I’m a Nittany Lion Club member. Have been for quite some time now. So when the annual season ticket renewal and away game ticket ticket order forms arrived in the mail, I wasn’t too surprised by the NLC points cutoff for the much anticipated Alabama game. 650 points to be exact. The final cutoff mark will be set once all ticket requests have been tallied for the game. And you can be sure the prospect of playing against the top ranked team will send demand soaring through the roof.

When you consider the basic point system utilized by the NLC, (1 point for every $50 donated, 2 points for each year of membership and additional points if you are a Penn State graduate, student-athlete, etc.) you are looking at approximately $32,500 donated just to qualify for 2 tickets to Alabama.

As of the last NLC membership report, there are at least 755 NLC members (NLC does not break down the 501-1000 point category) guaranteed to have enough points to request 2 tickets to the Bama game.

The 65 members with 5000+ points can request 4.  Call it a $250,000 privilege.

But as commanding as the initial 650 point cutoff for Alabama seems, it is dwarfed by the 850 NLC points finally set to purchase tickets to the 2006 game against Notre Dame in South Bend. That’s approximately $42,500 members had to donate just to acquire tickets.

Whose stadium do you have to finance to get a couple of tickets around here?

With 300 points established as the cutoff for the Ohio State game, arguably the next popular marquee away game, the average fan is essentially sent scrambling to the secondary market for tickets.

Though this system is beneficial in maintaining a self sufficient athletics program, it has to be frustrating for the thousands of other NLC members who generously donate to Penn State to continually be shut out from the biggest marquee games. The price we pay to be part of the greatest and most well-traveled fan base in the nation.