushed even further back for your seats. Those at center court now that are in a cartel will just move that cartel to a less high priced area ($400/$150) and if you planned on buying in that area you will still be behind them but now in even less desirable seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 It doesn't sound like much, but four tickets at $450 each results in a $500 tax savings per year. That's enough to matter to me. An other thing to consider is that a number of the blocks significantly exceed 8 seats. Those are the people that have really hosed the system and will be caught. I'm betting if people want seats in the Gold area and have a decent priority number, they'll be OK. The Red seats are going to be a different matter. There's not many of them and, based on the comments here, are going to be in high demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 i have been giving more than $400 per year for 17 years. i am fine for red. i am out of gold though which is where i wanted to be. but sending my kids to college comes first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 If they have no incentive(tax deduction) as a group to stay together in the higher donation seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 It is only $125 and if they are not itemizing their tax returns currently it is not even worth the time, hassle, or expense of doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 with that kind of giving he is in very good shape for the Red seats and lets be honest, there are a lot of red seats at mid court (looks like maybe 20 rows up) or near the baseline. In an intimate arena these are very good seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I don't know where Roy is in points right now, but if he is not in the top 25%, I think he will have trouble getting the red seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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