The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Inside Michigan ATHLETICS U-M Eyes Options On Student Section against Nebraska and Ohio State proved considerable. The first meet- ing ever between the Cornhuskers and Wolverines as Big Ten members caused substantial buzz, and The Game speaks for itself. It appears the student section in Michigan Stadium didn't receive the memo. For both the Nebraska and Ohio T State games, a season-long trend — particularly when it came to noon starts — wound up especially, and some would say embarrassingly, no- ticeable. Up until the half hour be- fore kickoff, the section looked over- whelmingly vacant. Some significant gaps remained at kickoff, and the student section never did completely fill up in those season-ending contests. Older sea- son-ticket holders began suggesting something be done to address the situation, and U-M athletics director David Brandon acknowledged he's considering the issue. "We're trying to fix the problem, and the problem is that at the begin- ning of some of our games this sea- son, you look up at the student sec- tion at kickoff and it's half empty," Brandon said. "That's not good. There has been no particular solution that has been identified, and cutting back on the number of tickets being offered is not one of the discussions I've been a part of." Brandon did not detail what those discussions involved to any great ex- 12 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2011 he anticipation for the regular- season-ending showdowns Michigan athletics director David Brandon said, "We're trying to fix the problem, and the problem is that at the beginning of some of our games this season, you look up at the student section at kickoff and it's half empty. That's not good." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL tent. He wants to avoid an ongoing situation in which thousands of fans are aching to get ticket access and can't, yet some of the tickets out there aren't being used. "That's not optimal," he said. "That's not what we're looking for, and if there is a way to address that, that is good for our students, good for our program, the fan experience, and the atmosphere we're trying to create in the stadium, we'll make a change. But I don't think we've iden- tified what that will be yet." U-M could move to a general ad- mission student section concept, to provide greater incentive to arrive ear- lier, and Brandon acknowledged that option came up in discussions. Bottom line, he noted, Michigan sold a record 22,000 student season tickets for this year, and those holding them should take full advantage of the opportunity. "We love the fact that our students are excited, and want to support the program, and want to be a part of our games," Brandon said. "That's a positive, but we have to find a way to get them there on time. "There are going to be noon games. There will always be noon games. We're at the whimsical desires of the networks when it comes to schedul- ing our games, and that's just the way it is. We don't have the flexibil- ity of saying let's delay them so more students can show up by the start, so we have to find a different solution."