I am writing in response to Thursday’s article by Teddy Weinberg (“Students question Agganis concert presales,” p.1).
The University administration and Agganis Arena management wish to clarify some points of information contained in the article.
First, the University does indeed own and operate Agganis Arena. Second, while the University owns and operates the Arena, it does not control concert presale opportunities when promoters are in a sense renting the facility from the University. For all promoter-sponsored events, and especially for concerts, our management team strongly encourages promoters and artists to offer exclusive presales to students, faculty and staff. However, the final decision to authorize a concert presale along with the quantity and location of seating assignments rests solely with the promoter. Fortunately, we have successfully persuaded promoters to permit presales for the majority of concerts and the University community has responded positively to the offers. In our experience, promoters have acted fairly and responsibly in balancing presale ticket quantities and distributing seat locations throughout the Arena.
We would also like the community to be aware that tickets purchased in-person at the Agganis Ticket Office do not carry convenience charges. Should you choose to purchase tickets online, the Ticketmaster convenience charges for Agganis concerts are among the lowest in comparison to similar local and regional arenas. In closing, we will continue to pursue exclusive concert presale opportunities on behalf of the entire campus community. We hope that students, faculty and staff will take advantage of the many benefits that Agganis Arena offers for many years to come.
Peter Smokowski Associate Vice President for Administration Office of the Executive Vice President 617-353-6500