our vision you. begins with INTRODUCING THE LSU TRADITION FUND A GUIDE FOR LSU FOOTBALL SEASON TICKET HOLDERS FOR PARTICIPATION IN LSU S PREFERRED SEATING PROGRAM
A message from LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman Dear LSU Football Season Ticket Holder, In August of 2003, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a new seating program for LSU football season ticket holders. LSU s Preferred Seating Program establishes a contribution plan for the right to purchase season tickets for approximately 45,000 seats in Tiger Stadium beginning in 2004. While this plan is a major change for our loyal fan base, it is critical for the longterm future of Tiger Athletics. Your contribution to LSU s Tradition Fund will help will generate the revenue necessary to establish financial stability for the LSU Athletics Program while allowing Tiger Athletics to invest in the renovation and construction of athletics facilities on the LSU campus. Inside this Booklet This program is not unique in collegiate athletics, and it is necessary for LSU to remain viable for future athletic competition, fundraising, studentathlete welfare and contributions to the University s academic mission. I thank you for the support you have given to Tiger Athletics in the past. And as we enter this new and important era for your athletics program, I hope you will take great pride and ownership in the athletic and academic success of LSU s studentathletes for many years to come. Sincerely, Skip Bertman Director of Athletics 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 Preferred Seating Program Dates to Know The Tradition Fund Contribution Tiger Stadium Seating Chart Customer Options Contribution Payment Options Common Questions and Answers How to Fill Out the Contribution Invoice Mailing address: LSU Athletics Ticket Office P.O. Box 25095 Baton Rouge, LA 70894 Overnight address: LSU Athletics Ticket Office Athletics Administration Building Nicholson Dr. at North Stadium Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Phone: (225) 5782184 Toll Free: (800) 960TKTS Email: tickets@etigers.net
Preferred Seating Program PREFERRED SEATING PROGRAM The Preferred Seating Program requires a higher contribution for the right to purchase tickets nearer the 50yard line. Contributions are scaled according to the best seats in Tiger Stadium. TRADITION FUND CONTRIBUTION The Tradition Fund Contribution is required of approximately 45,000 seats in Tiger Stadium. The Tradition Fund Contribution is an annual per seat obligation in addition to the cost printed on the face of the ticket. TRANSFER OPTION PERIOD Season ticket holders have a onetime opportunity to transfer their tickets into the name of any other person or organization. Transfers will be accepted at the LSU Ticket Office between January 5 and March 31, 2004. DEADLINE FOR PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTION Invoices for the Tradition Fund Contribution are being mailed to season ticket holders on January 5, 2004. Contributions must be paid in full by June 30, 2004. The contribution can be paid at one time, in two payments, or on a fivemonth payment plan. (See page 5 for Payment Plan information.) DATES TO KNOW Tradition Fund Contribution Invoices mailed:...january 5, 2004 Deadline for onehalf payment:...march 31, 2004 Deadline for full payment:...june 30, 2004 Transfer Option Period First day to submit transfers:...january 5, 2004 Last day to submit transfers:...march 31, 2004 Season Ticket Payment * Invoices mailed:...april 16, 2004 Deadline for payment:...may 31, 2004 Note: Only those season ticket holders who have made at least onehalf payment of their Tradition Fund Contribution, or two payments for those on the payment plan, by March 31 will receive an invoice for their season tickets. * REMINDER: The cost of the season ticket is separate from and in addition to the Tradition Fund Contribution. You will be sent a separate invoice in April for the amount of $252 per season ticket. PAGE ONE
The Tradition Fund Contribution The Tradition Fund Contribution is required for the right to purchase approximately 45,200 seats in Tiger Stadium. The contribution is paid annually. The contribution is per seat. The contribution is separate from and in addition to the face value of the cost of the season ticket. The cost of one season ticket is $252 ($36 x 7 games). The contribution, and any portion of it, is nonrefundable and nontransferrable. EXEMPTIONS LSU Students, and current and retired LSU Faculty and Staff are not subject to the Tradition Fund Contribution for up to two seats. For the purpose of this policy, Faculty and Staff is defined as fulltime or retired employees of LSU (Baton Rouge Campus) and the following units housed on the Baton Rouge Campus: Paul M. Hebert Law Center; the LSU Agricultural Center; and LSU System Office. (See inside back cover for more information on Faculty/Staff exemptions.) Athletics Endowed Scholarship Donors are not subject to the Tradition Fund Contribution. Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF) seat holders are not subject to the Tradition Fund Contribution. Their contributions are paid to LSU in kind by the Tiger Athletic Foundation. TAF seat holders will continue to pay the same donation amounts they have paid to TAF in the past. LSU Alumni Association seat holders are not subject to the Tradition Fund Contribution. Their contributions are paid to LSU in kind by the LSU Alumni Association. TAX DEDUCTABILITY OF TRADITION FUND CONTRIBUTION The Internal Revenue Code, Section 170 (l) provides that a contribution for the right to purchase football tickets is 80 percent tax deductible as a charitable contribution. LSU advises season ticket holders to consult with their tax advisors to determine the applicability of the deduction. LSU will deliver a letter in December of each year to the ticket holder of record who contributes to the LSU Tradition Fund as official documentation of his or her contribution. ATTENTION TIGER ATHLETIC FOUNDATION SEAT HOLDERS LSU s Preferred Seating Program does not affect persons who purchase their seats through the Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF). TAF seat holders will still pay the same donations they have paid in the past directly to TAF. TAF seat holders do not make a contribution to the Tradition Fund. TAF seat holders may not transfer tickets they receive through TAF. PAGE TWO
2004 Tiger Stadium Seating Chart In West Upper Deck: Chairbacks seats require a contribution Nonchairback seats require no contribution. $400 $350 $150 $100 $85 TAF Seats Visitors No Contribution Required PAGE THREE
Customer Options Under LSU s Preferred Seating Program no season ticket holder will be removed from his or her seat. The season ticket holder has complete control over his or her seat and maintains several options as the Preferred Seating Program is introduced. OPTION 1: Retain your seats by making the required contribution to the Tradition Fund AS A SEASON TICKET HOLDER, YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS: Option 1: Option 2: Option 3: Option 4: Option 5: Retain your seats by making the required contribution to the Tradition Fund Move to an area of the stadium that requires a lower contribution Move to an area of the stadium that requires NO contribution Transfer your tickets to another person Decline your right to purchase tickets Season ticket holders will receive their invoice for their required contribution to the Tradition Fund with this handbook. You can retain your existing seats by paying the contribution amount indicated on the invoice. Use one of the options listed on page 5 under Contribution Payment Options to pay your contribution. Important: If you want to use the Contribution Payment Plan, you must enroll in the payment plan by January 31, 2004. OPTION 2: Move to an area of the stadium that requires a lower contribution To move to an area of the stadium with a lower contribution required, fill out the Ticket Relocation Form inserted into this handbook and return it with your invoice to the LSU Athletics Ticket Office by March 31, 2004. You will be contacted by a representative of the LSU Athletics Ticket Office who will discuss your options with you and select your new seat location. If you are unsatisfied with your new location, you will have the option of keeping your current seats by paying the required contribution. OPTION 3: Move to an area of the stadium that requires NO contribution To move to an area of the stadium with no contribution required, fill out the Ticket Relocation Form inserted into this handbook and return it with your invoice to the LSU Athletics Ticket Office by March 31, 2004. You will be contacted by a representative of the LSU Athletics Ticket Office who will discuss your options with you and select your new seat location. If you are unsatisfied with your new location, you will have the option of keeping your current seats by paying the required contribution. OPTION 4: Transfer your tickets to another person Transfer Option Period Season ticket holders have a onetime opportunity to transfer their tickets into the name of any other person or organization. The period of time during which transfers will be accepted at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office is January 5 through March 31, 2004. Season ticket holders may transfer all or any portion of their seats. To transfer seats, use the Ticket Transfer Form inserted into this handbook. Please note that all transfer forms must be certified by a notary public. This is necessary to ensure that all transfers are authorized by the season ticket holder and the person to whom the tickets are transferred. For more information on transferring seats, see the back of the Transfer Form in this handbook. PLEASE NOTE THAT TIGER ATHLETIC FOUNDATION SEATS CANNOT BE TRANSFERRED. OPTION 5: Decline your right to purchase tickets If you choose not to renew your season tickets by exercising one of the first four options, your seats will revert to the LSU Athletics Ticket Office for resale to another customer. You have until March 31, 2004, to determine whether or not you want to renew your seats for the 2004 season. PAGE FOUR
Contribution Payment Options Season ticket holders have several options for paying their Tradition Fund Contribution. After receiving the invoice for your contribution in January, you can exercise one of the following three payment options: CONTRIBUTION PAYMENT OPTIONS A ONE PAYMENT: B TWO PAYMENTS: Pay the total amount of your Tradition Fund Contribution by March 31 Pay half of your contribution by March 31 and the remainder by June 30 (Please note: at least half of contribution is due by March 31 in order for you to receive the invoice for your season tickets) C FIVE PAYMENTS: Pay your contribution in five (5) monthly payments beginning in February. See below. FIVE PAYMENT PLAN Season ticket holders may pay their contribution in installments of five equal payments beginning in February. Ticket holders who choose to utilize the Five Payment Plan must complete their Tradition Fund Invoice and provide a credit card number by January 31, 2004. Your credit card will be charged on the 10th day of each month from February through June. Checks will not be accepted for the fivemonth payment plan. Please note that this payment plan is for the Tradition Fund Contribution only. Season tickets must be paid in full after you receive your season ticket invoice in April. METHODS OF PAYMENT If you choose the One Payment or Two Payment option, you may pay by cash, check, or credit card (Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted). As noted above, if you choose to use the Five Payment Plan, credit card is the only acceptable method of payment. Checks will not be accepted for the fivemonth payment plan. An $10 credit card processing fee will be assessed to all credit card orders, including the Contribution Payment Plan. REMINDER: Only those season ticket holders who have made at least onehalf payment of their Tradition Fund Contribution, or two payments for those on the Five Payment Plan, by March 31 will receive an invoice for their season tickets. PAGE FIVE
Common Questions and Answers How many seats are affected by the Preferred Seating Program? LSU Athletics will require a contribution for the right to purchase approximately 45,200 seats in Tiger Stadium. How many fans will be removed from the stadium under this plan? None. All current season ticket holders have the right to renew their seats. If a season ticket holder does not want to make the required contribution, LSU will work with that customer to find a suitable seat with a lower contribution required, or a seat with no contribution required at all. I sit in the South End Zone. How much will it cost me to attend LSU football games? All tickets will cost $36 per game. For seven home games, a season ticket will cost $252 ($36 x 7 games). In addition, end zone tickets require a contribution of $85 per seat, per year for the right to purchase the seat. Your total cost for admission plus contribution to seven home games will be $337 ($252 + $85) per seat. I sit on the West Sideline between the 25yard lines. How much is it going to cost me to attend LSU football games? All tickets will cost $36 per game. For seven home games, a season ticket will cost $252 ($36 x 7 games). In addition, sideline tickets between the 25yard lines require a contribution of $400 per seat, per year for the right to purchase the seat. Your total cost for admission plus contribution to seven home games will be $652 ($252 + $400) per seat. I now get 10 season tickets. I currently keep two for myself and sell the other eight to friends. Can I get those other tickets transferred so they are in other people s names? Yes, during the Transfer Option Period you can transfer an unlimited amount of season tickets. Is the Tradition Fund Contribution tax deductible? The Internal Revenue Code, Section 170 (l) provides that a contribution for the right to purchase football tickets is 80 percent tax deductible as a charitable contribution. LSU advises season ticket holders to consult with their tax advisors to determine the applicability of the deduction. With this price increase, won t all of the tickets fall into the hands of corporations? Remember, any season ticket in Tiger Stadium will only change hands if current season ticket holders choose not to renew their tickets. And if a season ticket holder chooses not to renew his or her tickets, that season ticket holder will be able to transfer the tickets into the name of the person of their choice. What is LSU doing with the money? The Tradition Fund will generate approximately $7.5 million annually. In an average year, $5.5 million will be directed to athletics facility repair and renovation, $1.5 will be directed to athletics department operations and $500,000 will be directed to academic facility repairs. How will the contribution be made? Season ticket holders will receive an invoice for their contribution in January of each year. The contribution may be made all at once, or in installments. All contributions must be received by June 30 of each year. All funds resulting from the Tradition Fund Contribution will be deposited into the LSU Athletics Department. Why do I have to make two different payments for my tickets? You are making one payment for the contribution and one payment for the tickets. The contribution is a donation to LSU Athletics. The payment for the tickets is a purchase of a product. PAGE SIX
Common Questions and Answers Will LSU accept matching contributions from my employer for payment of the contribution? LSU suggests that you ask your employer if your company provides matching fund donations for institutions of higher learning for athletics or entertainment purposes. If so, contact the LSU Athletics Ticket Office at (225) 5782184. How does this affect LSU students? There is no change in the location of student seating or the price of student ticketing. How does this affect LSU Faculty and Staff? Consistent with the policy of other Southeastern Conference institutions, fulltime and retired faculty and staff members of LSU A&M College will not be required to pay the contribution on up to two tickets. They will only be required to pay the full price of the ticket, which is $36 per game. Can I transfer my tickets into the name of a Faculty/Staff member to make the tickets exempt from the contribution? No. Tickets transferred into the name of a Faculty/Staff member after August 21, 2003, are not exempt from the contribution. The only exception is a transfer from a spouse to a spouse. Can I get single game tickets to LSU football games? Yes, single game tickets can still be purchased for $36 each. Although some SEC games sell out early in the year, there are virtually always tickets available to most other LSU games in Tiger Stadium. Will tickets become available for season ticket holders to upgrade their seats? This is the first time that LSU has made a major adjustment to its football admission policy, so it is impossible to predict how many season ticket holders will choose not to renew their tickets. Because season ticket holders have the option of transferring their tickets, LSU does not anticipate that very many tickets will be returned to the Athletics Department. This plan was not designed to create a major turnover in season ticket holders. To the contrary, it was designed to keep the price of admission to LSU football games as affordable as possible to existing season ticket holders while giving LSU the financial resources to operate and be able to progress at the very highest level of intercollegiate athletics. PAGE SEVEN
How to Fill Out the Contribution Invoice Below is a sample of the Tradition Fund Invoice. Follow these simple steps for completing and returning your invoice. 1. Verify your NAME and ACCOUNT NUMBER 2. Verify your SEAT LOCATIONS 3. Add the amounts in the TOTAL column to determine how much you owe for your contribution (add $10 if you are paying by credit card) 4. Check your preferred PAYMENT OPTION: A. One Payment B. Two Payment Plan C. Five Payment Plan 5. Determine your preferred METHOD OF PAYMENT: In person with cash, check or credit card By mail with check or credit card (preaddressed envelope enclosed) If paying by check: make payable to LSU Athletics Tradition Fund If paying by credit card: fill in credit card information 6. Fill in your day time and night time phone numbers and email address 7. Return this form to the LSU Athletics Ticket Office with check, cash or credit card CREDIT CARD PAYMENT INFORMATION A One Payment Your credit card will be charged upon receipt of your returned invoice. B Two Payment Plan Your credit card will be charged for half of your contribution upon receipt of your returned invoice, and for the other half on June 10, 2004. C Five Payment Plan Your credit card will be charged on the 10th of each month for five months, beginning February 10, 2004. You must submit your credit card number by January 31, 2004, to qualify for the Five Payment Plan. PAGE EIGHT
LSU Faculty/Staff Exemption Current fulltime and retired Faculty and Staff of LSU are not required to make a contribution for the right to purchase tickets, for up to two tickets. Faculty and Staff must present a valid LSU ID at the time of purchase. DEFINITION For the purpose of this policy, Faculty and Staff is defined as fulltime or retired employees of LSU (Baton Rouge Campus) and the following units housed on the Baton Rouge Campus: Paul M. Hebert Law Center; the LSU Agricultural Center; and LSU System Office. RETIRED FACULTY/STAFF Faculty and staff members who had LSU faculty/staff football tickets at the time of their retirement are exempt from the contribution requirement for up to two tickets. Any form of transfer from the name of the faculty or staff member would subject the ticket or tickets to the required contribution as applicable. REGARDING TRANSFER TO FACULTY/STAFF MEMBER Any tickets that are transferred into the name of a current or retired faculty or staff member are not eligible to be exempt from the required contribution. APPEALS AND CLARIFICATION COMMITTEE LSU has established a committee to address any appeals and make any clarifications regarding the status of Faculty/Staff members as they apply to the Tradition Fund Contribution. The committee is comprised of representatives of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Services, the Office of Academic Affairs, Human Resource Management, and the Department of Athletics. The 2005 Season A New West Upper Deck Construction will soon begin on the renovation of the west upper deck of Tiger Stadium. This renovation will produce a Stadium Club that seats approximately 3,200 fans and will give Tiger Stadium a new press box to meet modern media needs. Construction prior to and during the 2004 season, according to plans as they currently are drawn, will not affect seating in the stadium for the 2004 season. All fans who currently sit in the west upper deck of Tiger Stadium or the existing north and south Stadium Clubs will have their same seats for the 2004 season. As with any major construction project, these plans are subject to change. In 2005, season ticket holders in the west upper deck will be assigned to seats that are at a comparable yard line and at a comparable height as their current seats. THE NEW TIGER TERRACE: The new west upper deck in 2005 will include a Tiger Terrace, identical to the Tiger Terrace on the east side of the stadium. The Tiger Terrace is the first several rows of the upper deck. After the 2004 season, existing season ticket holders in the first several rows of the west upper deck will be offered the first opportunity to apply for those Tiger Terrace seats. If they decline that option, they will be assigned to the rows directly above the Tiger Terrace. The Tradition Fund Contribution for the Tiger Terrace will be the same as the west lower sideline seats: $400 between the 25 yard lines and $350 outside the 25 yard lines. The Tradition Fund Contribution for the chairback seats above the Tiger Terrace will be $250 between the 25 yard lines and $200 outside the $25 yard lines. More information will be forthcoming to west upper deck season ticket holders prior to January of 2005.
our vision you. begins with The future is bright for LSU Athletics, thanks to the commitment and support of Tiger fans. Watch for these improvements in the near future for your athletics program: > Renovated west upper deck of Tiger Stadium to include 3,200 Club Seats and new press box. > Improvements to fan enjoyment elements of Tiger Stadium, including renovated restrooms, interior lighting, waterproofing, painting, cleaning. > Construction of a stateoftheart LSU Football Operations Center. > Renovations to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. CUSTOMER RESOURSES Website: LSUsports.net/vision Email: tickets@etigers.net Phone: (225) 5782184 LSU Department of Athletics P.O. Box 25095 Baton Rouge, La 70894