One man's journey to become a season ticket holder

UPDATED: Tuesday July 24 @ 8:20PM (SEE BOTTOM FOR ADD'L + PHOTOS)

Tuesday, July 24 I get to walk into the Thomas and Mack and select my seats. I get to donate to the RAF. I get to essentially own a little piece of what is hopefully a historic season. 

I've never intended this site to be about me, nor do I go out of my way to put my name on anything. I do the site because I genuinely love Runnin' Rebels basketball, can't get enough of it, and felt the coverage in recent years to be lacking. So keeping in line with that mission, I present my story of how I've attended or watched Rebels games, and the very proud step I've taken to become a season ticket holder.

Pre-UNLV

There was a time that I was only peripherally aware of UNLV and its storied basketball team. As a man in his mid 30's, I was a youngish kid living in Northern California when the Rebels brought home the title. Also as a kid, I identified more with the NBA and had a few local teams to follow and root for - the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. I was aware that college basketball was enjoyed by many, but never could get into a game where there were so many teams and I could identify with none. Back to the NBA, Larry 'grand-mama' Johnson was big everywhere, not just in Charlotte and Las Vegas. He put UNLV on my radar, as did Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, and those who followed in the NBA such as Issiah Rider, Shawn Marion and Keon Clark. Attending games was a really fun thing to do for a kid; my father regularly got luxury suite tickets by way of his business's accountants, Ernest and Young - so that was sweet. Being an avid fan of basketball as well as the NBA has maintained its prominence in my life, but there would be room eventually for college basketball.

At UNLV

Having selected UNLV as my alma matter for a bachelors degree (2000-2003), I got a chance to attend as many games as I could from the student section. There was no 'Rebellion' back then, only fans who had bridged the gap and were waiting out a stream of coaches, hoping UNLV would again rise to prominence. That year's team (2000-01) underperformed greatly, but had a lot of talent. Names such as Dalron Johnson, Kaspars Kambala, Trevor Diggs, and Marcus Banks may ring a bell. The salt in the wound, was that UNLV was banned from post-season play (not like the record would have allowed for much anyhow) due to NCAA sanctions. The following years were decent as we got to see Marcus Banks shine and make his way to being a lottery pick - awesome stuff. I got to live in the dorms with and occasionally chat with a freshman Lou Amundson, pretty cool.

Sitting in the student section was perhaps easier back then, not having to stand all game, or come really early to get lower bowl seating. But, it was kind of sad at the same time - a school with this kind of basketball pedigree barely getting turnout out of a sizable student body. Still - it was free, and I was a poor student, just rooting for his team.

Post-UNLV

After I left UNLV, and went on to further schooling I kept tabs on the Runnin' Rebels and admired from afar what was going on. My absence from the Rebels was short lived, as in 2006 I was back in town and ready for more. Like most Rebels fans you had to be excited about what Lon Kruger brought to this town - stability, traditions honored, and most importantly winning. The Sweet 16 season was the best things the Rebels had done, since the Final Four teams of  the early 90's. I remember during the run, I happened to be in San Diego when the Rebels were facing Oregon, and was extremely frustrated with the lack of television coverage - so much so that I traveled from bar to bar to find the game being shown. As many feel, the Rebels maybe peaked too early into Lon Kruger's tenure, and were never able to match or beat that crowning achievement. But still, Lon Kruger made the Rebels one of the toughest teams on defense, and we were regularly at least a bubble team for the tournament.

The Website Years


I have attended a handful of games each year, sometimes on my own dime - and sometimes due to the generosity of a co-worker with season tickets. There's a legitimate debate that could be held, regardless of sporting event, whether its better to sit at home and watch from the very best angles in HD, or to buy seats that won't break the bank, battle traffic, and watch the game in person. In former years, the sit at home strategy won out, but this year is different, its special, and its worth watching in person. You would think running this site would get me a media pass, well - that hasn't quite panned out yet.

I've put together a comprehensive breakdown of how UNLV Basketball tickets stack up to other entertainment in town, as well as our competition in the MWC and even an NBA team. Honestly, its the highest read article on the entire website. I did it for myself as much as for the people, because I wanted to see whether the university was taking advantage, comparatively, or were UNLV basketball tickets a good value. My conclusion this season - if it shapes up to anything even close to the hype, its totally worth it.

Besides being a fanatic Runnin' Rebels fan who dedicates several hours every week to writing new material for other Rebels fans to enjoy, I still remain a man who people have trouble buying a birthday present for. Sure, my wardrobe is at least 20% Rebels gear - but something is missing *Rebels Tickets*. I tried to jump on the bandwagon and buy conference season tickets last year, but to my dismay - UNLV was, in my opinion, taking advantage. What they did was offer the MWC season package (2nd half of the season) for the same price they were charging had you purchased the whole season before it started! That kind of tactic, although the Rebels had accomplished significant feats leading up to the MWC season, was too big of a mental pill for me to swallow - so I passed on that being my Christmas present. This season I wised up and put my money down early.

Let's not get crazy, I'm not some high roller who's looking at a piece of real estate in Gucci Row. I'm thinking more like center upper deck, hopefully low enough to enjoy the game. For a pair of season tickets, I intend to spend a bit under $600 (about $300 per). That's still a lot of money for me and my family to put towards anything, but its important to me and should provide substantial entertainment. So, Tuesday, July 24, 2012 I get to walk into the Thomas and Mack and select those seats. I get to donate to the RAF. I get to essentially own a little piece of what is hopefully a historic season.

For those of you who want to buy into the dream of the 2012-13 UNLV Basketball season, Tuesday may be your day as well. In the evening, after everyone (like myself) who ponied up a $100 deposit has selected seats - you may in-kind select yours. The marketing and sales people are calling it an open house, and more information can be learned here. You'll have to think about several things, 'can I afford it', 'will there be adequate television coverage now that The Mtn is dead', 'would I rather go piece-meal to games', 'would I rather root and cheer from my couch'. No doubt about it, economic times are tough, can you make it work?

Other Options

There are alternatives to purchasing season tickets, and still see a lot of games in person. Two strategies that could work for you are the UNLV Kids Club, and perhaps becoming a student.

The UNLV Kids Club, which I discuss at length here, gets your registered kids into any game for free (premium games are exempt from this), and up to 4 adults for half price. Granted, you need to have kids to enjoy this benefit - but it could be a really good idea for someone who's schedule can't accommodate making it to all of the games, but a decent portion. Seats were in the upper deck last year, and will surely be in the upper deck again - near other Kids Club Members.

Becoming a student might benefit you in many ways, such as furthering your education that could lead to a higher paying job. Student tickets are free, and to my knowledge, are available to anyone with a Rebelcard carrying a certain amount of credits (number to be found later) may get free attendance, and may purchase additional tickets for non-students at half price. You get to sit in the student section, can dress up without it being weird, take part in handling Mozilla or any of the other Fatheads that are now in the Student Section, and likely have a real good time. Its likely not worth it to audit a class or two to get into games for the price of tuition (and blow those classes off), so if you were considering that - just pay for season tickets.

Conclusion


Once I select my pair on Tuesday, I'll post photos to accompany this article, along with a recap of the experience. I can hardly wait to see my future seats. GO REBELS!

SEAT SELECTION

Today, I went down to UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center and picked out a pair of choice seats! The process was easy enough, came down at the scheduled time and rode the hallowed escalator to the front doors of the arena. It's go time, I was thinking.

Inside the doors were two tables, one which was manned by sales associates, the other that functioned as a pay station. Once there was an available representative, they guided me through the arena, checking to see what areas I was looking and and then suggesting possible seats. I started close to the enterance doors sections, and noticed some pairs or other groupings (3's and 4's) that were really low (as low as row A) and untaken. The staff had demarked available seats with paper tags, easy enough to understand. I thought, hmmm... let me check out these seemingly fantastic seats....

Issue.. those 'too good to be true' seats had obstructed views. Why were there obstructions you ask? Because especially in the upper deck there happens to be obtrusive railings and camera men stands that can block one's view. I suggested what should be a very easy solution to my rep - why not deeply discount these obstructed view seats, why pay full price for less than a full view? He agreed with me, but I guess the system cannot be changed by one man with a decently reasonable idea.

Getting back to seat selection, I was surprised that there was such limited available seats left. This speaks volumes for the Runnin' Rebels fans, not only over the previous seasons - but now. The place appears full up with season ticket holders. Putting that fact aside, I was able to find some good pairs of seats that didn't have particularly obstructed views in my price range. One was on one side of the arena, the other on the other side, they differed by 2 rows (vertically). I can up with what I thought was a good idea. I could not objectively remember what the view was in one seat, walk all the way around and sit in another and say one was better than the other. So, having a camera in hand, I snapped a photo from each and then just compared  the photos. Easy enough, selection made. Then, it was as simple as going to the pay station and dropping down the remaining balance ($100 deposit previously taken).

The math is as follows: ticket price + RAF donation + printing fees = price. In my case, $215 + $25 + $25 = $265 total per seat. 18 games of fun = priceless.

The word is tickets will be mailed out till October. I can't wait to receive mine! Here's the pictures from today.

Tickets please! A comparative analysis of Rebel basketball ticket prices

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels basketball at the Thomas and Mack Center – often called the greatest show on the strip, and the only one that will never end its run. Being a fan of our beloved Rebels will cost you $0, but game attendance is another matter.

It is important to compare and evaluate what the price of admission to a game at the Thomas and Mack Center is, not necessarily to criticize – but to put things in perspective.

Before talking about dollars and cents, the spectacle and event of going to a Runnin’ Rebels game is something that can’t be quantified by money. The Thomas and Mack area supplanted the UNLV Men’s Basketball team playing at the convention center. The facility opened in 1983, and has since been renovated both inside and out. Before every game the lights are dimmed, a spectacle is created with pyrotechnics, music, and the red carpet. And once the players are introduced, hopefully the Rebels are off to victory in thrilling fashion. Sure, you could watch it on TV, but you would miss the introductory spectacle, the half-time show, and the experience of being there.

The same questions are asked every year of a team people have high hopes for – will UNLV return to the Final Four? Will the three point-streak stay intact? The answer to those questions really rest with the coaches and players. The questions the fans have to answer are “Am I going to renew, upgrade, or downgrade my seats this year”?, or to the non-season ticket holder – how many games am I going to attend, or will I attend games.

A large crowd is part of what makes going to a game at the Thomas and Mack Center fun. Without a large crowd, the cheering is not as loud, the fight song loses some of its meaning, and the energy is decreased. Teams are given home-home-advantages because it's their fanbase and their facilities.  Luckily for the Rebels, attendance numbers have not been the problem. In a city with much more to see and do than anywhere outside of New York or Los Angeles, UNLV regularly does as well as any event in town. While UNLV had previously been an attendance leader not only in the Mountain West, but in the West in general, sadly that title has fallen.

The NCAA has recently released its numbers for the past seasons attendance, and in the top 10 is BYU averaging 18,714 people per home game ranking 6th, sandwiched between Tennessee and Wisconsin. The top attendance school is Kentucky, which averaged 23,603 per home game in 2010-11. Looking at the Mountain West alone, 4 teams cracked the Top-30.

In descending order, here’s how things breakdown:

(1 ;6^th Nat’l;) BYU with 18,714;

(2 ;16^th Nat’l;) New Mexico with 14,570 per game;
(3 ;23^rd Nat’l;) UNLV with 13,253; and
(4 ;30^th Nat’l;) San Diego State with 11,668 per game.

Space limitations certainly hampered San Diego State University’s attendance figures as they pushed the limits of their facilities time and time again this past season (capacity is 12,414). Most impressive among the bunch is New Mexico besting UNLV by more than 1000, given that New Mexico was not seriously in contention for a shot at the big dance, their most meaningful accomplishment was having “newcomer of the year” in Drew Gordon, and beating BYU twice (one time w/o Davies).

Back to the money, here is how UNLV Basketball ticket prices stack up to the competition in the MWC, one prominent team, and an NBA franchise.

Booster funds

Most collegiate programs carry a booster fund, which uses donations from fans to fund scholarships, facilities, and other things. Programs have tied these booster programs to the ability to purchase choice seating at basketball and football games, among other sports.

University athletic budgets take a lot of money to keep the scholarships funded, here is several nice charts provided by Wyoming about the MWC.

While UNLV is middle-of-the-pack when it comes to the ability to raise money, the most interesting statistic in these graphs is that we are DEAD-LAST in number of contributors to the fund. Clearly, there is room for improvement in that department. Perhaps that should be a topic of inquiry in a future article.

What do UNLV Runnin’ Rebels tickets cost?

The UNLV website does an OK job of giving a breakdown of costs, but you have to do some math to get true figures. The more ‘premium’ seats require a donation to the Rebel Athletic Fund, a fund that pays for scholarships for many of the athletes that play college sports at UNLV. Since there’s some addition and then division, I’ll do the math for you after we talk about single game tickets:

Single game tickets:

UNLV has tiered tickets into bad teams, ok teams, and great teams. For example, here is bad and great:

Vs. bad teams,

aka Wyoming

Plaza $103, $87, $35

Dugout $22

Balcony $10

Endzone Balcony $10

Vs. great teams

Wisconsin; BYU

Plaza $103, $87, $38

Dugout $25

Balcony $20

Endzone Balcony $20

Some are not too expensive -- if you can land decent seats. Many/most of those are in the hands of season ticket holders. 

On "Pack the Mack" days (usually 1-2 a season) there is quite a few $10 tickets available. Usually a free shirt promotion as well - good time to go.

Rebel Kids Club

Rebel Kids club is an incentive where for each child a year membership is $30 per year per kid. Members (the children) get free admission to any UNLV sporting event (minus ultra-premium matchups like Wisconsin).  Along with that privilige, comes up to 4 half-price adult admissions. Additional benefits are Rebel Kids Club events, a t-shirt, and a birthday card from Hey Reb! on your child's birthday. I am not familar with the program other than this information, if anyone has used it I'd love to know what kind of seats you got. Other considerations - this sounds like a "yearly" program, and we all know the college basketball season straddles 2 years through the winter months. SO, it is likely the shell-out would be $60 to see a season (but you would still get the following fall, so that's cool).

Student Tickets

Additionally, as is the norm, if you are a student you are eligible for free admission to all home games (not the MWC tournament). You must be a student with an active classes, and you have to go through the website and use your Rebelcard to 'buy' your free tickets. This is a policy change from years past, where all you had to do is show up at the T&M with a Rebelcard and your in. Plus side to student section - good seats, high energy, downside - there won't be a ton of sitting unless its a blowout. 

Season Tickets

-          Includes all exhibition and home games, does not include neutral site games played at The Orleans when the NFR is in town.

-          Quoted prices do not include RAF required contribution in some cases

The only real price there are the $175 and $90 endzone balcony tickets, others mostly require RAF donations. 

Because of the required RAF donation, which granted is a tax deductible charitable donation, here is the real cost of season tickets at UNLV.

Season                                                                                                Per game breakdown

Plaza – Courtside (Gucci Row)$3000+ $485= $3485                        $205

Plaza – Close to court sidelines $1650 +$485 = $2135                      $125

Plaza – Close to court endzones $1025 +$485 = $1510                     $89

Plaza – Mid level mid court $775+$485 = $1260                               $74

Plaza – Mid level corners $525 + 485 = $1010                                  $59

Plaza – High corners  $275 + 485 = $760                                          $43

Dugout selected or $295+$275 = $570                                              $33

Plaza – Endzone above the tunnel $175+$485 = $660                        $39

Dugout – Non-mid-court $100 +$295 = $395                                   $23

Limited no. of plaza non-RAF endzone = $485                                   $28

Balcony Non-endzone = $175                                                            $10

Balcony endzone $90                                                                         $5.29

Additionally, while some of these prices look less daunting when pieced out into single games, many of the RAF seats are unavailable to purchase under single game prices.

UNLV vs. local sporting events

There are sports in Las Vegas, minor league or alternative league sports. The prominent competiton are AA – Las Vegas 51s and Wranglers Hockey (sorry Locos, no time to evaluate your team).

The Las Vegas 51’s 72 home game season ticket package

2011 FULL SEASON TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE IN FOUR PRICE LEVELS

Season Ticket Prices Dugout Seats $936 Field Level $576 Plaza Seating $504 Reserved Seating $432

The math dividing those dollar figures gives you a per-game figure of

Dugout = $13/per game

Field = $8 per game

Plaza = $7 per game

Reserved = $6 per game

Want to buy single games, here are the prices

Dugout = N/A

Field = $14 per game

Plaza = $13 per game

Reserved = $10 per game

They also offer many great mini-plans to entice people who want to see more than a few games, but know an entire season is too big of a commitment. Added bonus -- fireworks shows periodically occur and are worth the price of admission.
Comparison: 51s baseball is cheaper, but less exciting and lets face it -- its minor league baseball.

Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL Hockey

Season Tickets

Glass - $999
Select Circle - $799-  Youth $216
Premium - $599 Youth - $216
Mardi Gras - $499 Youth - $216

Very nice of the Wranglers to give a youth discount, classy. I couldn’t figure out how many home games the Wranglers play but the following is their single game ticket prices:

Single game prices

Glass $38.00
Select Circle $28.50
Premium $21.00
Mardi Gras$17.50
Youth -$10.50

Comparison: Good idea with the youth pricing, really makes this a family outing. Although not the NHL this can be great entertainment for a good price. Still lacks the sense of urgency due to it being somewhat of a minor league. Less expensive than UNLV basketball, if you are a hockey fan go watch!

UNLV vs. Shows

Not a fair comparison, you wouldn’t go see the same show 17 times in a row, unless you might be a rabid Cher, Manalow, or Santana fan. A front row ticket to the best shows are known to run $300-500 a pop. Besides, there’s no winner or losers – what’s the fun in that?

UNLV vs. the MWC

 The data that goes into this chart follows, but essentially this is a breakdown of UNLV vs Several MWC teams in terms of season ticket pricing. The blue line represents all ticket prices added together divided by their number, giving an 'average' ticket price. The red line represents taking out of the equasion the courtside ultra-expensive tickets and then comparing the numbers again.

There is no perfect way to really compare one program's ticket prices vs. another, but without really doing a ton of analytics on each venue, these numbers are interesting for several reasons that I will talk about in the indiviudal team sections.

Let’s take a look at the competition:

Wyoming

Season Packages

Note: Includes 18 home games and all lower level seats require a Cowboy Joe Club donation.

Public Reserved          $176.00

UW Faculty/Staff Reserved (Limit two)        $146.00

Family Plan (4 @ $94)

Sections A1, A2 and E1 only - two adults, two children       $376.00

Courtside        $400.00

Adding the “Cowboy Joe” required contribution here’s the real cost of season ticket membership:

Season (18 home games)                                                                     Per Game

Courtside = $400+$5000 = $5400                                                      $300

Premium (mid-court lowers) = $176 +$750 = $926                             $51

Premium (mid-court higher-low) $176 + $500 = $676                         $37

Scholarship (end-zone mid) $176 +$250 = $426                                 $27

Scholarship (end-zone high) $176 +$125 = $301                                 $17

Cowboy Joe (best 2^nd level) $176+$100 = $276                                 $15

General = $176                                                                                    $10

Single Game Tickets

 Public         Youth (3-18)       Faculty / Staff     Student Guest

All Home Games        $16.00            $8.00                $12.00                $10.00

Additionally, Wyoming has put together mini-plans such as the “Cowboy Weekender” which allows people to purchase all the Saturday home games (8 of them) for a reduced price. That, with the family pack and reduced youth prices – good deals. The only anomaly here is the extremely high price for courtside season tickets. I believe there are two reasons behind this 1) They have less available top-tier seating than most teams, so its supply vs demand; 2) There is a lot of oil and gas money in Wyoming – those guys have to spend it somewhere. Plus, there is literally nothing else to do in Wyoming, except ski in Jackson Hole. Wyoming on the whole (minus the oil price'd ticket) is affordible and makes many accomoditations to families and those not willing to go the distance on a season ticket plan. Most of their tickets are less expensive than UNLV's.

BYU (leaving the MWC)

Season Tickets (* = requires Cougar Club donation)

Prime Lower Chair      $337/$269*

Lower Chair(sec 1-5, 13-17 row 25 & higher)            $269

Prime Upper Chair      $142

Upper Chair    $95

Upper Bench   $75

BYU Faculty/Staff     $149

* = cougar club payment; Bronze = $200

BYU’s website does not specifically say what level of donations equal what seating level, but their plans are similarly tiers to other universities. That said, It appears on the whole BYU tickets are cheaper, and there is the added benefit that because these programs, such as the Cougar Club translate to all sports, you get great seats for a usually great football team.

Subtracting the hard to compare Cougar Club seating, we get the following comparable numbers. Note, some of the seating is long benches rather than stadium chairs.

BYU also offers mini-packages, and assigns priority to buy those packages based upon level of Cougar Club giving as well.

Air Force

Going to an Air Force Falcons game at Clune arena presents on of the best values in the land. Here is the pricing structure:

Season Tickets                                    Single game breakdown

Courtside VIP $600*                          $33
Center Court Club $305*                   $17
Lower Level $180                               $10
Upper Courtside $155                        $9
Lower Baseline $115                          $6
- Family 4 pack $325                         $4.50 per pers
Upper Baseline $100                           $5.50
- Family 4 Pack $245                         $3.40 per person

• Courtside VIP and Center Court Club seats include $75 per season ticket in retail value stored in the barcode on each ticket.  The retail value can be used at all AFAAA concession and retail locations as well as select vendors inside Clune Arena.  The value can be used throughout the men’s basketball season.  Stored value expires at the conclusion of the regular season. 

This is a ridiculously good deal, even if you aren’t a fan of Air Force’s brand of basketball. The Air Force has two booster clubs, the ‘Blue and Silver club’ and ‘Falcon Pride’ but appears seat priority only is applicable to the football games, so you needant donate to get the better seats for basketball.

How is this possible? The Air Force is funded by the federal government. All students have free tuition in exchange for military service after graduation. Therefore, there is no need for boosters to fund scholarships because there isn’t any. Additionally, there is no real need for the Air Force academy to make a profit on their athletics, therefore there is likely very little profit margin, if any, on the tickets. This may be one of the least expensive tickets in all of college basketball - any they usually aren't terrible either. Clearly, less expensive than UNLV.

Colorado State University

Values galore are available to watch the Rams play. However, I could not obtain specific season ticket information.

Here are some examples of single game ticket prices:

New Mexico (Orange Out & Premium game)           

Saturday, Feb. 12        7:00 PM          Adult Reserved - $15 Youth - $8      

UNLV (Premium game)

Saturday, Feb. 19        5:00 PM          Adult Reserved - $15 Youth - $8   
Utah

Wednesday, March 2  7:00 PM          Adult Reserved - $12 Youth - $8      

Rams Club seating gives better seats, dontation level start at $100. Specifically, I found that to get courtside seating, whatever the seats cost + a $2000 donation is required.

CSU offers many other flexible ways to enjoy the Rams games:

Pepsi 4-Packs are back! For the following home games: Drake, Air Force, San Diego Utah receive the following for only $32:

•           4 tickets

•           4 sodas

•           4 hot dogs

Pepsi 4-Packs are available for the NEW! Ram Club Mountain West Plan (only available to Rams Club Members)

•           Receive tickets to four marquee Mountain West Conference home games for $52.

•           Plan includes two premium home games: Jan. 15 vs. TCU, Jan. 22 vs. BYU, Feb. 2 vs. San Diego State and Feb. 12 vs. New Mexico.

Pick 6 Plans

Fans can receive tickets to six games of their choice* for one low price of $60, that's $10 a game!

•           *A limit of two premium games can be chosen as part of the six game selections.

•           Seats are located in the non-premium seating areas (non-Ram Club areas).

Colorado State has an unusual venue for basketball, and their pricing is designed to bring people into the stadium and root for the team. As we all remember, those crowds were particularly loud rooting on their tourney-hopeful team that fell short. Hard to say what the real numbers are without the season ticket data, but I would predict it is less expensive than UNLV.

University of New Mexico

Although New Mexico’s seating plan is much more chaotic than UNLV’s, its worth breaking down because they bested us this year in attendance.

First the single game pricing:

2010-11 Men's Basketball Single Game Ticket Pricing
Adult/Youth   Seats   Single  Single - Premium Games (Arizona State, NMSU, BYU, Utah; UNLV)

            Benches (rows 1-10)  $15 Adult/$10 Youth $17 Adult/$14 Youth

            Benches (rows 11-25)            $20      $24

            Benches (rows 26-33)            $26      $31

            Benches (rows 34-45)            $29      $35

Doing the math

Season tickets                         Per game breakdown

Row 1 - $3075                        $171

Rows 2-4 -$2865                    $159

Chairbacks Sec C-G

Rows 22-32 - $1826               $101

Rows 20-21- $1772                $98

Rows 11-19 - $1522               $85

Row 10 - $1432                      $79

Rows 5-9 $932                        $52

Chairbacks (A-B)

Rows 30-34 $1826                  $101

Rows 26-29 $1576                  $88

Rows 22-25 $1326                  $74

Rows 20-21 $1272                  $71

Rows 11-19 $1022                  $57

Row 10 $932                          $52

Rows 5-9 $682                        $38

Benches (Sec H-Q, U-Z)

Rows 41-45 $1468                  $82

Rows 36-40 $1218                  $68

Rows 34-35 $968                    $54

Rows 26-33 $896                    $50

Rows 21-25 $574                    $32

Rows 16-20 $424                    $24

Rows 11-15 $324                    $18

Rows 1-10 $252                      $14

Benches (Sec R-T)

Rows 34-38 $1468                  $82

Rows 30-33 $1396                  $78

Rows 26-30 $1146                  $64

Rows 21-25 $824                    $46

Rows 16-20 $574                    $32

Rows 11-15 $424                    $24

Row 10 $352                          $20

Rows 1-9 $252                        $14

I told you it is archaic! So many different potential prices for season tickets!

As you can see by the graph, once you subtract the high-dollar courtside tickets, you still have some darn expensive ticket prices - the highest in the MWC. Likely, though that many do not buy season tickets and opt for the per-game option. Normally you would expect to see steep discounts between per game season tickets and piecemeal tickets -- I'm not seeing it here.

Comparison: New Mexico is more expensive, and has more attendance. I have no idea why this is but it is not a good thing for UNLV.

San Diego State University

Season Tickets (only 16 games last year)     Per game breakdown

             

Courtside $3000                                             $188

Low mid-court $916                                       $57

Mid mid-court $615                                        $38

More mid and endzone $465                          $29

Endzone mid $255                                          $16

Enzone and corners mid $205                         $13

Reserved high seating $109                            $7

General admission (high) $99                         $6.18

Single game tickets are represented in this graphic.

SDSU is right on par with UNLV for the overall average price, but is slightly cheaper excluding the front row price. The Aztecs have a lot of competition from other activities in San Diego - Chargers, Padres, and USD. They lack youth pricing as well, and are hampered by a smallish venue.
Comparison: Tied with UNLV

UNLV vs.other big time college basketball teams

Unable to find season ticket data, here is what data I could find on Kansas:

Single games

11/2/10 Washburn $35.00 $20.00 October
25,
2010

11/9/10 Emporia
State $35.00 $20.00 October
25,
2010

11/12/10 Longwood $50.00 $35.00 October
25,
2010

11/15/10 Valparaiso $50.00 $35.00 October
25,
2010

11/19/10 North
Texas $50.00 $35.00 October
25,
2010

11/23/10 Texas
A&M
–
CC $50.00 $35.00 October
25,
2010

12/2/10 UCLA $75.00 $50.00 October
25,
2010

12/11/10 Colorado
State $50.00 $35.00 October
25,
2010

12/18/10 USC $75.00 $50.00 December
6,
2010

12/29/10 Texas‐Arlington $50.00 $35.00 December
6,
2010

1/2/11 Miami
(OH) $50.00 $35.00 December
6,
2010

1/5/11 UMKC $50.00 $35.00 December
6,
2010

1/15/11 Nebraska $75.00 $50.00 December
6,
2010

1/22/11 Texas $90.00 $75.00 December
6,
2010

1/29/11 Kansas
State $90.00 $75.00 December
6,
2010

2/7/11 Missouri $90.00 $75.00 January
24,
2011

2/12/11 Iowa
State $75.00 $50.00 January
24,
2011

2/19/11 Colorado $75.00 $50.00 January
24,
2011

2/21/11 Oklahoma
State $75.00 $50.00 January
24,
2011

3/2/11 Texas
A&M $75.00 $50.00 January
24,
2011

Comparison: Clearly for this perennial 1-seed they have higher ticket prices - NBA style ticket prices in fact. Obviously more expensive than UNLV, and in Kansas, probably worth it.

UNLV vs. the NBA

I've selected one team to compare with, we're not talking the Lakers. We'll go with my beloved bottom dwelling Golden State Warriors. Here are their season tickets:

As you can see, their prices aren't extraordinarily higher than UNLV's.
Comparison: UNLV is going to win a championship before the Warriors will, but you're not going to see Kobe, Lebron, or Durant play against the Rebels, so there's always that.

Final words
The proof is in the pudding, if Rebel basketball weren't worth watching then average attendance of 13,253 would not be that high. People aren't going to the games and walking out saying they've been ripped off - its a fun atmosphere that likens more to an NBA game than a college game in terms of theatrics. 


There is always room for improvement, and having viewed what other teams are doing and charging - there are some glaring examples. 


1) Encourage families to go - UNLV lacks family pack pricing, and youth ticket discounts. Before you say, WAIT - they have the Rebel Kids Club -- it's a mysterious program that works for the overall NCAA athletics but is not specifically tailored to UNLV Basketball. Why not reduced youth prices for season tickets? Where is the "pepsi 4-packs" where people get hot-dog, drink, and ticket for a reasonable price?


2) Lower ticket prices - it will be interesting to see whether Las Vegas's massive unemployment (and underemployment) will hurt ticket buying and attendance next year. There is certainly no reason to raise prices, but there is a good reason to lower them. Probably in the grand scheme Dave Rice's lower salary isn't helping the bottom line much - but there's some money there.


3) Mini-plans - Most of the other teams offer season ticket type plans with flexible offerings. Instead of 18 games, how about 10, 8, 6 or 4? Also, give people who buy mini-plans some reward above and beyond single game purchasers, like a parking benefit. Obviously these tickets would be better seats and lower prices than single game tickets. 


4) Expand the Alumni reach - Try something experimental, push the alumni discount on season tickets out to 10 years instead of the 2 or 3 years it currently is. Additionally, make a starter RAF fund donation something like $25 for this level. This would increase attendance by alumni, and get these people in the habit of donating to the RAF fund. 


5) Better marketing - Billboards seem to be the weapon of choice for UNLV, expand it to web-advertising, twitter advertising, maybe even a groupon type of deal. People who are not die-hards need another reason to come to the games, its pretty easy to stay at home and watch in high def for nothing. 

I hope you've enjoyed this comparison, it took a lot more time than I expected but I believe it shines a little light on a not often considered subject. If you have any ideas or breakdowns of your own, please share.

Sources:

Offical websites of UNLV, Wyoming, CSU, Air Force, BYU, SDSU, New Mexico, Golden State Warriors, Kansas.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2011/april/mens+basketball+attendance+tops+32+million+again

http://www.themwc.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042611aae.html