Dear Members of the Bearcats Family,


Over the past few months, we have been diligently preparing for the launch of our 2012 UCATS annual fund and season ticket campaigns. Our donors and season ticket holders provide the much needed financial support and lifeblood for our Department on an annual basis. Please accept my sincere "thanks" to all of you who have championed our cause in the past. We are grateful for your loyalty and generosity.

I believe that 2012 will prove to be a "statement year" for the overall direction and growth of our Department on many levels. I'm confident that we are ready and poised for the challenge of elevating our program on a national stage. The call for action has never been greater and we need your help to move UC onward and upward. We have a proud history and yet still more to strive for. What an opportunity we have! I'm truly honored to serve as your Director of Athletics during this exciting era of UC Athletics.

I wanted to "pen" this letter in order to share some relevant information related to our donor and season ticket programs in advance of our formal "launch" later this month. Whether you are a long time supporter or new to our program we hope you will take pride in the role you can play in our success by your involvement as a UCATS donor and/or a season ticket holder this year. I hope you find the summary bullet points below both helpful and informative.

* UCATS/Football Season Ticket RENEWALS: All 2011 UCATS members and football season ticket holders will receive personalized 2012 renewal information by mail in March. Online renewals, payment plans and pledge intentions will be available to make your renewal process easy and accommodating. The initial priority deadline for renewals will be April 20th.

* Prospective NEW UCATS/Season Ticket Holders: We are excited to engage and attract new prospective members. We will be sending information in late March or early April to approximately 25,000 "prospects" who have shown a proven affinity for UC Athletics in the past. To ensure that you are in our data base to receive this new customer information please click here or call our Customer Service Center at 1-877-55-UCATS to speak to one of our representatives.

* UCATS Donor Giving: If there is only one way you can support UC Athletics this year, we ask that you please give and support our UCATS program. Our 5,000+ UCATS donors provide the resources necessary for scholarship funding for our student-athletes who so proudly represent UC and compete under the C-Paw banner. While gifts of any amount are sincerely appreciated, exclusive donor benefits begin for as low as a $50 gift. We have made a concerted effort to consolidate, streamline, and simplify our overall donor program for 2012. Please note: UCATS donors are not obligated to purchase season tickets although we hope donors will be excited to exercise this exclusive membership benefit. One annual gift to UCATS affords you the opportunity to purchase priority seating for Football and/or Men's Basketball season(s).

* Football Season Ticket Pricing: We have increased the price of our Football season tickets in approximately 15% of Nippert Stadium and lowered season ticket pricing in approximately 54% of the stadium. We want to be welcoming and accommodating for alumni and fans at all pricing levels. We feel this new pricing structure will provide exclusive seating opportunities in our premium areas of the stadium and also offer entry level seating opportunities for our young alumni or first-time ticket holders.

* Men's Basketball Season Ticket Pricing: More information will follow in June-August for next season's basketball ticket options. Thank you to our alumni, fans, students and donors for "coming back" to Fifth-Third Arena this year and being a part of our highest average home attendance in five years.

* 2012 Football Schedule: Amidst the changing conference realignment landscape of the past year and a restructured BIG EAST Conference, a finalized football schedule has been challenging to complete for the upcoming season. We are working on this daily. We currently have six home games on the docket against: Delaware State, Miami OH, Syracuse, South Florida, Rutgers and Pittsburgh. It is our desire to secure a seventh home game if at all possible to complete our 12-game schedule. We also will play a "neutral site" game vs. Virginia Tech in Washington DC this season (see below) and true "road games" at Toledo, Connecticut, Louisville, and (hopefully) a BIG EAST Conference replacement for West Virginia. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this very unique scheduling situation. Either way, no matter our opponents, we hope that you will be excited to support the Liberty Bowl and BIG EAST Champion Bearcats in 2012 and beyond.

* UC vs. Virginia Tech @FEDEX Field: UC will play host to Virginia Tech at FEDEX Field in Washington DC on Saturday, September 29. This game will provide new revenue opportunities and help in engaging our alumni and fan base in a "new" region of the country while positioning our program against a quality BCS opponent. Tickets and additional information for this game will also be available in March. Tickets to this game are not included in season ticket packages and will be sold on an individual game basis.

* Home Football Venue: The 2012 football schedule will have ALL home contests (at least six, hopefully seven this season) played at Nippert Stadium, the best home field advantage in the country!

In the coming weeks we will be sharing additional information on everything related to participation opportunities within our program. Please lean on our staff for any questions you may have and how we can assist with your customer experience. We appreciate all that you do for Bearcats Athletics and I look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Go Bearcats!

I just received that email myself.

Interesting. I know in regards to the VT game, tickets have been on sale on ticketmaster for over a month now.

We have increased the price of our Football season tickets in approximately 15% of Nippert Stadium and lowered season ticket pricing in approximately 54% of the stadium.

>>>good news...well except for that 15% I assume right on the 50<<<



Thank you to our alumni, fans, students and donors for "coming back" to Fifth-Third Arena this year and being a part of our highest average home attendance in five years.

>>> amazing after those poorly attended (4,000-5,000) OOC games in Nov/Dec we have our best attendance in 5 years <<<<

Didn't see this posted anywhere, but I was tooling around on gobearcats.com and I saw that the 2012 UCATS guide has been published. It outlines donations requirements and ticket prices for 2012 football and basketball. Also, one UCATS donation will cover the season ticket requirements for both football and basketball.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/cinn...ochure.pdf

(03-02-2012 01:55 PM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  We have increased the price of our Football season tickets in approximately 15% of Nippert Stadium and lowered season ticket pricing in approximately 54% of the stadium.

That is something that should have happened about five years ago. The one price fits all method of ticket pricing that prevailed with Mike Thomas didn't work. It's good to see that Babcock is setting up a better pricing model.