What I don't understand is how they lose track of the
numbers. I wish he would say we have x number of
student tickets for those games, y number of season
tickets etc.

But if he did that he would have to admit how many of
these tickets are given away as inticements to
supporting groups and individuals.

I just don't know how, with all the seats available,
you end up with just 100 tickets to sell.

Not that I would be able to attend this year with my
son being young, but I wish the numbers added up.

I do like, however, that he admits that
miss-management caused some of the problem. I have
noticed before that games that were "sold-out" had a
lot of empty seats and I just couldn't imagine THAT
many season ticket holders would miss the big games!


--- "Wayne T. Smith" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >I lifted this from the Maine Athletics web site.
> It is a Q & A with
> >Maine AD Patrick Nero.  What do you think?  -Deron
>
>    I think it's another example of Patrick Nero
> providing great
>    leadership and then taking the time to explain
> his team's decisions
>    in a most understandable fashion.  (I wish weekly
> hockey releases
>    were written so well ...  I've never seen
> "notched" used so much!).
>
>    Maybe now's the time to ask for the ability to
> leave tix at the
>    Will Call window to be reinstated?
>
> cheers, wayne
>
> >Candis Shehata from Winthrop asks:
> >
> >My husband and I are both alumni of UMaine. Two of
> our sons are now
> >attending the University. When the University of
> Maine started a hockey
> >program on campus my husband and I were attending
> there and had season
> >tickets the first year they were available. We live
> in Winthrop, ME,
> >now, and occasionally go to Orono to attend a
> hockey or football game.
> >When I called a few weeks ago inquiring about
> hockey tickets for this
> >season, I was told that several "rival" games would
> only be sold as
> >part of a package deal with a basketball ticket. I
> like to go to a
> >basketball game, occasionally, but was disappointed
> to find out that I
> >would be forced into going if I wanted to see these
> hockey games.
> >
> >I know you've made some clever changes in the
> athletic program at
> >UMaine since you've been there, but I don't
> understand this one, other
> >than to get more revenue from the basketball
> program.
> >
> >Please explain to me the reasoning behind this
> move.
> >
> >
> >Patrick's answer:
> >
> >Candis,
> >
> >Thank you for this question, it gives me an
> opportunity to provide some
> >background on this issue.
> >
> >When I arrived in the spring, I was surprised to
> find that our hockey
> >ticket sales and attendance had been declining over
> the past several
> >years. This was in spite of the fact that our team
> continued to play at
> >a very high level, including being National
> runners-up two years ago
> >and in the top 5 most of last year.
> >
> >Upon reviewing our records, the problem seemed to
> stem from inventory
> >control. For various reasons, we were holding back
> many tickets until
> >just before game time. The result of this was most
> people thinking
> >games were sold out, yet we would be left with
> hundreds of empty seats
> >and unsold tickets.
> >
> >We made some internal adjustments and we were able
> to put over 500
> >additional season tickets on sale. These newly
> available season tickets
> >sold out last week as the season was set to begin.
> The selling of
> >additional season tickets really limited our
> ability to sell single
> >game tickets. As we were preparing information on
> single game sales, we
> >tried to communicate to folks that due to the
> additional season ticket
> >sales, single games tickets may not be available
> for all games.
> >
> >As the date for single ticket sales arrived, we
> took a look at our
> >inventory. Part of this inventory are tickets that
> must be held for
> >visiting teams as per Hockey East rules. Not all
> visitors take the full
> >allotment, however, New Hampshire, BU and BC do
> usually take the full
> >amount. We also had to take a look at student
> tickets, these three
> >opponents also draw our biggest student crowds.
> >
> >At this time it became obvious that we were very
> low on individual
> >tickets for the games against our rivals, around
> 100. We put on sale
> >all the other games, so fans like yourself who do
> not wish to purchase
> >season tickets could choose from the other 12 games
> available. Since
> >the tickets for the UNH, BC and BU games were so
> limited, we decided to
> >package these games with some of our other sports.
> >
> >This was done to help generate interest in these
> other teams. Our hope
> >is that fans such as yourself who enjoy the rivalry
> such as Maine-BU
> >hockey, would also enjoy this rivalry in
> basketball.
> >
> >For those who did not wish to purchase the rival
> packs, season tickets
> >were still available at the time single game
> tickets went on sale and
> >also they could choose from the other 12 games.
> >
> >I hope that this gives you some of the background
> on this situation.
> >The packages went on sale this week and the sales
> went very well. It
> >looks like we will have a full house for all of
> these games and
> >hopefully develop some new basketball fans at the
> same time.
> >
> >Go Black Bears!
> >
> >Patrick Nero


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