So, I assume you are donating $100,000 plus the price of tickets for four barcaloungers… since it is reasonably priced. …or are you coming in at $100,000 plus tickets for the courtside seats? Oh my bad, you are cool with paying for it - then I expect you in at $200,000 for FOUR courtside seats. Throw in four loge seats while you are at it and take that up another $60,000.
We can barely get people to pay $10 for a ticket to show up… wait correction, we can’t get people to show for $10. Yes, it is a new arena, and yes, there will be double to triple the prices per game, but c’mon! Basic economics say that there has to be a demand for a product to charge a premium. Good luck UH Athletics!
I am extremely appreciative of what Tilman Fertitta has done for UH and for his generous gift to make this project happen, but I think you are going to see an enormous amount of luxury seating options open come tipoff in two years.
I’m with you. Been watching UH basketball since the 60’s. Since I average about 10 games a year that’s a whole lot of games. And that’s a 50 mile round trip sometimes in really bad weather. But the surcharge being placed on all the best seats may mean I’ll have to make some adjustments. No way can I fork over thousands of dollars. I’m already paying through the nose for football tickets. Nothing is free. I get that. But this is going to make a lot of older, long-term fans make some tough decisions.
I agree, Brad. Fertitta Center will only have a capacity of 7,500 seats. I expect a few sell outs in the opening year because Houston loves new things.
Simple solution. Sit in the regular seats the first season. If the more expensive seats sell out, then you know they were priced right. If half of them remain empty, then you probably get a shot at getting a big price reduction the next year.
This is all very exciting, but remember it is not a done deal. There is a lot of money that still needs to be raised. Many of us are going to opt for the cheap seats, or at least the less expensive premium seats. But if The Fertitta Center is anything like Hofheinz there really won’t be a bad seat in the house.
I remember back in the early 80’s when the athletic director Cedric Dempsey ignored all advice and imposed a surcharge for football seating. Alums bailed in droves and many never came back. Hopefully our fan base has matured beyond that sad period. Goodness knows many of us pay through the nose each year (it ain’t a one-time deal) for prime seating at TDECU. Hopefully we can get the same response for the long dormant basketball program.
I’m truly optimistic, if for no other reason than due to the incredible growth the program has seen in the brief tenure of Coach Sampson. The guy is a winner. Winners draw recruits and they draw fans. If we do get the response from the alumni base then UH will resume it’s natural position among the leaders in NCAA basketball. Our teams and fans can once again get used to UH being a regular fixture in the NCAA tournament.
I predict that there will be a major reconfiguration of the seating plan; what they have announced so far is a new arena, with most of the side lines to be filled by wealthy patrons buying seats only in pairs and all the peasants shuffled into the end zones.
Ain’t gonna fly!
What they need is an arena with a smaller area reserved for the high-rollers in the club and the rest of the arena available to the general public, with seats priced differently for the better views. Hopefully, they will come to their senses before construction progresses beyond the point where changes can be made!
