Athletics Department announces changes to pricing, organization of football games
As the MU Athletics Department makes its change in leagues from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference, it will also change the way it handles football events.
In a direct letter to "Tiger Nation" on Monday, Athletic Director Mike Alden outlined financial and logistical changes to football games at Faurot Field.
Headlining the changes is a $1.5 million replacement of the current artificial turf with a new artificial brand, which will come equipped with SEC logos, an expanded MU logo and end zones that spell out "MIZZOU," as opposed to the current "Missouri" end zones.
Ticket prices will increase across the board to fund the changes, with faculty, staff and students not included. According to Alden, the increases will place MU ticket prices in the "middle of the pack" in the SEC. Funding will also come from increases in seats as well as donation requirements to the Tiger Scholarship Fund for donors looking to receive priority seating.
Other home game changes include new uniforms, moving the marching band from the south end zone to the southeast corner of the student section to create more seats, expanding parking and increasing the visiting team allotment from approximately 3,800 tickets per game to 6,000.
Alden said changes were a necessary addendum to gaining SEC membership.
"When we made the decision as a University to apply and then be accepted to the SEC, we communicated very publicly how there was no question that all of us would have to 'step up,'" Alden said in the letter. "Academically, socially, competitively, financially, facilities, recruiting, etc. ... all of these issues and more would challenge us to evaluate what we were doing and to keep improving in all areas."
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel foreshadowed the changes with similar sentiments in his last press conference, a Feb. 1 announcement of the 2012 football recruiting class.
"What we need to do because we're in the SEC is up the facilities," Pinkel said at the press conference. "We need to invest. We're working on that right now, but that's got to happen. That’s got to happen in the league we’re going after."
Alden said higher competition comes with the territory of the SEC.
"As competitors, that's what we do: seize the opportunities, challenge ourselves and commit to achieving success," he said in the letter.