4
E
arlier this week the staff of the UI Athletics Ticket Office embarked on a task that
will take more than four months to complete and will involve personal interac-
tion with thousands of friends of the University of Iowa who are season ticket
holders in the sport of football.
e project is the second "re-seat" of Kinnick Stadium. e re-seat provides every fan
of the Hawkeyes who purchased either a general public or a UI faculty and staff season
ticket for the 2013 football season to select their seats for the 2014 season and beyond.
As most of our season ticket holders know, this is the second time we have re-seated
Kinnick Stadium. e first occurred eight football seasons ago as part of the renovation
of our prized home of the Hawkeyes in 2006.
Our expectation then was that a re-seat would occur every five years. at didn't hap-
pen. We are re-seating aer the seventh season. We also anticipated we would increase
the per-seat contribution required for certain sections of the stadium. at isn't happen-
ing either.
e most commonly asked question by the vast majority of fans is: Why is a re-seat
necessary?
e answer is simple: A re-seat is necessary and fair because it's the only way to guar-
antee fans of the Hawkeyes who are making small and large commitments to the Iowa
football program in time, money, and emotion are recognized for their support.
It wouldn't be fair to not provide the fan who has purchased season tickets for 10 or 11
or 12 years access to what they consider a "better" seat in Kinnick than the fan who is a
first-time season ticket customer.
Likewise, it wouldn't be fair to the fan of the Hawkeyes who makes, for example, a
$250,000 commitment to the construction of the football team's new Operations Center
the opportunity to improve their seating location at Kinnick before someone who hasn't
made a commitment to that important project — as long as that opportunity for im-
provement is done within the framework of a system that is fair and equitable.
Fortunately, the system we've created — the Football Priority Points system — is fair
and equitable. It rewards a fan for their years of purchase. It rewards a fan for generous
support of the UI Athletics Department. And, it rewards letterwinners and alumni for
their participation and successes at the UI.
I want to thank you for your continued and generous support. We never take it for
granted. I also want to thank the staff who works tirelessly in our Athletics Ticket Office
and the National I-Club office for their patience and dedication in having personal con-
versations with thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes in the months ahead.
By Gary Barta
Why Re-Seat?
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