But the school that is currently making the most money is the least likely to perform any radical changes. True, as you say, a Godzillatron package might up the total dollar amount of donations, but what if it didn’t? Right now, Dodds gets to look like a fiscal genius by just showing up, doing the same thing they’ve always done before and letting the money roll in. Compare that to the situation where he tries something revolutionary and it backfires, and the donations drop. Then the same annoyed donors who dropped their donations will call for his head. And when you’re talking these kinds of numbers, they might get it without a rapid turnaround.

I understand where you’re coming from, but as far as the powers that be not willing to give it a shot, they just don’t have the incentive. As a fan, who doesn’t have an extremely lucrative job to jeopardize and no well connected alumni to piss off, I’m all for it. Were I in the shoes of Dodds and David McWilliams, the answer would probably be different.

Also, yes, the $150 dollar amount is the minimum amount necessary to get your name on the list (and presumably keep it there). I understand that’s a zero or two short of reality, depending on what kind of seats you’re after, but that’s the “official number”.

In order to get priority seating by the Longhorn Foundation, the minimum donation amount is $150. Tickets are then doled out by exsisting season ticket holders first and then moves/new tickets. In order to remain a season ticket holder you must match your donation from last year. This means if you gave $150 each year you are still obligated to give that $150, however if you had season tickets prior to the Longhorn Foundation and you were giving zero, you are not obligated to give anything. New tickets and the chance to move up (as well as OU/Bowl/away game) tickets are issued based on annual donation amount and then total donation amount lifetime.

For example I give more than the $150 donation and must continue to do so to maintain my seats (which are pretty crappy), but I have a friend who sits on the first row, he has never paid a dime to Longhornfoundatio and is “grandfathered in” so he continues to pay zero. I can get OU tickets however, but he cannot. Therotically, I can move to better seats and he cannot.

My experince is most season ticket holders give money to longhorn foundation, most give more than the $150 minimum and the cutoff for OU tickets is $1000 annually, meaning that at least up to the allotment for the OU game (30,000; I honestly don’t know) gives that amount.

in addition to the beneficial political cachet we get from keeping the fat cats happy, plus the beneficial business deals we get from having a load of corporate donors/ticket buyers.

As to sponsors, you’ve just answered a big part of your complaint. You’ve got to realize that a lot of those folks in the premium seats didn’t even go to Texas, they’re execs/lawyers/other who have corporate tickets because their corporation A) buys the tickets and B) donates large amounts of money and/or work product. Some of those folks don’t yell, because they don’t care about Texas or even football. They’re just killing an afternoon (I know a Vandy Alum who still isn’t entirely clear about the rules of football and makes most games). Sponsors, especially corporate ones don’t just donate out of the kindness of their hearts, they usually want something in return. Tickets, relatively speaking, are one of the cheapest things the school can give.