The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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can't give away too many hints, but stay tuned for this year." One functional move in the stadium involves general admission seating for students. Michigan officials hope such a dramatic change from a seniority-based seating arrangement makes a difference in late-arriving (and sometimes non-arriving) fans. "We're hoping that creates a different atmosphere, getting them there early and getting them there, period," Lochmann said. "Time will tell. We feel good about our plan." On the ticket sales side overall, the news is good, he offered. Michigan has introduced what it terms "dynamic ticket pricing," involving selling single games for what the market will bear. But U-M has also packaged lesser-anticipated contests with the big ones in three-ticket packs and pursued other creative measures to make sure The Big House remains full. Lochmann noted the Akron game is the only football contest for which a substantial number of tickets remain, and he expects those to move as well. "The others are down to singles for most games," he said. "We have a Coke Zero Football Family Pack that we're pretty proud of. We started the family pack last year. We had a goal in mind, and we blew the goal away just with interest and tickets sold. "We brought it back and enhanced it, for both the Central and the Akron games. For the price of the ticket [$75], you get food, drinks, a T-shirt and a game program, so over $120 in added value. Fans seem to really react well to that." The multi-game ticket packages have also gone well, he noted. "Those went fantastic," he said. "Ohio State sold out in half an hour. Between season ticket sales, ticket pack sales and our single-game sales that were dynamically priced, we're in terrific shape. The one game we have any inventory for is Akron, and it's starting to move." Basketball and hockey seasons seem a way off, but the weeks will roll by quickly. While Lochmann admits to being heavily focused on the first three football games, his crew is definitely attuned to prepping for a basketball season following up a Final Four campaign and making some changes at a redone Yost Ice Arena as well. "The new scoreboards at Crisler Center from two years ago represented half the battle," Lochmann said. "You're able to do things with the video boards you weren't able to do before. That's where all the eyeballs go during breaks, and we know that. "Our dance and cheer squads took it to a new level last year, and on the promotional side, everyone loves that T-shirt gun. We're always looking to create an atmosphere." The Final Four run created strong demand for tickets, Lochmann noted, producing a season ticket interest list for the first time. Michigan is still looking to see how it will implement such a list. "We're excited," he noted. "Our biggest challenge is, if you own tickets, making sure you use them. If I'm a season ticket holder, I can email my tickets for free to somebody else for