Ticket office

[UNTLifer]

10 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

As for the "you're supporting your school" crowd....the question is who is responsible for that. It should be important to the Ath Dept to do everything they can to ensure their student athletes are being supported. The buck stops at the AD, not the fans. I stopped donating years ago because I was tired of getting crap service and then getting the "support the students" lecture. That's not on me. That's on you. That guilt trip doesn't work. 

You want support, do your job better. This isn't a charity. Isn't our AD is the highest paid AD in the conference? I have a job....it's not running that department. That's his job...his only job.

Get out of here with "you should support our athletes." BS...you should do a better job ensuring the athletes get support. In this instance, the athletic dept is letting them down, not the fans.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

I got like 3 calls over the course of February to April asking if I’m renewing and such, and I simply said I’m waiting until April deadline/until basketball and most of softball is over.

BUT I do agree with y’all on about everything. I did renew, but I upped my donation level and such because in this time of college athletics as well as the transformation to the AAC, it’s crucial.

Unfortunately most things won’t change WITHOUT change internally. Wren has done a great job in general, but the ticket office and such has been a major problem for a few years now. Mainly football ticket problems, especially for away games. For basketball, it’s been a breeze, oddly.

I actually plan on donating a portion to strictly basketball because they deserve it.

Edited June 10, 2022 by NorthTexasSportsNetwork

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

13 hours ago, cogido said:

Just my two cents worth.  Since old Fouts field days through today I’ve never had any trouble with my season tickets, donations, bowl tickets or bowl game activities.  If I were you I would personally contact Wren, the man at the top.  Just sayin...

Trying to contact wren will just bring you in circles until Jared Mosley answers the phone…

[THOR]

had tickets for 15+ years...never had a problem...always got my stuff where i wanted.  sucks your experience was different, but i have always been happy, no problems.  guess i am lucky

[FirefightnRick]

Hate to break it to ya but there’s a lot of people not renewing their season tickets this year and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ticket office.

 

Rick

[NT80]

On 6/9/2022 at 7:50 PM, emmitt01 said:

He inherited some staffers who should have been gone when Dickey was here, much less several coaches later. 

Agree. Some still remain.

Wren also inherited Littrell and Benford.  He let Benford stay for his last contract year, which ran off any remaining basketball fans, but then made an excellent hire in Grant McCasland.

He is now slow to axe Littrell; some think it's because of the buyout $$.  But this lack of doing what needs to be done again for the program will continue to negatively affect attendance, donations, and fan confidence in football; which is also $$ lost.

Edited June 12, 2022 by NT80

[UNT 90 Grad]

8 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Whatever happened to Reggie?  I like him.

Still there.  Great guy.  

Reginald Johnson - Associate Athletic Director, Development - Staff Directory - University of North Texas Athletics (meangreensports.com)

[TheColonyEagle]

3 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Hate to break it to ya but there’s a lot of people not renewing their season tickets this year and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ticket office.

 

Rick

[97and03]

This thread is the perfect snapshot of this fan base. Everyone wants us to be a top notch program but no one wants to pay for it. I don’t think most of you realize exactly how cheap it is to be a North Texas fan. Our Club donation requirement is probably about what it costs to sit in the second tier at a real top school. 
I am not the type to tell fans to go away or anything like that, but I honestly don’t understand the mentality I am hearing here. Two major themes: 1) “I am not here to support the school or the students - just want to see a winning team.” 2) “We aren’t as good as I want (or something has happened I don’t like) so I will stop giving money to support the program but I still expect them to have a top tier program.”

Both of these positions are in my opinion indefensible. They sound like the fans of a pro team and not those of their alma mater. If you don’t want to support the program anymore that’s your business. But stop expecting the program to keep going forward if the money starts drying up - especially since some here seem to be actively trying to encourage others to stop buying/giving. 
 

People complaining about “not getting enough” for a friggin’ donation. Good lord. 

[Marty]

Been a season ticket holder for 16 years, never had an issue. 

And as posted above, to stop donating doesn't solve any problems.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

9 hours ago, 97and03 said:

People complaining about “not getting enough” for a friggin’ donation. Good lord. 

I mean sure, certainly. But there's other shades in there. 

My kids' private school hired a new fundraising coordinator a couple years back and this person thought slipping in an honor code agreement into the tuition contract to donate X amount of money to the "academic fund" or some such - was a good idea. All it did was come off as classless and back handed and perhaps shady. All the parents, i mean all, quickly took the be stance of "try to collect it" ... Instead of " happy to give what i can ... Show me what it is going to this year." It was a disaster and the school raised next to nothing that year. That employee didn't make it long at the school and fundraising resumed with the next person who could "read the room." I'm glad that employee got the chance to learn and moved on to another place, and I don't have to get emails about my "agreement."

I still support the Mean Green, but competition for excess donation money IS a zero sum scenario and you are needing to show what is the return. For me, there was a tipping point on tactics. Others its service. Others it's performance. But overall you can only vote with your dollars. 

 

[MeanGreenZen]

Y’all need to quit whining and support the team.

I renewed my football season tickets and will bring my family to every game I can.

I also bought basketball season tickets for the first time ever last year even though I could only go to three games since I live so far. Renewed those too.
 

My Mean Green basketball season tickets cost me about what I paid to go to ONE Mavericks playoff game. 

Great things happening across the athletic department for those who care to look.

If you support it, more will come…

[UNTcrazy727]

On 6/11/2022 at 1:42 AM, 97and03 said:

This thread is the perfect snapshot of this fan base. Everyone wants us to be a top notch program but no one wants to pay for it. I don’t think most of you realize exactly how cheap it is to be a North Texas fan. Our Club donation requirement is probably about what it costs to sit in the second tier at a real top school. 
I am not the type to tell fans to go away or anything like that, but I honestly don’t understand the mentality I am hearing here. Two major themes: 1) “I am not here to support the school or the students - just want to see a winning team.” 2) “We aren’t as good as I want (or something has happened I don’t like) so I will stop giving money to support the program but I still expect them to have a top tier program.”

Both of these positions are in my opinion indefensible. They sound like the fans of a pro team and not those of their alma mater. If you don’t want to support the program anymore that’s your business. But stop expecting the program to keep going forward if the money starts drying up - especially since some here seem to be actively trying to encourage others to stop buying/giving. 
 

People complaining about “not getting enough” for a friggin’ donation. Good lord. 

Forcing MGSF donors to pay $120 more for blue parking by pressuring them with the “you should be doing this to support our student-athletes” is bad business and how you drive people away. 
I don’t make enough to freely donate thousands of dollars that I can write off. To me it’s more of an entertainment expense. So if I notice the AD is trying to drastically overcharge me for parking, I’m going to take the cheaper option (buying week to week). 

[NT80]

How does one show support for the program as a whole, but want to show disapproval of a head football coach at the same time?  Throwing money at the MGSF won't get anyone's attention.  Stopping a donation or season ticket might.  It's the only vote a fan really has that is meaningful.

[meangreen11]

3 hours ago, NT80 said:

How does one show support for the program as a whole, but want to show disapproval of a head football coach at the same time?

You can’t.  The head coach is the brain and soul of the program.  He’s the CEO of the business.  If he doesn’t have what it takes you owe it to the business to move on quickly.  Wren needs to let this play out but I absolutely think he has a plan b ready and waiting.  

[TheColonyEagle]

On 6/11/2022 at 1:42 AM, 97and03 said:

This thread is the perfect snapshot of this fan base. Everyone wants us to be a top notch program but no one wants to pay for it. I don’t think most of you realize exactly how cheap it is to be a North Texas fan. Our Club donation requirement is probably about what it costs to sit in the second tier at a real top school. 
I am not the type to tell fans to go away or anything like that, but I honestly don’t understand the mentality I am hearing here. Two major themes: 1) “I am not here to support the school or the students - just want to see a winning team.” 2) “We aren’t as good as I want (or something has happened I don’t like) so I will stop giving money to support the program but I still expect them to have a top tier program.”

Both of these positions are in my opinion indefensible. They sound like the fans of a pro team and not those of their alma mater. If you don’t want to support the program anymore that’s your business. But stop expecting the program to keep going forward if the money starts drying up - especially since some here seem to be actively trying to encourage others to stop buying/giving. 
 

People complaining about “not getting enough” for a friggin’ donation. Good lord. 

I get what you're saying....but my point was along the lines of: "who is responsible for ensuring an environment that is conducive to MORE giving"

I'm gonna say it's the highest paid AD in the conference, the guy that just got the big fat raise and extension and makes a whole lot of money. That's LITERALLY his job. It's not mine. I'm not here to give him money with no strings attached. The strings are do what you're being paid to do. 

It's not my responsibility as an alumnus....it's the AD's responsibility. Guess what, I was giving $ before he got here and I'll be giving money after he leaves. Why are you holding ME responsible for fund raising. The guy making over $600K a year, headed toward $800K is where you should be looking. I'm not opposed to paying him a bunch of money. Hell, I hope we can double that in the coming years. But do your damn job and own it. Don't tweet pictures of an empty stadium and lecture fans that we'll never be a big time program if YOU don't show up. Maybe make it where it's not such a chore to buy tickets...there's a start.

[keith]

This thread has veered off a bit from the op.  It's odd that some seem to have consistently bad experiences while others have consistently good experiences with the ticket office.  This has the smell of an IT problem that simply has not been resolved....accounts locked or accounts with missing or bad data.  Most of this is all automated.  There's the customer service aspect (returning calls, following-up with issues, etc.) that apparently needs attention, but fix some of the underlying technology problems (whatever they are) and the bad experience customers are being subjected to would not need to be repaired in the first place. 

[TheColonyEagle]

On 6/11/2022 at 1:42 AM, 97and03 said:

But stop expecting the program to keep going forward if the money starts drying up -

The salaries paid to the coaches and athletic dept staff would suggest the money is no where near drying up...

I'm so glad we are finally paying closer to big boy salaries. We have great facilities. Never had support like we do now (despite how bad our football program is compared to so many others with less)

For someone not to expect a bare minimum of service (answer the phone for crying out loud) is foolish in my opinion. And I don't say this as a personal complaint...I've actually never had big problems with the ticket office (the original point of this thread) but I do get a little defensive when the finger gets pointed back at me as long time fan/donor that I should have zero expectations and just write checks and shut up. That's not the way it works....the current administration has WAAAAAAY more to work with than the last one. (please don't read this as defending RV, I'm not). the "big boy" term works both ways. you want big boy donors, don't do little boy things when it comes time to execute.

 

And man....it looks like I'm dogging the AD, I'm not. Wren is doing a great job, but I can't accept donors being blamed for a lack of donations. People donate for several reasons....one of which yes, is blind, unconditional love for their University. Good for you. I burned out on that one a long time ago...

 

[KingDL1]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:59 PM, FirefightnRick said:

Hate to break it to ya but there’s a lot of people not renewing their season tickets this year and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ticket office.

 

Rick

You got that right. 

 

I think it will be shocking for some to see how many old fans are leaving. 

Maybe they can get new blood in, maybe. 

 

I think UNT screwed the pooch last year in many ways that some old fans will find unforgivable. 

[ADLER]

On 6/9/2022 at 7:50 PM, emmitt01 said:

He inherited some staffers who should have been gone when Dickey was here, much less several coaches later. 

 

[greenminer]

1 hour ago, KingDL1 said:

You got that right. 

 

I think it will be shocking for some to see how many old fans are leaving. 

Maybe they can get new blood in, maybe. 

 

I think UNT screwed the pooch last year in many ways that some old fans will find unforgivable. 

You're thinking like a long time fan.  Remember that this business also includes 10K-ish new customers every new academic year.  Many of them with zero knowledge of our past.  Some of them will be told about it, sure, but others will be excited about this new life they are starting and eager to cling to something.

I'm assuming we still have Wren and Co doing their welcoming message to incoming freshman.

I don't think you're wrong.  I guess my point is, with this extremely high turnover rate, it's possible the drop off might not be as dramatic as you are making it.

[KingDL1]

9 minutes ago, greenminer said:

You're thinking like a long time fan.  Remember that this business also includes 10K-ish new customers every new academic year.  Many of them with zero knowledge of our past.  Some of them will be told about it, sure, but others will be excited about this new life they are starting and eager to cling to something.

I'm assuming we still have Wren and Co doing their welcoming message to incoming freshman.

I don't think you're wrong.  I guess my point is, with this extremely high turnover rate, it's possible the drop off might not be as dramatic as you are making it.

I think its those old fans that actually donate. 

I could be wrong. 

[meanJewGreen]

6 minutes ago, greenminer said:

You're thinking like a long time fan.  Remember that this business also includes 10K-ish new customers every new academic year.  Many of them with zero knowledge of our past.  Some of them will be told about it, sure, but others will be excited about this new life they are starting and eager to cling to something.

I'm assuming we still have Wren and Co doing their welcoming message to incoming freshman.

I don't think you're wrong.  I guess my point is, with this extremely high turnover rate, it's possible the drop off might not be as dramatic as you are making it.

I would say the graduates of the past 10-12 years have gotten more ingrained with more school spirit than prior classes, which will help overall.

I'm not bashing classes in early 2000s, 90s, 80s, 70s, but I do know there's been much more concentrated school spirit effort on behalf of the university

[NT80]

The sick Elephant in the corner (football) is going to have to start pulling it's weight to move this program further with fans, donations, and even media.  Wren screwed up not making a change after last season.   

Edited June 14, 2022 by NT80

[Mike Jackson]

On 6/9/2022 at 3:49 PM, RBP79 said:

You can still donate to the MGSF without buying tickets that helps the student athlete.

We know that.  After 7 years buying season tickets I just donate now.   The ticket office is terrible.  And while many are letting Wren slide because the job is challenging here you can’t retain Seth AND have a bad ticket office /marketing campaign.   You have to generate and maintain interest via Football no offense to fans/supporters/lettermen of other sports but Football leads the way.  I am going to games and donating out of sheer DEVOTION you can’t get new/younger fans/alumni to the devotion level without winning consistently OR having a great ticket office.   I am really worried about our program last long term.  Right now if I am being honest I don’t expect North Texas to be playing FBS level football if I live into my 80s or 90s.  I hope I am wrong.