I forgot to post this previously for some reason...

I found out during stadium select-a-seat event that they are available for weddings on the top level, with the patio and the ridiculous panoramic views etc.


I already booked somewhere else, but what a prime location for a Cal family, and/or a family looking for crazy views of the bay area.


That is all. Hope it helps someone.

They have a website for event rentals. Unfortunately, the website looks like it was designed in 2000, and fails to capture the insane views. In other words, the greatest thing it has going for it.

My office looked into it for an event but decided on another option, for other reasons, but the department could do a much better job selling it.

This is the perfect solution for people who are always bitching about missing games because of weddings. Drag the bride out at half time

I looked into it. It's on the high end of venue rentals in the Bay Area (nearly $10k), and very little comes with it. They charge $25/person to bring in outside catering, which is outrageous - a 175 person wedding would be almost $5000 more just for the facility rental. They want $3500 to use the video boards - again, outrageous.

http://www.calbears.com/ot/rentals.html

GMP, sorry but you and I may not be part of the target audience. They are aiming for a price insensitive customer (i.e. the wives and daughters of rich dudes).

cubzwin;842108434 said:

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GMP, sorry but you and I may not be part of the target audience. They are aiming for a price insensitive customer (i.e. the wives and daughters of rich dudes).

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Correct. I doubt they're pricing it to be first and foremost a wedding venue, with football stadium as its secondary use. That's not saying they've dialed in the revenue maximizing pricing structure yet.

drizzlybears brother;842108473 said:

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Correct. I doubt they're pricing it to be first and foremost a wedding venue, with football stadium as its secondary use. That's not saying they've dialed in the revenue maximizing pricing structure yet.

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Right. I don't expect it to be cheap, but I think they are charging a bit too much. I looked at almost every venue in San Francisco, most are in this general price range (either the venue is cheaper but you must use their in-house caterer, or the venue is more expensive and you can get outside catering to offset). Renting Memorial Stadium would be, as I can recall, the most expensive (when you account for the outside catering fee that they are charging) - and there are venues with equally great views, and a classier, more "wedding"-like feel. In order to maximize revenue (because every day there the University Club is empty is a lost opportunity for revenue), I think they need to come down just a bit - get rid of the $25/person fee, and drop the venue rental perhaps $2-3k.

I was looking at various wedding venues myself a few months ago and was really hoping to book Memorial Stadium when I found out that it was just under 10k, but the extra fees for catering per person made it way too steep.

Supposedly, these are the "discount" prices as they are trying to attract more people and is their first year hosting events. The lady who took me around implied that prices would be going up next year as well, but she may have just been trying to get me to book.

Views are AMAZING though. Of course, if you booked this, you might as well go all the way and pay the extra couple of thousand for field access and Oski and have the ceremony on the field!

grandmastapoop;842108476 said:

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Right. I don't expect it to be cheap, but I think they are charging a bit too much. I looked at almost every venue in San Francisco, most are in this general price range (either the venue is cheaper but you must use their in-house caterer, or the venue is more expensive and you can get outside catering to offset). Renting Memorial Stadium would be, as I can recall, the most expensive (when you account for the outside catering fee that they are charging) - and there are venues with equally great views, and a classier, more "wedding"-like feel. In order to maximize revenue (because every day there the University Club is empty is a lost opportunity for revenue), I think they need to come down just a bit - get rid of the $25/person fee, and drop the venue rental perhaps $2-3k.

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Exactly. Drop the rates so that you first are fully booked (and word of mouth from people attending spreads), then start raising the rates for future dates.

grandmastapoop;842108476 said:

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I looked at almost every venue in San Francisco

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What are the locations and prices for comparable high-end venues?

there may be an issue with the catering since I think they outsourced the contract for that to someone else, so perhaps that is the contractual charge to the outside firm. I doubt Cal sees any revenue from that. Probably just the facility fee is the Cal revenue.

Of course you could use the Cal catering, and avoid the outside catering charge.

Not structured that well. But if they dropped the facility fee, they could probably sell a bunch more.

It would be interesting to see the difference between the Cal fee and the Claremont, which is probably their main competition locally for a higher end wedding location.

The $25.00 charge for outside catering might take into consideration liability for non-Cal caterers and thus it is a charge for insurance.

6bear6;842108589 said:

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The $25.00 charge for outside catering might take into consideration liability for non-Cal caterers and thus it is a charge for insurance.

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Event insurance for up to $1M was like...$100. Total. So, no. They just want you to use their in-house catering services.

Oski87;842108576 said:

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there may be an issue with the catering since I think they outsourced the contract for that to someone else, so perhaps that is the contractual charge to the outside firm. I doubt Cal sees any revenue from that. Probably just the facility fee is the Cal revenue.

Of course you could use the Cal catering, and avoid the outside catering charge.

Not structured that well. But if they dropped the facility fee, they could probably sell a bunch more.

It would be interesting to see the difference between the Cal fee and the Claremont, which is probably their main competition locally for a higher end wedding location.

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The Brazilian Room at Tilden is popular, and probably nicer than the Claremont (I didn't look at the Claremont's wedding venue, though, just an assumption from having been to the Claremont). The Brazilian room is about $4000 for 12 hours, as I recall (note that the University Club is for SIX hours), or $2000 for 7 hours.

Other venues I saw:

-The SF City Club was about $3500 (but you had to use in-house catering) -The Julia Morgan Ballroom was about 12,000 (outside or in-house catering)
-The Bently Reserve was about $10,500 (outside catering only and as I recall outside alcohol, which lowers things compared to paying for an hourly open bar)
-The General's Residence at Fort Mason was about $10,000 (outside catering only)

That's all I remember off the top of my head. Like I said, the University Club (oh, and this should not be confused with the University Club on Powell in SF Street, which is also a high end wedding venue) is on the high end, but the $25/person "corkage" fee for outside catering is pretty outrageous.

Old guy alert. My entire wedding, including my wife's dress cost around $1000, in 1984. After 29 years, that is the best investment of my life!

I checked out the space with a friend who's getting married and while the prices were high I didn't think they were too out of line.

Sure the outside catering fee pretty much limits you to their in-house option.

Comparing it to venues like the Brazil Room isn't really apples to apples. Brazil Room could (should?) charge far more than they do, as it is it books up for summer Saturdays by the end of January the prior calendar year.

A comparable data point IMO would be Auberge du Soleil which was roughly 5K for facilities but required a 16K food and wine minimum.

Looks like it would be a great venue also for finalizing a divorce.

Are we missing the real point of this Thread? Shouldn't we be congratulating Mr. Poop for finding a soon-to-be Mrs. Poop? If so, congrats to Poop.

Does she appreciate Cal football? That's the ultimate question.

6bear6;842108692 said:

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Are we missing the real point of this Thread? Shouldn't we be congratulating Mr. Poop for finding a soon-to-be Mrs. Poop? If so, congrats to Poop.

Does she appreciate Cal football? That's the ultimate question.

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Is she taking his name or will she stay poop-free?

6bear6;842108692 said:

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Are we missing the real point of this Thread? Shouldn't we be congratulating Mr. Poop for finding a soon-to-be Mrs. Poop? If so, congrats to Poop.

Does she appreciate Cal football? That's the ultimate question.

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Yes, she does. Or she pretends to. I actually get married on Saturday... there may or may not be a Cal band appearance (there will, shhh).

I must have misplaced my invitation.

grandmastapoop;842108765 said:

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Yes, she does. Or she pretends to. I actually get married on Saturday... there may or may not be a Cal band appearance (there will, shhh).

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Congrats GMP. Will she take your last name? Perhaps a hyphen: maidenname-poop?