On Monday, I had the opportunity to meet with Scott Carr and Andy Seeley in order to go over "The Rise and Conquer Initiative" which details the ongoing facility improvements and the need for additional revenue to remain competitive nationally.
UCF had initially planned to drop the full release online on Wednesday, but the magazine-style brochure was being mailed to season ticket holders on Monday. I figured some might receive them today, which is why UCF is now pushing everything online.
If you had the brochure in hand or perhaps perused the website ahead of time, things are a little more clear regarding the changes and why UCF is implementing them.
The website is here:
https://www.weriseandconquer.com/
I'm going to go through my brochure page by page and highlight some of the details.
A couple pages in is "The Plan" which shows the ongoing facility upgrades. New admin/football offices. Nutrition Center. Student-athlete lounge. Baseball stadium. Softball improvements. Basketball practice facility enhancements.
The football/admin building, nutrition center and baseball upgrades seem to be the ones that will be fast tracked due to having some or all of the needed pledges already in hand. I will go into more detail on another day as what people what to know right now is the changes to the stadium and ticketing for 2017, but UCF wanted to make it very clear for why some of these changes were necessary.
"The Enhancements" pages detail all the stadium changes. As you've probably already seen, it's quite significant.
Simply put, most sideline seats, both west and east side, are now considered "club."
On the west side, 108-112 and 209-11 are being rolled into what now is being called "Stadium Club." The name may change. During the offseason, The bench-backs will be removed and replaced with individual chairbacks with cup holders. There will be a ground-level club within the existing concourse that will only be accessible to those with club seats. That does create a big change as no longer will everybody be able to walk the 360-degree perimeter of the concourse. There are a couple renderings included for how this new club may appear. It won't have the same tropical motif as the Cabana, but they do plan to incorporate things like the "Big Fans," etc. to make it more comfortable. There will be premium food and drink offerings as well.
In ALL club seats, east and west, alcohol will be sold and you may consume it at your seat. The club areas will be separated from other sections with a partition.
The Carl Black & Gold Cabana is going to see a major expansion. Pretty much the entire prime east sideline (127-131) will be folded into the Cabana. Yes, that's potentially a lot more people, but UCF will construct a secondary ground-level club on the east side. It won't be quite as extensive to block the walkways like the west side, but patrons will have two options for concessions. I will address prices further in a minute, but the Cabana price significantly drops, from $900 to $500. However, there will not be comped food like there was this past season.
The on-field Cabanas in the south end zone have already sold out, so they are being added to the north end zone as well. The existing stadium operations office and cheerleader locker room will be configured to be mini lounges for those patrons. The renderings are not perfect. The current on-field cabana is being designed as we speak and I'm told will NOT obstruct views like the prototypes did this past season.
The student sections are being completely overhauled. The students will now occupy BOTH the south and north end zones, plus they'll have the upper north end zone available as well. This will not decrease the student capacity of approximately 12,000, but what it does is create atmosphere on both sides and may help to keep more students engaged since the majority will be closer to the field. Few schools have two student sections in opposite end zones, but I'm told Arizona State is one of them.
If you had season tickets in the north end zone, you will need to move as the entire north end zone, both levels, plus the south end zone lower level is now the student section.
As we continue going through the brochure, there is section titled "The Why" which breaks UCF's budget vs. other Power Six schools and then against other AAC schools. It also shows where UCF falls in the league as far as donations, etc. Building on what Danny White brought up at last year's signing day event, a school-by-school comparison is made between UCF and Kansas State, showing that UCF's student fees basically make up for the lack of a big TV contract, but UCF falls short big time in ticket revenue and donations.
Now the brochure goes into more detail about the pricing structure. There is a page illustrating demand, which shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. The west side has always been in high demand.
There is another seating chart showing how much tickets are going up - or down - per game in 2017. The figures were calculated using a three-game season ticket per account average (I'm told the average season ticket account has actually 3.1 tickets).
The next page details the pricing. No longer will there be a static donation level required in order to buy up to four tickets. The donation and ticket price is rolled into one price. This may be a cost savings for those who donate and buy only two tickets, but likely an increase if you buy the maximum of four.
The accompanying chart, which I know was already posted, illustrates the total cost with a breakdown of how much is ticket cost and how much is GKC donation.
There is also a graph that compares the cost, using the 3-ticket per account average, to 2009 when there were also seven home games.
Cabana price has gone down significantly, from $900 to $500.
There are still $99 season ticket packages (upper corner) and $120 packages (upper end zone with view of scoreboard plus lower goal line).
On the next page shows future schedules. The Citrus Bowl game in 2017 is NOT HAPPENING. There's a quote by Danny White in the sidebar that basically says they hope to host seven games every year when possible and always host at least one Power Six team per year.
Parking is also a change. Passes are available in the various lots based on your GKC annual gift. If you are short of the threshold with your ticket order, you can make up the difference to receive the desired parking pass.
Single game ticket prices have gone up substantially because UCF wants people to purchase season tickets. The lowest get-in price is now $45 for upper south end zone and corners. Other sections are $50, $55, $60 and the Cabana is $100 per game.
The deadline is March 1 because UCF will need additional time to handle location changes, etc.
UCF had initially planned to drop the full release online on Wednesday, but the magazine-style brochure was being mailed to season ticket holders on Monday. I figured some might receive them today, which is why UCF is now pushing everything online.
If you had the brochure in hand or perhaps perused the website ahead of time, things are a little more clear regarding the changes and why UCF is implementing them.
The website is here:
https://www.weriseandconquer.com/
I'm going to go through my brochure page by page and highlight some of the details.
A couple pages in is "The Plan" which shows the ongoing facility upgrades. New admin/football offices. Nutrition Center. Student-athlete lounge. Baseball stadium. Softball improvements. Basketball practice facility enhancements.
The football/admin building, nutrition center and baseball upgrades seem to be the ones that will be fast tracked due to having some or all of the needed pledges already in hand. I will go into more detail on another day as what people what to know right now is the changes to the stadium and ticketing for 2017, but UCF wanted to make it very clear for why some of these changes were necessary.
"The Enhancements" pages detail all the stadium changes. As you've probably already seen, it's quite significant.
Simply put, most sideline seats, both west and east side, are now considered "club."
On the west side, 108-112 and 209-11 are being rolled into what now is being called "Stadium Club." The name may change. During the offseason, The bench-backs will be removed and replaced with individual chairbacks with cup holders. There will be a ground-level club within the existing concourse that will only be accessible to those with club seats. That does create a big change as no longer will everybody be able to walk the 360-degree perimeter of the concourse. There are a couple renderings included for how this new club may appear. It won't have the same tropical motif as the Cabana, but they do plan to incorporate things like the "Big Fans," etc. to make it more comfortable. There will be premium food and drink offerings as well.
In ALL club seats, east and west, alcohol will be sold and you may consume it at your seat. The club areas will be separated from other sections with a partition.
The Carl Black & Gold Cabana is going to see a major expansion. Pretty much the entire prime east sideline (127-131) will be folded into the Cabana. Yes, that's potentially a lot more people, but UCF will construct a secondary ground-level club on the east side. It won't be quite as extensive to block the walkways like the west side, but patrons will have two options for concessions. I will address prices further in a minute, but the Cabana price significantly drops, from $900 to $500. However, there will not be comped food like there was this past season.
The on-field Cabanas in the south end zone have already sold out, so they are being added to the north end zone as well. The existing stadium operations office and cheerleader locker room will be configured to be mini lounges for those patrons. The renderings are not perfect. The current on-field cabana is being designed as we speak and I'm told will NOT obstruct views like the prototypes did this past season.
The student sections are being completely overhauled. The students will now occupy BOTH the south and north end zones, plus they'll have the upper north end zone available as well. This will not decrease the student capacity of approximately 12,000, but what it does is create atmosphere on both sides and may help to keep more students engaged since the majority will be closer to the field. Few schools have two student sections in opposite end zones, but I'm told Arizona State is one of them.
If you had season tickets in the north end zone, you will need to move as the entire north end zone, both levels, plus the south end zone lower level is now the student section.
As we continue going through the brochure, there is section titled "The Why" which breaks UCF's budget vs. other Power Six schools and then against other AAC schools. It also shows where UCF falls in the league as far as donations, etc. Building on what Danny White brought up at last year's signing day event, a school-by-school comparison is made between UCF and Kansas State, showing that UCF's student fees basically make up for the lack of a big TV contract, but UCF falls short big time in ticket revenue and donations.
Now the brochure goes into more detail about the pricing structure. There is a page illustrating demand, which shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. The west side has always been in high demand.
There is another seating chart showing how much tickets are going up - or down - per game in 2017. The figures were calculated using a three-game season ticket per account average (I'm told the average season ticket account has actually 3.1 tickets).
The next page details the pricing. No longer will there be a static donation level required in order to buy up to four tickets. The donation and ticket price is rolled into one price. This may be a cost savings for those who donate and buy only two tickets, but likely an increase if you buy the maximum of four.
The accompanying chart, which I know was already posted, illustrates the total cost with a breakdown of how much is ticket cost and how much is GKC donation.
There is also a graph that compares the cost, using the 3-ticket per account average, to 2009 when there were also seven home games.
Cabana price has gone down significantly, from $900 to $500.
There are still $99 season ticket packages (upper corner) and $120 packages (upper end zone with view of scoreboard plus lower goal line).
On the next page shows future schedules. The Citrus Bowl game in 2017 is NOT HAPPENING. There's a quote by Danny White in the sidebar that basically says they hope to host seven games every year when possible and always host at least one Power Six team per year.
Parking is also a change. Passes are available in the various lots based on your GKC annual gift. If you are short of the threshold with your ticket order, you can make up the difference to receive the desired parking pass.
Single game ticket prices have gone up substantially because UCF wants people to purchase season tickets. The lowest get-in price is now $45 for upper south end zone and corners. Other sections are $50, $55, $60 and the Cabana is $100 per game.
The deadline is March 1 because UCF will need additional time to handle location changes, etc.
? I guess that's better than before but not sure why they are so hesitant to just open the floodgates and sell it to the entire stadium.
