The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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The Wolverine: Since that demo- graphic represents the next genera- tion of potential season-ticket pur- chasers, is that not a major concern? Brandon: "It's a trend that everyone needs to be very attentive to, and from a marketing and promotions standpoint, you've got to try to do everything you can to keep young people interested in college football and not just for watching it on televi- sion, but for coming to the games. "Now, there's a reason why every media deal that gets done in college football tends to be bigger than the last. The ratings are fantastic, and we receive the benefit of that when we do our media rights deals. "We have the biggest stadium in the country, and we want it to be full. We also want to offer our stu- dents as many tickets as they want to buy. "It would be easier for us to shrink the student section and just sell more season tickets to people who want to buy season tickets, but we actually want to keep a significant portion of that corner of the stadium open for students. "We expect that as we go forward, some of that demand is going to come back, when we get a stronger schedule, when we come off a better year of performance, and all of those other factors. "We want to make sure those student-ticket opportunities are still available, and that's a really im- portant segment of what makes a football Saturday in The Big House special." The Wolverine: You obviously have laid out an ambitious schedule for fa- cilities in the future. What's coming up around the bend? Brandon: "We're still fundraising. We've had great success, but we still have a long ways to go. That's a big focus. The commitments that we've received already have enabled us to put some plans in place, that we'll be putting in front of the Regents over the next couple of months. "Those allow us to address some of the projects that have been established as our highest priorities. Those aren't necessarily our highest priorities be- cause one team is more important than another. They're our highest priorities because there is a sequencing of how we're executing our Master Campus Plan, where in some cases you have to build something for one program so you can tear down something else to make way for another project. "We have our first set of projects lined up, and we'll be going to the Re- gents. If we secure their approval, then we should be putting a shovel in the ground relatively soon and getting to work on a number of our significant projects: a team center for men's and women's soccer, a rowing tank for our rowing team, an indoor and outdoor track facility, and a lacrosse stadium and team center, as well as a strength- and-conditioning and a performance center. "That whole group of projects will be the next wave we'll be seeking ap- proval on." The Wolverine: Given the fundrais-