I originally planned on posting this in the Keep Jumping thread, but I wanted more eyes on this because I am not sure if people are aware of this bullshit. So, if this shouldn't be its own thread, I'll take my licks.
I'm not sure if anyone read the fine print. But, did everyone notice that if you take the refund your years of cumulative season tickets stop? If you did, please tell me I'm not the only one that thinks this is a load of horseshit?!
Now, they're not giving you credit for the tickets you would have bought if you get the refund. That's fine. I don't have any issue with that. But how do you set someone's cumulative years of ordering season tickets back to zero when, let's face it, none of us will walking through the gates of Lane Stadium this season? Essentially, they're punishing you for not donating to the Keep Jumping campaign.
This is a load of fucking shit!!! People shouldn't be punished and lose the cumulative status they had due to a season of in-person spectating that will never happen. If this pandemic mess has put you in a situation to where the refund isn't a choice, it's even more of a kick in the nuts.
I'm thankful to be in a position where the refund is largely a choice, but this is bullshit any way you slice it. Anyone who originally purchased tickets for this season should be given a pass on this and their cumulative years of being a season ticket holder shouldn't be affected no matter what they do.
THE UPDATE THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR, BUT HERE IT IS:
I wasn't lying when I said I called. The girl I spoke with was pleasant and helped me to the best of her knowledge. When we reached the extent of that knowledge, I was told I would be getting a call from one of the managers.
That callback never came...well, until today.
Honestly, I wish the call hadn't come at all. Because after the call, I'm having a serious internal struggle between maintaining what little HC status I have and all the years I have been a season ticket holder and forgoing something that I love, being in Lane Stadium on gameday, and walking away from it all on principal.
The person I spoke with was not pleasant, had not one shred of empathy, and wasn't trying to hear not one bit of what I was trying to say.
He said time and again that I was trying to get credit for something in which I didn't pay. To which I explained I'm not asking for credit, I'm simply asking not to get docked back to zero for a season that I more than likely won't get to participate in and wouldn't participate in unless a literal miracle happened with this virus.
He then said that they had to look out for their bottom line, quite understandable, but how does a person's virtual priority points cost them actual money.
For the record, I can be quite pleasant when I need to be. And, believe it or not, I started that way on the call. I say started because this guy had no sense of customer service and kept escalating and raising his voice.
So, yeah, I did let exactly ONE curse word out. Which I apologized for.
He deserved sooooo many more though. But much like here, my one curse word was used as an adjective qualifier and wasn't name-calling or anything of the sort.
Before this guy called me this morning, I was going back and forth between three options...1. Donate it all. 2. Carry it to next season. 3. Donate some and get a partial refund.
Now...now, I have until 5pm to decide if I ever want to give another red cent to the scholarship fund, football, or season tickets. The big screen and the couch are looking better and better.
I don't know. Maybe I'm naive, but I expected a little more Ut Prosim from my school during a pandemic.
Comments
I see both sides. The athletic department still has to operate and Lane Stadium may need to operate. They need funds to do that. If you don't give them funds why would they give you sow thing for the year when others who give them funds would get the same thing. Having talked to them you only need to move one ticket worth of funds over to keep your consecutive years going. It's a fair trade off.
I completely understand your argument but for the sake of discussion, if the cumulative status remains for anyone who bought tickets and then requests a refund. What's the "reward" for those that don't request a refund?
If you and a buddy were both at 5 years cumulative and you get a refund and he doesn't, should you both be at 6 years cumulative?
It's the athletic department being lazy about incentives. Rather than trying to find some way to benefit people who give without the payoff of game attendance, they're just punishing people who choose not to give when there's no incentive.
You could say the 5x priority points is the incentive. That is really going to make the rankings interesting the next few years.
Just put it towards next year
APFOW, I've looked into 5-6 different P5 schools and how this is working and I have noticed most of them have used similar "retributive" incentives in this regard.
I can see why many people are frustrated by this.
This is in response to a lot of you.
The point is there are incentives and then there are what essentially amount to punitive actions.
They have the incentives to give to the campaign. I think that's awesome, and I think they're pretty generous.
But there shouldn't be a punitive action for NOT giving if you don't wish or can't fucking afford to give.
I'm not asking for anything MORE for those that don't donate. But there shouldn't be LESS for those that don't/can't.
Donate: Fine, you get the incentives.
Don't donate: You should be even fucking Steven. No more. No less.
I really don't see how my position is controversal in the least.
See the comment below about receiving credit for next year's ticket. Why do you call it punitive action if you are still getting to use that money for actual tickets by way of a credit for 2021 tickets?
You read the OP, yes? It's a punitive action because if you take the refund your cumulative years of being a season ticket holder are zeroed out which will affect your priority points going forward.
If you defer to next year, giving the same amount of money, you are given the same amount of tickets, points from this year, plus points for next year.
See to me it wasn't an issue. Theoretically the annual donation is just that an "annual" donation. The only people being penalized are the people who aren't going to be making the donation. Those are the people that are "choosing" to not give money this year.
Tech put my money for the actual tickets in an account for next year. Yes, I realize that Tech will be getting the interest on my money instead of me.
I think your analysis is off a little bit. They have offered an option where you can credit your cost of tickets to next year and maintain your continuous giving numbers. Essentially you are pre-paying for 2021 tickets in 2020 and maintaining your continuous giving record in the process.
If you stop your ticket purchase that you had planned for 2020 and request the full refund you essentially stopped your continuous giving/purchase clock.
Jesus, fuck! You're missing the point. If this were normal times, I would agree 100%. The point is we're in a pandemic, no one is going to the games, and there may be people in dire financial straits that could really use the refund. This punishes people for taking a refund of things that weren't fucking happening anyway. It's not like they're having a season in which we can all go and be live spectators. Don't misconstrue what I am saying as such.
Also, you took the quote you used from my OP out of context. Don't forget the next two lines.
To say nothing of the fact that that wasn't what I was ranting about in the first place. If it was, the two sentences you conveniently left out wouldn't make any sense.
I'm talking about nixing everyone's cumulative years of being a season ticket holder.
^This. I don't buy the "Can't afford to give" argument because guess what - THE TICKETS ARE ALREADY PAID FOR. You've given. Move the tickets to 2021 and keep your weight up.
Bruh, really? Sure, you already paid for the tickets. TECHNICALLY, you could afford it. But if you lost your fucking job due to COVID, can you afford to NOT take the refund?
Bruh, that's obviously on a case by case basis so I'm not going to delve into that realm of possibility for the thousands of Hokie Club members that we have. I'm saying that I think rolling your tickets over to 2021 is more than fair to keep your points. If you lost your job due to COVID and we were still going to be able to go to games, would you keep your tickets or ask for a refund? Only each specific person can answer that question.
But we're not having a season where we can attend games. That kinda wrecks your argument. If we still had a normal season and you lost your job and had to ask for a refund, I wouldn't be fucking ranting.
If you say so. Rant away but it looks like it is what it is.
But even still, if you take that aspect out of it, you're still being punished for taking a refund for something that didn't fucking happen.
If I pay you for a widget, and you can't deliver that widget, I should pay you MORE money?
Get real.
so what if they're already paid for? Say someone HAD a job, paid for the tickets, then lost said job. Paying for season tickets for a season where there will be NO SEASON TICKETS and only being offered a credit for the following year is no consolation if you've lost your job. So what that you've given? What was given was for season tickets for 2020. If you walked into a store to buy a freezer, gave them all the money up front, then later they say oh sorry, we're not going to have any freezers for 2020, but we'll send you one out in 2021. Uhhhh, what? You kinda paid for one now.
This is some selfish bullshit.
Have you seen how many people have lost their job or income since the first round of money for these tickets was due? Maybe you don't buy the argument because it doesn't apply to you, but JFC would it kill you to think of someone other than yourself?
And imma upvote this one
Well good thing they're offering refunds
Editing this post after reading the sage advice from Fish below. I don't agree with your perspective tjbhokie, but responding to you the way I did here isn't doing the Joe or the mods any favors.
Editing this post to follow suit
You know, you both have your point of view, and neither of you should be calling names. Likewise, though, who made you the arbiter of how much concern is "overly" concerned? You trivialize their concern without knowing their circumstances, and that doesn't seem fair to me.
I was drawing the line at the point of calling other people's opinion selfish bullshit, but I suppose your point is fair. Everyone has their own priorities and concerns. But I do think we can reasonably agree that anyone who has recently been put in a bad position from COVID, the points are a distant second to the money.
Good looking out and thank you.
Can I downvote for elitism? Did you write this post whilst on your yacht?
I have to say, I respect your demeanor and choice of language. I'm the same way when I get fired up. It usually gets me in trouble or diminishes the point I'm trying to make. But sometimes you just have to give it both barrels. Give 'em hell!
People not reading the damned OP are not helping my demeanor.
Man, I am fucking dying at this response.
Reading all your guys many complaints over the years about season tickets, hokie club, etc sure make me glad I just scalp for the occasional game...
I don't have season tickets, but that is kinda shitty of them. The cumulative years shouldn't reset, they should pause until next year. Hell, give the people who take the credit an extra year if you want there to be some "reward", but don't punish people because of a global catastrophe.
Yeah, even the players are getting a freebie year of eligibility, pause seems to make sense if you are paying for something you aren't getting, but want to continue to buy season tickets when you can actually use them to see the games. I understand them trying to get the roll over, and I get that you can come out somewhat ahead by playing it their way, but I cannot understand punishing you for wanting what you are paying for, when you are paying for it.
My understanding is
I suppose you could change it so the 'ask for a refund' is a -1, or it's a pause while those he take a credit get a 1 point bump and those who intend to pay this year and next get +2 year bump.
Why should it be -1 though? The ones that donate and the ones that credit are already getting priority point incentives. Why should the people who don't be punished? That's the crux of the whole thing.
Yea, that was my second option - If you request a refund, it's a pause, if you 'rollover' to next year, it's a 1 point bump, and if you pay this year and next year you get +2 year bump.
Personally, I think the athletic department should do whatever is easiest, and just work on an individual level with those experiencing difficult circumstances.
Why? You opted to refund this years tickets
As others have said, I understand your frustration, but I also see why the athletic department is doing this.
Have you tried talking to someone at HC? Sons of Saturday interviewed 2 people who work for Hokie Club last week. They made it seem like they're willing to work with ticket holders who faced financial struggle due to the pandemic. Perhaps you should reach out to discuss your situation?
It isn't my situation. But that doesn't mean I can't be good and pissed about someone else getting fucked.
Shoo wee I can't operate like you my friend. Not enough hours in the day.
I'm a ginger. I don't do half-assed emotions.
Ass Pocket is using his voice to stand up and speak for those Hokies that aren't as fortunate as him
Heaven forbid. The audacity of such a man. He's such a hornswoggler, that one.
So let me get this straight. No one has called the Hokie club to ask if the situation he is describing can be worked out through the Hokie Club on a case by case basis, but I'm the asshole?
What in the F is going on here? I haven't called because it doesn't apply to me as it doesn't apply to the person getting hella bent out of shape lol.
What a world .
Who the hell said no one called? Every damned one of you assumed I posted this without picking up the phone.
Then answer the damn question! Did you call??
No, man. I didn't call. I just posted this shit because I felt like yelling. /S
Why was that so difficult? I don't understand the snap back at me. I didn't do anything to you.
You got asked a simple question on multiple posts and totally ignored it. It's a valid question. Your grievance is valid. I'm surprised they wouldn't work with people.
Probably because this sounds very un-"Ut Prosim" of you. Also he answered it in the previous reply if you read the context of the comment.
Haha ok thank you Hokie joe. I think you are wildly incorrect on your assumption of my comment.
I hope you have an excellent day. Go Hokies
I..... never called you an asshole? Did anyone call you an asshole? What?
sarcastic tone of your post insinuated i was an asshole for posting what i did to apfow. Forgive me if I read it wrong.
You're right Joe! It's not as much fun anymore☹️
To me it's as simple as this.
If you take the refund you're not buying tickets in 2020.. meaning you are no longer maintaining a streak of continuously buying season tickets. Why should you get credit for keeping a streak going, when you aren't actually keeping the streak going or doing anything else to help VTAD keep the lights on?
The VTAD recognizes people want to keep their streaks going, but also isn't trying to go bankrupt so they are offering a couple of options for the ticket buyer to get that continuous ticket streak credit
option 1 = turn the 2020 ticket purchase into a 2020 donation. This costs the ticket buyer $$ this year, and $$ next year assuming they buy tickets in 2021; Buyer maintains streak of 'buying tickets' VTAD gets revenue both years. Best case for VTAD.
option 2 = defer the ticket purchase to 2021 (costs the ticket buyer $$ this year, that they've already spent; Buyer saves money in 2021 and maintains streak of 'buying tickets' VTAD gets revenue now when its most urgent, takes a bit of a hit in 2021
both of these are incentives give you credit for maintaining your buying streak. Option 2 is extremely fan friendly.
edit: and for the folks wondering "well what if someone didn't want to buy season tickets in 2021 based on the crap schedule? The deferral is meaningless to them!" Then my answer is why do those people care about years of continuous purchasing when they were going to break that streak voluntarily anyway?
AGREED. Couldn't have said it (and didn't) any better myself.
What credit? You wouldn't be getting credit. But you wouldn't be getting punished either.
OK let's walk through this one more time... someone, let's call him Jimmy, buys a pair of 2020 season tickets, just like he has done for the previous 9 years.
Because of COVID shutting down game attendance, VTAD offers buyers like Jimmy the option to credit their 2020 purchase towards 2021 tickets instead, and allows Jimmy to keep his 'continuous season ticket purchase streak' status.
(It's a credit not straight up 1for1 ticket exchange because the schedule and the ticket cost will be different next year)
If Jimmy was planning on buying tickets again in 2021 he's all set, no money lost, no points lost.
If Jimmy wasn't planning on getting 2021 tickets, and therefore doesn't want that 2021 credit - he can get a refund instead. And not just a refund on his tickets but he can also get a donation on his HSF donation too. Basically everything he spent to get season tickets in a year with UVA, Miami, and PSU in Lane. (Note that it's very rare for donations to be refundable)
Hang on a second though, Jimmy notices that getting a refund will terminate his season ticket buying streak points. He had a 10 year streak going! He takes a deep breath, thinks for a minute, and decides that losing those points doesn't actually matter because he wasnt going to buy 2021 tickets and would have broken his streak anyway (Otherwise he would have taken the deferral of his 2020 purchase)
Either way, Jimmy is fine. If he plans to get 2021 tickets, he can apply his 2020 purchase to them and keep his streaks going.
If he doesn't plan on getting 2021 tickets, he can get a refund.
I don't see the problem here.
For people who care about streaks and have been holding season tickets for years and years, COVID essentially turned their 2020 ticket purchase into an early 2021 ticket purchase.
People won't be allowed into the stadium so no tickets are actually being sold this year. I totally get this policy if there was going to be fans attending games, but there won't.
If you want to say that it's because you aren't donating annually and that breaks the streak, sure ok I buy that, but punishing people for wanting a refund for a purchase they will never see seems... Wrong. Hell, we are still awaiting refunds for the 2000 GT game that was never played, and it's still BS that happened. I don't blame anyone for being pissed over this.
For what it's worth, I got refunded for the canceled ECU game 🤔
The GT game was a host game for the BCA if I recall. Tech didn't have the ticket money to refund it went to an outside group.
It's all bullshit really.
good stuff here
Do we know there's going to be no fans? Has there been an announcement?
They announced they were going to take it on a game-by-game basis. The NC State game (before its rescheduling) was going to allow for 1,000 "fans." (families, band, etc.) After that game, they were going to re-evaluate 10-14 days before the next game to communicate to Hokies how many they would be allowing into the games and give people the opportunity to buy single game tickets.
Honest question. If they are only allowed to let 1,000 fans in, wouldn't it be better to not have anyone in? I mean the bands alone will take up a chunk of that if they are included in the 1,000. The stadium would be so empty that it's not like it would be a football atmosphere anyway (unless we are talking about Syracuse playing at UVa, that is). Would think that it would be better to maximize safety of the 1,000 people. Might cost less as you would not need anywhere near as many stadium staff to be there either.
Are they going to give the 1,000 special high end seating or treatment? I could see a benefit if they did a raffle among all people who have tickets and get some good will out of a bad situation. If it is NOT ask the biggest donor first and then the second biggest ... but at least have a subset of 200 or 500 tickets raffled at random across everyone and give the regular person a chance to get in if you do let people in. Just a thought.
I can't imagine visiting teams' bands will travel this year but your point still stands. And I am not sure we would have both bands in the stadium this year anyway.
1,000 for the NCST game includes but not limited to: Both teams rosters, Both teams staffs, a limited number of journalists, any game crew needed for TV and radio, tech players parents, family of staff, some athletic department employees,EMS and lW enforcement personal, possibly NCST players families and coaches families,m space available.
Which basically means it would have been no regular fans anyway as I'd think what you have listed approaches 1,000.
They are still working on if box seats count since they have their own access points. Now for the UVA game the standards could be different depending on the state and local
Health officials.
Couldn't they make different access points for East, West, and South, and block off the paths between the 3, and say there's 4 different "events" all going on at once (where the 4th is "on the field" since they, too, have a separate access point?
No because Of shared facilities between them. Bathrooms, concessions, EMS room, security room Etc
They have separate bathrooms and concessions areas, but that's a good point with the EMS room and the security room. I suppose it might be a pain to duplicate both of those enough times to make it happen, maybe not worth the extra expense.
I see it like this.
I donate every year, I get priority points for that gift. I get cumulative points for donating every year, but I don't get the cumulative points for season tickets, because I don't get season tickets.
Now this year, they've decided that for season ticket holders, if they donate or defer, they get 5X priority points. Which means that priority points-wise this one year's donation/ticket money is worth a lot more than the money I've been donating over the years, or am donating this year.
Now I could choose to explode over that, or I could recognize it as a desperation move to get through the years on the part of the athletic department that runs the team I support, and have supported over the years.
So while I get your grievance, in big picture scale of grievances, it's pretty small stuff.
I rate it one:
Yeah, I am curious how the 5x priority points thing works out. I chose the Keep Jumping option and the bonus points are the equivalent of me donating an extra $12,600. It is going to jump my points total like by 252 points (~1.4x my current total). How are people who come after this going to work up the rankings? New grads who only donate a couple of hundred of dollars a year will never be able to overcome the points I will get this year.
I don't know why they just don't give 5X points to EVERYONE who donates this year (or even just this month).
Seems like this would have been more fair than what they ended up with, and they may well have gotten more donations. To me, it would have seemed more fair. I mean, non-season ticket donations spend just as well as refund money.
I would donate additionally if they did make this month 5x
TKPC will 5x your turkey leg count. 😂
That's unfortunate but they didn't help the AD in its time of worst need
Edit: Saw my post was posted above, I'll make sure to drink later.
^^^Bump for the update^^^
You could always donate $10 and get the rest back as a refund. Then you have continued your consecutive years of giving.
FFS!!!!!
For the 5,345th time, I'm not talking about donations. I'm talking about the credit you get in regard to priority points for being a season ticket holder for cumulative seasons.
You have to roll over enough to the keep jumping campaign to cover 1 ticket for them to give you consecutive years of giving.
That sucks. Piss poor showing from the HC in my opinion.
What will ENTER SANDMAN be like this season? They'll blast it over Hokie Vision. Will some of the cadets/marching band be allowed to form a tunnel for the players? What else might they do to try and make SANDMAN special without the fans?
Enter Sandman switched to Mr. Sandman this year to fit the more quiet atmosphere in Lane /s
Relevant:
Letter to Hokie Nation from Hokie Club
The fucking balls of the Hokie Club to take this approach toward someone wanting money back for tickets to games that we all damn well know aren't going to be honored because fans won't be allowed in.
Our Hokie Club is so far out of touch with reality it really does boggle the mind sometimes.
They're trying to strong arm everyone into paying for something they know they won't deliver. And then punishing those who realize the con before its too late. This is the same bullshit tactics the cruise industry has been pulling on their customers since March where they consistently wait until final payment is due for a block of tickets before canceling trips during that block, and then refusing to issue refunds in a timely manner (there's still tens of thousands of customers awaiting refunds from canceled trips in March).
This is shady from the Hokie Club, and its appalling to see it playing out.
I don't get the outrage. Defer it to next year and good to go. Refund it because you don't want tickets next year, good to go.
If you don't get the outrage, it might be because you aren't seeing it the same way. I will agree that if you aren't going to want to purchase tickets next year, you get the refund and go merrily on your way. The outrage comes from being strong armed into letting VT keep your money in order not to lose many years worth of contributions and the points accrued if you don't let VT keep your money. At this point, who knows when one might expect to attend a football game with tickets already purchased? Next year isn't promised to any of us, and it seems to me that if VT cannot deliver the product, there should be no penalty for those who need/choose to hold them to their end of the bargain. I don't see why this concept is so hard for so many to grasp. For some, no sweat, money's not that tight, help the Hokies out and all, though it doesn't seem that great a deal for Tech since the deferred money will result in less revenue next year (if there is a next year). But for others, the overall uncertainty and economic distress this year has brought might make every expenditure a major decision right now.
What if someone fully intends to buy tickets next year, but this year, a year in which they won't be able to attend games even if they wanted to, they want a refund because of COVID-related hardships. Why should all of their priority points get set to zero like this is a normal year?
How is that fair? VT should definitely understand that COVID has affected everyone's finances, not just their own.
Why can they not just offer the following options:
1. Donate this years payments, get 5x priority points
2. Roll this years payment over to next year and get the points for this year and next year (basically count 2020 and 2021 as two consecutive years)
3. Offer a refund, but pause the points for 2020 (if you have 10 consecutive years now, you would be at 10 years for 2021 tickets not 0)
Not everyone that needs a refund plans to not buy tickets in 2021. I would think it more likely that most of those requesting refunds fully intend on buying season tickets next year once they are back on their feet. So why should people lose their priority points for things completely beyond their control when a much better, customer focused option is available? What does VT lose by pausing the priority points instead of dropping them to zero?
To me this decision is a tone-deaf PR nightmare that absolutely doesn't need to happen. Why kick Hokies while they are down, when it costs you absolutely nothing to pause their priority points due to extremely mitigating circumstances? Why alienate long-time supporters when you don't have to? How many supporters are going to take the refund and never come back because of this? Why risk all of that future money just to slavage as much as possible from a year that is already screwed?
It is an opportunity to either build good will (which builds for the future) or to foment grudges and distaste (which kneecaps future fund-raising). Unfortunately, the HC has chosen the latter.
It is generous to even offer a refund of the gift portions. I know it isnt as fair as we would all like, but people come into financial hardships every year for all different reasons. It sucks but there are no exceptions when it comes to loyalty points.
The biggest thing that's BS to me about the whole ticket deal is if you were willing to put your money up for tickets knowing the pandemic was going on and that football may not get played at all you should have the option to get THIS SEASON'S tickets, it's not our fault they switched the schedule and now that they sense they can make more money they yank the rug from under VT fans who have been contributing for years, that's the part that's extremely frustrating to me. My family and I have been going back and forth on whether we will continue to get season tickets in the future after this sour taste in our mouths. 50 consecutive years and this may be the last, VT has totally screwed up with the way they've handled this and they will lose a lot of contributions and donors because of this.
This comment makes absolutely no sense to me. You think Tech is trying to make "extra money" somehow? You know they are probably looking at multi million dollar shortfall this year right? That you have options of rolling already paid money over to next year, donating some money already paid to help cover costs while being given major extra points for it or taking a refund?
Shortfall of profit they would usually be used to? Tech is in no way in danger of closing down from this years Covid pandemic all these Universities have tons of reserve money in case of unforeseen situations like these to help them continue to run, most universities also invested heavy chunks of their endowments into bitcoin during the market collapse and have since prospered 4x their contribution. These schools are in much better shape to rebound then the everyday working person. If you're not pissed off they're shafting their own fans than that's fine but I have every right to be mad. First off if you carry over to next year it's not even gonna cover the full season the fees and prices will be higher than this year, thus you will be paying again next year, which isn't right you can say that would happen every year regardless but my point is how are people that contributed their money early during the heart of the pandemic not at all rewarded for their loyalty to VT it's BS y'all can keep stoking the camp fire if y'all think what they're doing is so great though.
Athletic departments are revenue generating enterprise functions and depend primarily on ticket sales and other athletics specific revenues to operate. Student fees are an extremely small part of their revenue budget. No ticket sales, donations, concessions, etc. from this year's games will leave a massive hole in the AD budget and will likely force difficult program cuts and personnel reductions.
It seems odd to think of it as a "revenue generating enterprise", when the basic goal seems to be breaking even after scholarships and salaries.
You reinvest in your business to grow and make more money. Also pedantically, revenue and profit are different
You're correct about revenue and profit being different.
But since we're being nuanced, it's not a business. It's a non-profit, as it's goal isn't to generate profits.
It's a charitable enterprise, which uses it's revenue to support athletic scholarships.
It still can't spend money it isn't making, even if it's spent on charitable actions
Correct, which is why it's willing to give out 5 X loyalty points to people who donate their ticket costs this year.
They're trying to keep the ship afloat.
Agreed
Correct, but non-profit or government (governmental or proprietary) funds can still generate a surplus (revenues exceed expenditures), which is essentially the same thing as profit for private sector accounting. Whereas for-profits can either reinvest those profits into the company or pay them to equity holders as dividends, non-profits/government can only let the surplus fall back into fund balance or appropriate to some capital expense/future operating expenses.
They certainly don't generate much of a surplus, if any most years, but the considerable revenues generated by the major sports also have significant and escalating costs associated with them, including as you mentioned rising market value for coaches salaries and student athlete scholarships/full COA.
All of what you say is true.
tjbhokie is right, I was sort of confusing revenues with profits. They do generate revenue, even if they also spend it on athletic scholarships and maintaining competitiveness.
The goal is to keep the plates spinning.
Umm bitcoin? What? Ok the Hokie Club itself funds scholarships, if they have to put any revenue into that pot to cover scholarships, plus cost of attendance for players then add in required costs like food, salaries etc I'm not sure where you think Tech is making a profit off this.
I am sorry you feel this way but I have to wonder if something else has created the sour taste. What they are doing seems fair to me. As far as this season, how far do you think 1000 people can stretch when that includes players, staff, and family?
I'm not sure it's completely fair.
From my perspective, most anyone with season tickets who decides to donate their tickets this year is likely to lap my years of donating to the program in terms of priority points in one year.
That said, they're trying to fund a lot of scholarships this year, and can't sell tickets.
And at the end of the day, it's sort of like turkey legs if you're not a season ticket holder. The priority points are mostly of value to those who are trying to get better season tickets. If you're NOT getting season tickets next year, what's the problem?
Could be that I'm missing some nuance here.
Sounds like people are upset they can't have their cake and eat it too