Yes, a new SEZ would be cool. However, for now, I like Jack Trice Stadium. It is a great venue that fits us well. Of course, we need to move forward at some point, but don't think it will happen without a big ticket price increase! Right now, the SEZ and hillsides are an incredible bargain. I love being able to take my family and friends at an affordable cost. Not looking forward to paying for the SEZ with increased season ticket prices.
I realize we all want to pay as little as possible, while maximizing our enjoyment level, but this is the toxic mindset that has always plagued Iowa State's fanbase. There are a significant number of fans who put a higher priority on affordability, and "family atmosphere" than we do on improving our revenues in the Big 12, and keeping up in the never-ending arms race of facilities.
Are you more concerned with winning, or "family atmosphere" and "affordability"? I am not saying these things are entirely mutually exclusive, but it comes down to placing your priorities.
When Jamie Pollard came on board, our revenues were at the bottom of the Big 12 in practically every statistic that you could possibly measure... but we had a great "family atmosphere" and our tickets were the most "affordable" in the Big 12!
I am not saying we need to gouge and price out our fans, but we need to keep up with the Joneses.
Ask yourself a question: do you want to truly be competitive in the Big 12? That requires higher revenues, better facilities, and more resources. These things all cost money, and lots of it.
Would you rather pay $60 per football game and go 8-4?
Or would you rather pay $40 per football game and go 4-8?
Despite the rise of ticket prices in the Pollard era, Iowa State's attendance has seen a commensurate increase too. This tells me that our fan base puts a higher premium on enjoying the overall experience than they do the pure face value of the ticket -- they'll pay more as long as they enjoy the product. We have not seen a negative correlation of ticket pricing to attendance, yet. Is there a breaking point? Sure there is: if the on-field product regresses or significantly plateaus while ticket pricing continues to rise, attendance will fall. There's not a lot of reason to expect that to happen: ticket pricing will almost certainly stay the same for 2013 (since we have fewer home games, it's an easy way to sneak in a de-facto price increase), and we have reason to be optimistic for on-field results as well.
Keep in mind the state of Iowa, and the Des Moines metro in particular are significantly healthier from an economic standpoint than the rest of the country.
I am not attacking you directly, Cycsk, but this is a mindset that Jamie Pollard has been working to fight since the day he started on the job.
Winning requires recruiting.
Recruiting requires better facilities than the other guys.
Facilities require money.
Football ticket sales are the primary revenue stream of our athletics department.
The other guys aren't sitting still. If you sit still, you're moving backwards.
We all want to pay as little as possible... that's only human. But I also want to see Iowa State be competitive and win championships in my lifetime. If we all have to pay a little more to get there... so be it. We have to keep up with the other guys or we'll be left behind. This is bigger than any one of us.