"I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

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Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

. . .
The one thing that seems clear is that the General Lottery didn't sell out. Based on the information in our ticket threads, that's the first time this has happened under the current system. (2002 forward)

Two words for you. Ford Field . But I think we all knew what you meant.

Providence 2000 sold out far in advance, and IIRC Albany 2001 did as well.

Which may indicate that the move to NHL sized arenas was a miscalculation. The amenities are nicer, but the atmosphere isn't.

So the last time we were in this situation was in Anaheim in 1999. Of course there's still several months for Tampa to sell tickets, and we should all hope for the best. But the parallel with Anaheim is starting to feel discouragingly real.

I wonder if this is the last time for a "vacation" type venue. I'm fine with it, and there is a core (which based on some comments in here may be getting smaller) that will go wherever it is, but it looks like it needs to be in a place that's within driving distance of the northern midwest or the northeast, especially depending on which teams make the finals.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

my opinion is it was a perfect storm of two events. economy and ford field.

many, many people keep floating the tickets by entering the lottery each year to keep their standing and don't go. i won in the lottery for buffalo only (before detroit, then st paul, then tampa), losing out in the attempts after buffalo. however i had no problem coming here and getting four tickets from 'winners' who didn't go. i suspect there were a lot of similar situations where these folks ordered tickets, paid, then resold and got their money back. everyone was happy. they kept their lottery standing, and everyone who wanted to go-got tickets for face value.

then detroit happened...

and on top of that the economy turned. so a lot of people probably considered this (buying, then selling months later) an unnecessary risk.

..now the tickets we got?

the ncaa knows how many people 'want' tickets through the lottery. so what do they do? they allocate them to us based upon our standing. the higher your lottery #, the better your seats of what they need to sale. the others? -the 'good' seats? you don't think that their corporate sponsors (coke, capital one, att, lowes, etc) won't love to get seats to florida in early april and pass them out to people they do business with?!?! c'mon! . downtown tampa will have a great convention week with all these corp types coming in to escape the long winter and have no problem giving away these tickets. will you perhaps get a chance to scalp these prime seats when salesmen from seattle and chicago and pittsburgh decide they'd rather go to mons venus? perhaps. will these corp types want to go to the games? perhaps too. i don't think the arena will lack for bodies

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Two words for you. Ford Field . But I think we all knew what you meant.

Perhaps post-tramautic stress syndrome led me to block out the entire experience?

Obviously the FFFF is relevant, and should have been mentioned. But it's not an example of the "current system." At the time, we were calling the FFFF "Lottery" a Pre-Sale. 0% Chance of an advance sellout, price gradations, no priority points for newbies, etc., etc. It was just an entirely different animal.

Which may indicate that the move to NHL sized arenas was a miscalculation. The amenities are nicer, but the atmosphere isn't.

My feeling is that the NHL arenas have been financially successful, and that we're unlikely to return to the smaller venues. The real factor is location, location, location. Take St. Paul 2011. Demand was soft, and that matters to us in several ways. But in the end, the building was essentially full and the NCAA undoubtedly received something very close to the expected payday.

I wonder if this is the last time for a "vacation" type venue. I'm fine with it, and there is a core (which based on some comments in here may be getting smaller) that will go wherever it is, but it looks like it needs to be in a place that's within driving distance of the northern midwest or the northeast, especially depending on which teams make the finals.

This is a live issue, IMHO. My very preliminary guess is that in-house attendance is going to be noticeably down, but not a total disaster. The lesson drawn will probably be that we can only do this once a decade, as opposed to making it a last occasion. Of course this year's story will continue to develop, and my opinion may evolve along with those developments.

 

[Almington]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

My feeling is that the NHL arenas have been financially successful, and that we're unlikely to return to the smaller venues. The real factor is location, location, location. Take St. Paul 2011. Demand was soft, and that matters to us in several ways. But in the end, the building was essentially full and the NCAA undoubtedly received something very close to the expected payday.

The ideal case for the NCAA is that the tickets are priced such that lottery demand is exactly equal to the number of seats available. Clearly this is going to fluctuate with the locations and the number of infrequent lottery entrants. The fact of the matter is that more people are going to enter the lottery in places like MN and Boston just because the overall "cost of attendance" will be lower. For those of us who plan to go (nearly) every year, it isn't any issue to have a destination year - you expect to fly most every year and the only difference is the length of the flight (and the destination temperature).

At the end of the day, attendance is driven by the teams that make it. Teams that are local, have large national followings, or rabid fan bases will drive the ticket usage rate up. Because Tampa isn't going to have a local draw, the best case will be teams that have the national recognition with large and loyal fan bases that have not made it to a F4 for a while. It will be interesting to see what, if any, interest the local Lightning fans take in the event.

 

[bruno]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Every year, I post the following analysis of the Frozen Four ticket price inflation that has taken place during my attendance run as a reminder where we've been and how we arrived at the present ticket prices. This posting is a bit early, but with the conversation about the Tampa ticket location assignments picking up speed, it might be interesting to review this historical record:

1976 $13.50 (D. U. Arena, Denver)

1980 $24.00 (Providence Civic Center)
[This was the 1st time there was a
price difference between the
semifinals ($6 each), conso ($5) and
the championship game ($7) tickets]

1982 $25.00 (Providence Civic Center)
[semis: $6 each; conso: $5; champ: $8]

1986 $36.00 (Providence Civic Center)

1988 $33.00 (Olympic Center, Lake Placid)

1991 $75.00 (St. Paul Civic Center)

1993 $60.00 (Bradley Center, Milwaukee)

1995 $75.00 (Providence Civic Center)

1996 $69.50 (Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum)
[semis: $22 each; champ: $25.50]

1997 $75.00 (Bradley Center, Milwaukee)

1998 $90.00 (FleetCenter, Boston) [semis: $25 each; champ: $40]

1999 $90.00 (Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim) [semis: $27.50 each; champ: $35]

2000 $110.00 (Providence Civic Center) [semis: $35 each; champ: $40

2001 $85.00 (Pepsi Arena, Albany) [semis: $25 each; champ: $35]

2002 $124.50 (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul)

2003 $120.00 (HSBC Arena, Buffalo)

2004 $135.00 (FleetCenter, Boston)

2005 $147.00 (Shottenstein Center, Columbus)

2006 $150.00 (Bradley Center, Milwaukee)

2007 $155.00 (Scottrade Center, St. Louis)

2008 $164.00 (Pepsi Center, Denver)

2009 $177.00 (Verizon Center, Washington, DC)

2010 $189.00/ (Ford Field, Detroit)
$170.00/$119.00/$79.00/$40.00

2011 $195.00 (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul)

2012 $195.00 (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)

2013 $ ??? (Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh)

Still, everything considered, compared to NC$$ FF roundball (not to mention BC$ oblongball) tickets, it's difficult to claim that we don't enjoy bargain prices for our three-game national championship series.

 

[bruno]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Here's a summary of the Tampa ticket location assignments reported to date:

Priority Section Row

15 110 L
14 110 F
14 115 D
14 126 K
13 122 G
13 126 G
13 126 M
13 202 D
12 123 F
8 211 C
8 229 H
7 210 J
7 214 E
7 302 F
6 211 J
6 316 G
5 302 F
5 317 K
5 327 H
4 314 A
4 330 H
3 302 L
2 330 L
1 314

 

[mookie1995]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

3 315 h

 

[Maine Event]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Priority 8 - Section 208 - Row C

 

[jen]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

priority 14 - sec 110 - row E (I think.. the row might be wrong)

 

[Steve_MN]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Here's a summary of the Tampa ticket location assignments reported to date:

Just for sake of clarity, it may be good to note that the 211 Row J I reported is a single seat.... I typically get a bit better seats that my priority seems to be assigned for the year since I get to fill in gaps in other areas.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.......
Two can be as sad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one.
One! Is the loneliest number...

 

[BU2K]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Priority 14. Sec 122 row g

 

[theprofromdover]

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.......
Two can be as sad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one.
One! Is the loneliest number...

It's cold in the outback.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.......
Two can be as sad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one.
One! Is the loneliest number...

Although a band named Three Dog Night might be a little biased.

We've had many cases from over the years demonstrating that purchasing a single improves one's location. True, the amount of improvement varies considerably from one application to the next, and from one year to the next. But it's an attractive option if you don't mind -- and might possibly enjoy -- making new acquaintances. And I don't think we've ever had a case where someone ordered a single and did worse than expected.

 

[Siouxfaninseattle]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Priority 1? (2nd time in the lottery) sec 304 row K

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Correct. You'll be at Level 2 on your next application. (2013 or beyond)

 

[satyking]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

NO the priority number is from the NCAA and your first tix weren't

When i say my priority, should i count 2005 in my priority? We didn't win through the lottery that year, but we took the nice folks at the arena in Columbus' offer to buy from them and have been going ever since through the lottery.

 

[gscott13]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

When i say my priority, should i count 2005 in my priority? We didn't win through the lottery that year, but we took the nice folks at the arena in Columbus' offer to buy from them and have been going ever since through the lottery.

NO the priority number is from the NCAA and your first tix weren't

Actually, unless they have changed the rules, you can gain a priority point by purchasing directly from the arena. I bought my tickets to Boston in 2004 directly from the FleetCenter and received a priority point for it. I had to fax/email the NCAA folks a letter with a copy of my receipt from the rink and they updated my priority level.

If you are able to track down a receipt, you could email them to find out if they still do it.

 

[bruno]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

Here's an updated summary of the Tampa ticket location assignments reported to date:

Priority Section Row

15 110 L
14 110 E
14 110 F
14 115 D
14 122 G
14 126 K
13 122 G
13 126 G
13 126 M
13 202 D
12 123 F
8 208 C
8 211 C
8 229 H
7 210 J
7 214 E
7 302 F
6 211 J
6 316 G
5 302 F
5 317 K
5 327 H
4 314 A
4 330 H
3 302 L
3 315 H
2 330 L
1 314
1 304 K

 

[DLG]

Re: "I won the FF Lottery" 2012 Edition

When I got my seats I was quite upset and sent the NCAA a letter on 11/21 to which I received the generic reply listed below
If high prioity seat holders are not rewarded they are going to see shrinkage in their demand which may have already happened the past few years



Thank you for your support of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, to be held April 5 & 7 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. After reviewing your e-mail, we’re happy to give you some more insight into the ticketing process for the Men’s Frozen Four.



First, you should know that the NCAA works with the participating host entities and the host facility to secure a minimum of 50 percent of the available seating capacity for the general public, which includes priority ticket holders. The remaining percentage of available seats are then allocated for each of the participating teams, for the bands of the participating teams, and for the two teams as well as the on-ice officials not participating in a particular game. Seats are also allocated for all college hockey coaches, athletics directors, conference commissioners, future hosts of the championship, NCAA corporate champions and corporate partners and groups such as USA Hockey, the Hockey Humanitarian Award and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The host institution/local organizing committee and the host facility also receive an allocation of seats. Please keep in mind, that as is the case every year, the majority of the tickets described above are located in the lower level.



As you know, the hockey championship is unique in that several years ago it initiated a priority application process as a way to reward loyal Men’s Frozen Four attendees. That being said, individuals with the highest priority numbers are seated first in the available lower level seats. Once that inventory has been exhausted, seats are then assigned based on priority in any club level seats available and finally, the remaining seats are assigned in the upper level. We can assure you that all seats were assigned based on priority within the seats available.



Please note that the tickets that went on sale to the general public November 19 were those remaining upper level seats that were not allocated to the priority ticket purchasers. No lower level or club seats were available or offered to the general public.



Again, we appreciate your support of NCAA men’s ice hockey and hope you have an enjoyable experience in Tampa in April.



NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Staff