Hockey ticket prices hit all-time high

Season price hits near $160

With their first official game still three weeks away, the Michigan hockey team has already started setting records.

This year, student season tickets in Yost Ice Arena are selling for nearly $160 - the highest price ever for icer season tickets.

Bruce Madej, director of media relations for the Athletic Department, said the reason for the increased price - up more than $60 from last year - is the Athletic Department's discovery that the University had been charging students much less than colleges with comparable hockey programs charge for season tickets.

FILE PHOTO Fans cheer on last year's National Championship Michigan hockey team at Yost Ice Arena. Season ticket prices have risen to nearly $160 this year.

"Basically, we took a look at prices at other places and we're well below them," Madej said.

Todd Milewski, a hockey writer for The Daily Cardinal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the University's new price does coincide with the price Wisconsin students paid last year for tickets - approximately $10 a game.

"This year, we lowered the price to $6, but that is because we're moving somewhere new and want to draw interest," Milewski said.

Madej said that although the new price - with individual seats priced at as much as $17 a game - may discourage some students from purchasing tickets, he predicts most former season ticket holders are too fond of the maize and blue to refuse to pay the steep price.

"Yost Ice Arena is one of the most exciting venues for any event," Madej said. "The crowd is great ... people realize it can be a part of a night of excitement."

Unofficial numbers yesterday indicated that 1,600 students had requested student tickets, said Marty Bodnar, director of ticket operations. He said final numbers will not be known until the end of the week, after student sign-up ends tomorrow.

The capacity of Yost is approximately 6,100 seats. Bodnar said he is uncertain whether the number of student requests is down from last year.

When the department started taking ticket orders Monday, some students said they didn't mind digging a little deeper in their pockets to come up with the extra cash.

"I'm friends with other hockey fans here and we love it," Engineering graduate student Matt Crites said. "I'm saddened that it will be so expensive this year, but it's worth it."

Despite the increase, Crites said he hasn't heard of anyone who refuses to buy tickets because of their cost.

"I'm surprised at the price," Crites said. "I can't believe it's so significant of an increase from last year, but I guess they expect higher demand."

VICKY LASKY/Daily

Engineering senior Mike Korby, who attends meetings of the Hockey Booster Club, the Dekers, said Michigan Hockey promises a rewarding season this winter, no matter what price students have to pay.

"When I attended the Dekers picnic on Sunday, every player expressed their own high expectations for the year," Korby said. "I can't help but feel the same after talking with them and seeing them doing a stairs workout in (Michigan) Stadium on Tuesday. They just look more pumped up this year."

But some students said the lure of the defending champions taking the ice for another season is not enough to make them shell out the extra cash.

Engineering first-year student Vipul Shah, who said his roommate told him the tickets cost $164, said he didn't know enough about the team to pay so much money for tickets.

"They were kind of expensive," Shah said. "I would have definitely bought them if they would have been a little less expensive."

With two days left for students to sign up for tickets, some have already begun calculating how much they spent to watch the team suit up for their rivalries.

"I paid about $155, and I think they canceled a game," said Engineering senior Andy Drake, who purchased tickets this week. "I did some calculations and that came out to over $9 a game. That's up from $5 or $6 last year."

Drake said that although he thinks it is "ridiculous to charge that much to students," the price is still worth it.

"I guess if we were underpriced, we did what we had to do," Drake said. "But in Minnesota, I think they play in larger arenas, and maybe that's why it's more there."

Drake, who has been a season ticket holder for three years, added that the high price makes hockey tickets more expensive than Michigan basketball tickets.

"I like hockey, but I guarantee fewer students bought tickets this year," Drake said. "I didn't see a line when I went to buy tickets."

09-17-98