Season Ticket Holders Changes 2025-26
- Thread starter mm52
- Start date
As usual you make a lot of good points.
They discount tickets because the amount of revenue on an empty seat is zero.
The masses always catch on late. In Lavin's first year by the time the city noticed St. John's, the big run that culminated with the Pitt win was almost over. Breaking the top 25 was the catalyst then. Guessing it will be tbis time too if we can stay there.
Went to the Knicks Nets last night and sat in bad seats that were more expensive than my sju tix. I have a built in fear of heights that I only discovered a few years ago and the pitch of those seats at Barclays is terrifying. I couldnt even recognize the players from where i sat, nor make out the numbers on their back.
The positive thing about a reseating is there are a good number of ticket brokers who buy season tix and find it profitable to resell them on secondary markets. I'm hoping they have very low priorit points and lose their great seats.
I completely understand discomfort of being moved to worse seats, especially if you donate significant amounts. Put it this way - if repole wanted my seats, I'd be moved.
i had always been accomodated in the BET for single game tix by st johns. Last season I wasn't because the drmand from bigger donors was so great. I get that but was infuriated when I met a friend of a trustee who died last year who gushed that this trustee got him tickets for the BET. The recipient wasn't even an STH, but our ticket office accommodated the trustee first even though that guy was already covered.
I know where I rank in.priority points so i think I'm okay with that and the other stuff. If you have doubts, the ticket office should be able to tell you where you rank. If you are older, you may inquire if planned giving in your estate would affect your status - not sure it will but worth an ask.
The STH gifts have never been great, but I've had Mets season tix and if they gave anything were not great either.
All I am certain of is that an sju season ticket is a great bargain this year, and even in the very crappy years were never a donation. You could question fair value, but the return was always 100% entertainment value however you define that.
Or a psychiatrist. (I was one of them)
There are other choices. Pay nothing to the school, watch on TV is an option. Pay nothing to the school, buy on the secondary market from someone else, only going to games you desire, save money. Another option. Tickets for under $20 are readily available on that market for tonight’s game.
I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but other than a handful of games a season, an SJU ticket never has been, and never will be, a big deal.
The school can and will do what they want, and as the customer I have options too. No anger, here, it’s their product, and I am not naive. If they make one dollar more, even if it means lower year over year attendance, they will be happy. Two dollars more, even more so, and so on.
In your choice you mention, pay more. How much more? One thousand, five thousand, ten thousand? The e-mail strongly implies we should all pony up, yet does not list any amount that would insure or guarantee anything. Maybe further communications will provide more details, but otherwise my wallet will be sealed.
If I’m paying for something I need assurances of what I am buying.
Boo Harvey
Well-known member
College sports is not a “commodity” product and it’s a mistake to treat it as one. What separates college sports from the “minor leagues” is its appeal to fans’ sense of loyalty and affiliation with a university. Continue to treat fans as nothing more than expendable consumers and the “product” will be compromised.
And looking at this from a pure business perspective, as others have pointed out, the “product” here is not particularly in demand. Ostracizing the most loyal customers does not strike me as good business, particularly when it’s unlikely there will be a meaningful number of additional customers who will donate substantial money on top of paying for season tickets.
We shall see.
redmen4life
Well-known member
YES!
Also, when reading the posts here, some of them included misinformation, and I do feel compelled to provide corrections.
The full text from Ed Kull is already in this thread, but let me re-provide the meat.
"St. John's Athletics will be undergoing a full reseat of season tickets at both Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden.
This will take place in the Spring and Summer of 2025 and will include a reallocation of all season ticket holder seat locations based on a number of factors which will be explained below. "
I did not provide the bolding of "full reseat" or "all" those words are the only words in bold in a very long e-mail. So, for those who always speak so fondly about Section 114, get your goodbyes in soon. It seems clear everyone is being disbursed. They are telling you that. More importantly from a factual standpoint, this is a clear money grab (again, their right, but that is what this is) and don't let anyone try to obfuscate that with nonsense about any changes coming to CA. MSG is absolutely not getting renovated after the season. The only reason to adjust MSG seating is cash.
This is about money, and to be fair Kull was very clear about that. I don't know why anyone here is trying to make it about anything else.
The full text from Ed Kull is already in this thread, but let me re-provide the meat.
"St. John's Athletics will be undergoing a full reseat of season tickets at both Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden.
This will take place in the Spring and Summer of 2025 and will include a reallocation of all season ticket holder seat locations based on a number of factors which will be explained below. "
I did not provide the bolding of "full reseat" or "all" those words are the only words in bold in a very long e-mail. So, for those who always speak so fondly about Section 114, get your goodbyes in soon. It seems clear everyone is being disbursed. They are telling you that. More importantly from a factual standpoint, this is a clear money grab (again, their right, but that is what this is) and don't let anyone try to obfuscate that with nonsense about any changes coming to CA. MSG is absolutely not getting renovated after the season. The only reason to adjust MSG seating is cash.
This is about money, and to be fair Kull was very clear about that. I don't know why anyone here is trying to make it about anything else.
1. Please explain how giving someone a better or worse seat based on the factors they listed is "a money grab"? Will it generate more $$ in new donations? I don't think so, at least not appreciably. Will the revenue come from increased ticket prices? If yes, then those increases are coming regardless of a reseating or not.
2. It's clear the big donors (I'm not one of them) are a primary reason we have a better team, a basketball facility being built, and a $3 million coach. Do those people in descending order deserve the best seats? I think so. If everyone was a non donor, we'd be a d2 team competing against cw post. Smaller and non donors really should be thankful that others are financing a winning program. Just think Seton Hall.
3. The CA seat reduction is real.
4. Ticket resellers owning a large # of season tix is real.
5. Great seats were available for non/low donors when the product was mediocre at best. Why does that mean we own those seats forever, even as others (like Repole and a bunch others) are financing a great team. Do you really think if Repole wanted 12 great seats, someone isn't getting bumped?
This is semi-pro sports now so it makes sense to maximize your profits although I understand the frustration of some. That said many of our games are played at CA which is not a real arena and while attendance has been great this year it really isn't comparable to these other schools arenas. As I get older my interest in going to games on the benches has become really low.
As for MSG if you enjoy basketball St. John's tickets are a bargain compared to Knicks tickets and in my opinion just as enjoyable.
I like that Marquette charges more for aisle seats. That is worth paying for.
If you haven’t done so yet, You should reach out to the school and make sure you are credited with those seats going back to 1989. Hopefully they do right by you and your family. Get ahead of the situation while you can.
Redenbacher
Well-known member
That’s a good question. To answer it, you need to define “paid more” – but the school is not telling you that. Instead, they appear to be running a blind auction, where you don’t know what everyone else is bidding for seats.
I did not renew my season tickets this season- not because I didn’t want to, but because I can’t make any of the games. Not sure if I’ll be able to go next season, either - but if I am, I will hold back until the dust settles to see what I need to do. I knew I would not get my old seats back anyway by not attending this year. But I want at least some semblance of what the school expects people to spend on NIL or school contributions and what kind of seat you'll get in return for that. This blind auction approach doesn't work for me.
St. John’s changing to ‘priority points system’ for season-ticket holder’s seat location
The ever-changing landscape of college athletics is continuing to evolve, and St. John’s is doing its best to remain current. That, however, could cost season-ticket holders their preferred seats a…
nypost.com
"Kull would like to install additional seatbacks at both ends of the floor and upgrade the bleachers, along with improving concessions and adding hospitality spaces. There are plans to launch a new fundraising program, similar to what Kull did at Fordham with the New Era fund for men’s and women’s basketball, which led to improvements in the programs’ facilities, more charter flights and additional staffing."
I do think this is a good point. I’m not sure how they do this, but it would be helpful to know (“if you have #,### points you’re likely to be in rows ##-## in section ###”). As of now, it really isn’t clear how giving affects seat location
1. - They are using increased donations (money) to change seating. And using a blind bidding system (there is no dollar amount listed to keep a location) as well. That's a money grab. I'm not blasting them for that, and I said that I am not. But let's not pretend it isn't about trying to squeeze people to "donate" more. I said that is their right.
2.- I agree, basically, and don't believe I said otherwise in any posts
3. - I didn't say it isn't. MSG is not being renovated. Two things can be true (CA making changes and the school looking for money) and not be connected. If this was only about the CA seat reduction it would not include MSG. Did you read the e-mail? It's very clear it is about money.
4. - Could be, don't know, don't care. That's the world now, ticket reselling as a business is not going away. I might need to be a customer soon!
5. - Again, didn't say that. I said it's about money. Now you are refuting my post by agreeing with me that it should be about money. That's kind of weird.
As I said in my posts I'm not bent out of shape or anything. I'm also not giving the school an extra nickel until they give me some type of idea of what I will be paying for. I'm going to guess with reduced seating at CA anything with a "real" seatback will be out of my financial reach. Unless they do something about "Craggs Folly" almost all seats in the middle section of CA are now unusable for me. That leaves the upper bowl, and with a fused ankle, unless handrails are getting put in, and I'm not holding my breath, I can only use the first two maybe three rows up there. In other words, depending on where I am sent, I might have no choice but to give up my tickets because I won't be able to use them. Paying anything upfront for a product one will not be able to use is a bad deal. And so, as I already said, for now I wait and see.
Seems prudent.
Maher would have been ecstatic
I get all the comments here but I'd prefer rather not too be able to afford season tickets if that means SJU bball will be competitive and a top contender every year VS being able to afford season tickets and we stay in the same position we have been for 20+ years.
redfanOO00ddkk
New member
I have had my 6 tickets for 34 years. Have spent a lot of money when this team was no better than an A10 team. Loyalty no longer exists.
redfanOO00ddkk
New member
Has anyone ever been told how many points they have? How do we know that they are correct? We should receive a statement every year with our points and where on that point list we stand.
montyaloofah
Active member
The timing of Rick's comments on the haves and have nots in college bball after the seton hall game could not be more timely... Probably a nudge to the fan base that money talks.