An Open Letter to Dr. Gross

Dr. Daryl Gross
Director of Athletics
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244


Dear Dr. Gross:

With the hiring of a new football coach, and the basketball team back in the Sweet Sixteen, you probably did not expect to receive a lot of letters like this. However, I’m writing to explain why I am not renewing my season tickets.

I’ve been an SU sports fan all my life—since the fall of 1956 when I saw Jim Brown score 43 points against Colgate. That was a Division I single game scoring record that stood for decades. I saw every one of Ernie Davis’ home football games, except the Kansas game in ’59, because my mother grounded me that Saturday for reasons I no longer remember. I was at Manley Field House for opening night—a UConn game, as I recall. I saw Floyd Little’s coming out party when he ran for five touchdowns against the Kansas team that featured a halfback named Gale Sayers. I used to watch Jim Nance wrestle in the men’s gym on Saturdays.

I haven’t lived in Syracuse since 1967, but have maintained my dad’s football and basketball season tickets since he moved to Florida in the early 90s. I think my dad bought these tickets the year the Dome opened. I’ve even kept the football tickets through the declining fortunes of the past four years. Every winter, I’ve driven through the snow to see at least a dozen basketball games, and in all those years, I’ve been turned back by the weather only once.

But now I’m done. My Orange Club donation, which had risen consistently year after year during your tenure, increased over 57 % in one year. That price increase, quite frankly, astonished me for many reasons.

First of all, I wondered about the decision to raise prices so dramatically during these economic times. I am not claiming hardship, and I don’t write this letter with the intention of asking for a price break. But still, I wonder, who raises prices 57 % when the economy is imploding?

Second, who raises prices when their product has consistently declined in value year after year? Just in case you were not keeping track, the football program has not done particularly well over the last four years. Not only has the team managed a total of ten wins during those four seasons (I recall many years they had ten wins in a single season, including the 1992 season, when I took my family to the Fiesta Bowl.) Worse, the team has consistently ranked in the bottom five or ten percent in almost every statistical category. Even defense.

Third, who raises prices like this when the venue is empty? Did you attend football games last fall? It was often so lonely and quiet in my section that I could converse throughout the games with other fans near my seats. These were familiar faces who had been sitting in the same location for decades—folks who remembered my dad and my Uncle Joe fondly, and would want to be remembered to my mom. By way of contrast, I recall games in the Dome when it was so loud I could not even tell my dad what I wanted to eat when he would get up to go to the concession stand. It was bedlam.

Fourth, I’m not sure you have figured this out yet, but Upstate New York is not Los Angeles. Sure, we’ve had big crowds in the Dome for basketball year after year. On many nights, SU attendance is the largest in the nation, not just Division I, but the NBA as well. But Syracuse is not a town of movie stars and millionaires. I wonder how many other fans from Rochester, Binghamton, Canajoharie, and Watertown will factor in the cost of gas, the cost of parking, the recent price increases, the hassle of traveling on winter nights, and then reconsider their commitment.

By the way, even though the basketball team has continued to perform at a high level, crowds are down. Whether it’s a result of TV exposure, or the economy, who knows? Except for a couple games this year, we really did not have monster crowds.

Still, all of that is a business judgment, and you must know some things that I don’t. Otherwise, I doubt you would have made the decision to raise the prices so much. And while one can quarrel with business judgment, I was still considering renewing my tickets until I called the Orange Club. You see, I could not figure out from the mailing and all the various schedules of ticket prices, why my seats now cost $535 just for the privilege of purchasing season tickets. When I called, I learned that my seats, which had been “B” level seats for 30 years had been changed to “A” level. “The same seats?” I asked. The same seats, I was told; now you just have to pay “A” level prices. I hate to think what the seats will cost if the football program ever turns around.

So I’m giving them up after 30 years in the family—not just football, but basketball too. It’s not just a matter of expense, but more that I feel betrayed. I’ve been a loyal fan for ages. I’ve come to football games the past four years knowing that the team would probably be beaten, and beaten badly. I’ve supported the concession stands, buying meatball sandwiches, BK Broilers, Dome Dogs, drinks and peanuts. I’ve bought little Otto stuffed toys for friends with newborns. And my reward for that loyalty is to have my pocket picked. If anything, I should have had my annual contribution reduced, for having loyally supported the team these past four years. Instead, I had my seats, which had always been the best “B” level seats, downgraded to the worst “A” level seats. That’s my reward. And if that’s how you treat your fan base, I’m done.

I’ll still root for the team, but instead of driving through the snow, and sometimes getting home in the early morning hours, I’ll go to a neighborhood tavern, sit at the bar, eat and drink, and drive five minutes when the game is over. I won’t pay for parking or fight the traffic. A couple times each year, I’ll get free tickets from a friend, or maybe even buy them on the street. But I’m sorry; I won’t allow myself to be taken advantage of.

Perhaps I’m the only one who feels this way. Perhaps you’ll sell the same number of season tickets to others, who don’t mind the constant increases. But on the other hand, perhaps you’ll erode your loyal fan base with these ever increasing money-grabbing policies.

Next year, when the Orange are back in the tournament (and they’ll get there, even if Flynn and Devendorf leave) I’ll be in front of the TV, or maybe, I’ll join one of my sons at the Garden or one of the first round venues. One of my boys lives in Miami and attended the first two games in person. And I’ll take the money I didn’t spend on season tickets and use it for airfare and hotel rooms. I don’t think that’s the best thing for the University or the Athletic Department, but last I checked, no one asked me.

Very truly yours,

David Rothenberg