UCATS announcement this week

[Lobot]

The new structure and tiers for UCATS will be announced at some point this week. Watch your mailbox. I have not seen the final brochure yet.

[Lobot]

UCATS structure announcement is here. All UCATS should be receiving in email sometime today.

Here is the text:

// CINCINNATI - In an effort to create a comprehensive, equitable and user-friendly giving program, the University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced a new structure for UCATS (University of Cincinnati Athletic Team Support), the fundraising arm of Bearcats Athletics. The overhaul will take into account aggregate annual giving to UC Athletics and create a per-seat donation model for football and men's basketball priority seating.

"The ultimate goal is to better serve our donors and maximize their opportunities to engage with and support UC Athletics," Director of Athletics Mike Bohn said. "The new structure allows us to continue to recognize our current patrons for their tremendous support, but it also attracts new and prospective donors to invest in Bearcats Athletics. We intend to grow our donor base and increase financial support, which will better position ourselves for long-term academic and athletic excellence."

In the new structure, membership is based on any combination of football priority seating, men's basketball priority seating, and philanthropic giving. New levels have been established and each higher level provides additional benefits. Memberships in UCATS start at just $50, which means there is a level for every Bearcats fan.

For football and men's basketball priority seating, a per-seat donation is required based on location, with every seat in Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena tied to that amount.

As in the past, priority seating gifts provide scholarships for Bearcats student-athletes and donations are tax deductible. Also, the UCATS Priority Points System will continue and reward donors for generosity and loyalty. Seat allocation and member benefits will be first based on annual giving levels, then by priority point total within that giving level.

The restructured UCATS will help the athletics department as it continues to fund its annual $6 million scholarship bill.

Current UCATS members can expect to receive renewal information in the coming weeks.

[Lobot]

Link with video explainer is up at : http://www.gobearcats.com/genrel/022...q_v=47cf397635

There are also two PDF files linked on this site with explanations.

[JDBEARCAT]

Total BS! I am not happy. How in the world are they expecting to increase the fan base
by charging more????? I have been a season ticket holder since '98 & this maybe my
last year. They just priced me out of my seats. I can buy discounted tickets for every fb game & save a ton of money. Paying more is not the answer, especially for this conference. I guess they must know they are going to be in new conference soon to justify these increases.
I also, thought the new box/club/suites were going to pay for the expansion. Where is the logic & please don't tell me I'm not a true fan by this write up. I've only missed 2 home football games & less than 15 bb games since '98.

[coach]

It's definitely a big time gamble when you do not have the schedule you once had. I suspect there will be fallout.

[Bearcat Otto]

I don't think my price went up at all.

No problem.

[Lobot]

According to Greg Harrell only 40% of the seat holders will receive a cost increase. 40% will pay LESS. The remaining 20% will be the same. Their hope is that people paying less will remain at the same level of giving. I haven't parsed it all out yet but I suspect that the people getting hit are the one who were buying 20 seats with 1 membership.

The whole idea behind this was to raise the number of UCATS by going to a per seat model. <5000 boosters is pathetic for a school this size. The old system was essentially too generous in the amount of tickets one person could buy. So yes for some the change is going to bite you but you were getting away with something that other schools don't allow. We just simply went to the model that is a best practice.

[JDBEARCAT]

For the 6 tickets that I buy, my cost will go up $700. The people that sit with me will not pay that increase. I'm sorry but to increase costs with this type of schedule/conference & the low amount of UCAT members as it is, is just stupid!
Just my humble opinion.

[Chewbacca2099]

Red Zone seating is the same but I don't know if I'd feel safe sitting there if we need to bring the baby along, he'll be 9-10months old at that point.

I understand the concerns mentioned here though, it's a little frustrating to paying for full price tickets and an additional donation when you can buy the same seats with no problem for a huge discount. That said I don't mind paying a small premium but I wish there was some sorta perk other than a riverboat cruise... (how is that btw, I've never made it) maybe an exclusive tailgate lot or something fun like that


EDIT: Actually, I lied... its more. We used to buy 8 tickets for the $100 donation now it would cost $200 for 8 tickets. I'm just going to have to make my friends buy their own seats now which will be more complicated getting them all together. This sucks

[nolte50uc]

EDIT: Actually, I lied... its more. We used to buy 8 tickets for the $100 donation now it would cost $200 for 8 tickets. I'm just going to have to make my friends buy their own seats now which will be more complicated getting them all together. This sucks

try calling the ticket office and explain this to them. I have a friend who has been organizing 20+ tickets for our group for years and when we split out the seats / UCats memberships recently, the ticket office worked to make sure we all had the same seats we've had for all those years.

[CincyEngGrad02]

My seats went up in price, but that's a good thing. Hopefully get some of the ham-and-eggers out of there.

[UCamry]

I have 8 Seats in Football and 4 Seats in basketball. Used to be a $3500 UCATS donation to qualify for both.

New UCATS donation is $5400 for football and basketball based on the new per seat donation requirement. What an absolute joke.

[Chewbacca2099]

I just don't think right now was the time to start raising the prices with them struggling to fill the stadium as it is already... Hopefully they make more money than they lose from fans choosing to watch at home instead. They probably think the upgraded stadium justifies it. I always wondered why the prices didn't go up more when BK was here winning championships against quality opponents, that's when they shoulda done it.

[UCamry]

I just don't think right now was the time to start raising the prices with them struggling to fill the stadium as it is already... Hopefully they make more money than they lose from fans choosing to watch at home instead. They probably think the upgraded stadium justifies it. I always wondered why the prices didn't go up more when BK was here winning championships against quality opponents, that's when they shoulda done it.

Agree with this completely. Inferior scheduling, inferior conference, inferior levels of success since BK left.

No choice but to avoid getting season tickets in football and just buy them from the ticket office directly with no UCATS per seat donation requirement. Saves me $2400/year.

[UCamry]

I just don't think right now was the time to start raising the prices with them struggling to fill the stadium as it is already... Hopefully they make more money than they lose from fans choosing to watch at home instead. They probably think the upgraded stadium justifies it. I always wondered why the prices didn't go up more when BK was here winning championships against quality opponents, that's when they shoulda done it.

Agree with this completely. Inferior scheduling, inferior conference, inferior levels of success since BK left.

No choice but to avoid getting season tickets in football and just buy them from the ticket office directly with no UCATS per seat donation requirement. Saves me $2400/year.