I have been a football season ticket holder since 1997. In 2003, I not only kept up my Gator Booster status but I also upgraded to Champions Club at a time when the program was struggling to sell these seats due to a decline in the team's performance. In 2006, I had no trouble getting either SEC Championship or BCS Championship game tickets.
It was therefore inconceivable to me how I could not qualify this year, after contributing more money and having more years of Gator Booster membership. When I was finally able to get through to a live person from the ticket office, the nice young man explained to me that contribution levels had increased significantly over the past two years. He admitted, however, that most of the entities contributing significant funds in recent years were corporations such as Publix Super Markets, not individuals.
This tells me that the University of Florida and Gator Boosters do not value loyalty. This is not what I was taught at UF as a student, and I certainly hope that these are not the values our coaches are imparting upon our student athletes.
Further, I feel the ticket office did an especially poor job anticipating the call volume in this situation. The week after the Vanderbilt game, I was unable to get through on the toll-free number, and every time I called the toll number, there was at least a 20-minute wait. In these difficult economic times, it looks to me like UF missed a golden opportunity to give back to the local economy here. It should come as no surprise that I did not even bother calling the week after the SEC Championship game.
In conclusion, I urge you to keep in mind that it is already a stretch for most of us loyal Gator fans to afford the continually increasing minimum contribution amounts to keep our season ticket seats. To now effectively tell us, especially given current economic conditions in our country, that "it's just not enough" to get us SEC Championship game and bowl tickets so we can celebrate the team's prosperity after seeing our beloved Gators through the lean times is simply not good business.
