General / February 21, 2007

Check Your Mailbox

Feb. 21, 2007

Friends of the University of Iowa and fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes will receive two pieces of mail on behalf of the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics during the next month. They are arguably the two most important pieces of mail sent annually by the Hawkeyes.

The first was mailed recently by the National I-Club and is the annual solicitation mailing. More than 25,000 fans of the Hawkeyes will receive this mailing in mailboxes as close to the UI campus as Iowa City and Coralville and as far away as New York City, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Iowa’s 2007-08 athletics budget is projected to be about $56 million, a total that includes everything from the cost of bus rides to and from the The Eastern Iowa Airport for the UI football team to the purchase of balls for the men’s and women’s tennis teams to the more than $8 million the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will pay to the UI for the scholarships it provides the more than 600 student-athletes who represent the University in intercollegiate athletics competition.

Last year, the UI Foundation – the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the University of Iowa including the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics – received more than $9 million in annual support of Iowa’s 24 intercollegiate athletics programs as a result of contributions generated by the annual mailing.

“Funding the men’s and women’s sports programs at the UI at a level that provides our coaches and student-athletes an opportunity for achieving success in the Big Ten Conference and on a national scale is a challenge. We know we can meet that challenge because of the outstanding support we receive from fans of the Hawkeyes across Iowa and the country,” said Gary Barta, the University of Iowa’s Director of Athletics.

“We have always been grateful every time a Hawkeye fan becomes a member of the National I-Club, buys a season tickets, watches or listens to a game, or purchases a souvenir from the Official Iowa Hawk Shop.”

Contributors to the National I-Club are encouraged to make their contribution prior to May 1 to ensure proper mailing of football season tickets and parking passes, if applicable. Fans of the Hawkeyes who are football season ticket holders and have a minimum per seat contribution requirement are reminded that seat contributions do count toward annual I-Club recognition levels.

Philanthropic support of the Iowa Hawkeyes as a result of participation in the National I-Club has always been critical to the vitality of the intercollegiate athletics program at the UI. However, that support is even more important this year because the UI will not provide any financial support for intercollegiate athletics.

“The University of Iowa’s goal for its intercollegiate athletics program is for it to be 100 percent self-supporting and, to that end, our 2007-08 budget will not include any support from the University of Iowa’s General Fund. We will budget zero dollars of institutional support,” added Barta.

The 2007 athletic giving year runs from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007. Fans of the Hawkeyes who want more information about the National I-Club and benefits of membership can click HERE.

The second mailing of significance to fans of the Hawkeyes is that for season tickets to the home games of the 2007 Iowa football team. The Hawkeyes will play six home games inside historic Kinnick Stadium in 2007 – two non-conference games and four contests against Big Ten opponents. Click HERE to review the schedule for 2007 and future seasons.

The 2006 home schedule included seven home games, so fans of the Hawkeyes will pay less for their season tickets in 2007 than they did a year ago: $282 for a general public season ticket, $228 for UI faculty and staff, and $132 for current UI students. Single-game tickets – if available – will cost $50.

Last year’s season ticket holders will receive their application for 2007 season tickets in early March. As in the recent past, they’ll have the opportunity to complete their purchase online, in-person at the UI Athletic Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, or via the mail. Fans who did not purchase a season ticket in 2006, but would like to receive a season ticket application can either call the UI Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800 IA-HAWKS and ask to be added to the mailing list or click HERE and put “Football Tickets 2007” in the subject line and their mailing address in the body of the e-mail.

Fans of the Hawkeyes curious about when tickets to the Hawkeyes’ 2007 season opener against Northern Illinois in Chicago’s Soldier Field will go on sale should take note: The UI anticipates including the option to purchase tickets to that game on away game ticket applications that will be mailed in early April.

David Sandstrum, the UI’s director of ticket operations, expects demand for tickets to that event to be very strong. “We will have at least 33,000 tickets to sell to our fans. I anticipate having the opportunity accommodate all requests from season ticket holders before we open sales up to non-season ticket holders,” he said.

Sandstrum said he is waiting to learn from staff at Soldier Field exactly what seats will be included in the “Iowa sections” of the facility and the exact price per ticket. Sandstrum said that there will be three different prices of tickets for the game in Chicago including one specifically for current UI students.

As in the past, last year’s season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to Iowa’s 2007 away games. The cost of tickets to four of Iowa’s five road games next year has been established by the home school is listed below. The UI Athletic Ticket Office expects very limited availability for the games at Iowa State and Wisconsin.

IOWA FOOTBALL 2007
Away Game Schedule and Ticket Prices

Sept. 15 at Iowa State — $90 each
Sept. 22 at Wisconsin – To be determined
Oct. 6 at Penn State — $58 each
Oct. 20 at Purdue — $45 each
Nov. 3 at Northwestern — $50 each

Check Your Mailbox

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