A thank you thread to the fans who showed up on Saturday.

[GT33]

I agree, or let students from the north stands move over there. It is a bad look on TV for them to be mostly empty. I sit in the West stands now but used to be in the upper east and they are incredibly good seats. I cannot figure out why the fans we lost over the bad three years we had are not coming back with what CBK has done with the program. We have a very exciting team to support.

You must not be in an occupation where you're managing customers. It can easily be 10x or harder to win a new customer than retaining an old one. Sports is an interesting business because people tend to get more tied to a team, moreso in college sports with the alumnus and parents/friends of students factors. It took 2-4 years for many to leave a relationship many had for a very long time. You don't get that back by saying sorry.

The gameday friends around me from 2018 are all gone. The coach transition was badly mishandled, then turned into a train wreck. It did not sit well with anyone I know & certainly not the "Tech Way". There's a family in an adjacent section and an older couple 6 seats over I've seen at every game the last 10 yrs, the only ones in or near my section that have not abandoned GT football out of 100 seats. It was quite a different game experience when I used to chat with a lot of people around us about them & their families, work or common interests, etc. Frankly, it feels more like an NFL experience (business) every weekend now not like being at GT.

Our season ticket retention rate must be atrocious. Batt is 2 years into a solid decade of work to rebuild the fanbase & it starts with the students and young alumni. I hope we keep him happy because he seems like he knows what he's doing.

 

[bke1984]

Our last Thursday evening game was against UVA in 2022 when Brent Key was 2-0 and we were in ACC title contention.

I’m not even sure what to say about this

 

[mtodd30]

If I remember that game right it was one of the worst football games I’ve ever seen lol. That’s when Sims went out and neither side could move the ball worth a lick. Glad we’re past those days!

 

[UgaBlows]

I’m not even sure what to say about this

I think we were just fighting to try to get bowl elegible

 

[AUFC]

I’m not even sure what to say about this

Charlotte was still very much on the line on that gameday. You can check the schedule if you don't believe me. We were 2-0 in Coastal play after beating Pitt and Duke...not saying we would have beaten Clemson in the ACCCG but anything goes in a one-off single elimination game.

 

[bke1984]

Charlotte was still very much on the line on that gameday. You can check the schedule if you don't believe me. We were 2-0 in Coastal play after beating Pitt and Duke...not saying we would have beaten Clemson in the ACCCG but anything goes in a one-off single elimination game.

Conference record still decided division champ. The only reason we were “in contention” was that we simply hadn’t played enough of the games yet. We never stood a real chance at winning the division that year and honestly punched above our weight class to get to 4-4 in league play.

 

[FlatsLander]

Conference record still decided division champ. The only reason we were “in contention” was that we simply hadn’t played enough of the games yet. We never stood a real chance at winning the division that year and honestly punched above our weight class to get to 4-4 in league play.

If we had beaten UVA, we would have finished 5-3, tied with UNC, Pitt, and Duke.

 

[jacket_fan]

The gameday friends around me from 2018 are all gone. The coach transition was badly mishandled, then turned into a train wreck. It did not sit well with anyone I know & certainly not the "Tech Way". There's a family in an adjacent section and an older couple 6 seats over I've seen at every game the last 10 yrs, the only ones in or near my section that have not abandoned GT football out of 100 seats. It was quite a different game experience when I used to chat with a lot of people around us about them & their families, work or common interests, etc. Frankly, it feels more like an NFL experience (business) every weekend now not like being at GT.

Our season ticket retention rate must be atrocious. Batt is 2 years into a solid decade of work to rebuild the fanbase & it starts with the students and young alumni. I hope we keep him happy because he seems like he knows what he's doing.

Totally agree with this.

The group of alumni that I sat with in the East Upper got fed up with the TFG and stopped renewing season tickets. These are season ticket holders form the 80s. That is 8 season tickets lost. Also, the folks I used to chat with also diasappeared. Moved down to the club level mostly for the wife and to sit with some other alumni I know.

I also agree that focusing on young alumni and sidewalk fans is a way to attract new fans. Not sure the old farts are coming back. They are playing golf and pickleball on Saturdays.

 

[stinger78]

Totally agree with this.

The group of alumni that I sat with in the East Upper got fed up with the TFG and stopped renewing season tickets. These are season ticket holders form the 80s. That is 8 season tickets lost. Also, the folks I used to chat with also diasappeared. Moved down to the club level mostly for the wife and to sit with some other alumni I know.

I also agree that focusing on young alumni and sidewalk fans is a way to attract new fans. Not sure the old farts are coming back. They are playing golf and pickleball on Saturdays.

Some of us can barely walk anymore.

 

[Bogey]

Agreed! I was a little surprised how loud it was for a noon kickoff. Great crowd, great energy, and an awesome gameday experience. Let's do it all over again on Thursday night against NCSt!

Factoid: Crowd energy in college football requires ethanol for fuel. Alcohol sales in stadiums has greatly improved the atmosphere for our nooners.

 

[bke1984]

If we had beaten UVA, we would have finished 5-3, tied with UNC, Pitt, and Duke.

View attachment 17210

And we still wouldn’t have won the division. That team fought hard to get some wins, but that was not a very good team.

 

[Ramble1885]

I think Thursdays are a tough sell for a lot of people, between traffic and the late finish times. Our last Thursday evening game was against UVA in 2022 when Brent Key was 2-0 and we were in ACC title contention. I think it had lower attendance than even any non-COVID CGC-era game.

Edit to add: This is not to say you shouldn't show up - just tempering attendance expectations. I will be there and inside the stadium early to cheer on the seniors who have delivered us some great memories over the past few years. Closing up your tailgate early or making an extra effort to park a little earlier is the least you can do for guys like LaMiles Brooks, Zeek, etc as they exit the tunnel and join Coach Key and their families to be honored on Senior Day.

I don't think Thursday will draw 40k but it'll have at least 30, maybe 35. Students will show well because it's at night.

 

[Ramble1885]

I agree, or let students from the north stands move over there. It is a bad look on TV for them to be mostly empty. I sit in the West stands now but used to be in the upper east and they are incredibly good seats. I cannot figure out why the fans we lost over the bad three years we had are not coming back with what CBK has done with the program. We have a very exciting team to support.

attendance is slowly rising back. it rose last year and based on the numbers if we hit at least 35k vs NC State it probably rises again.

 

[FlatsLander]

And we still wouldn’t have won the division. That team fought hard to get some wins, but that was not a very good team.

We had head to head wins over Pitt, UNC, and Duke. We would have all been tied for 1st in the Coastal. So yes, we would have won the division.

 

[AUFC]

If you went 6-0 against your division opponents, it typically didn’t matter what you did in the Atlantic crossover games. You were going to Charlotte 99% of the time. It’s just the way the tiebreakers were ordered.

 

[FlatsLander]

We had head to head wins over Pitt, UNC, and Duke. We would have all been tied for 1st in the Coastal. So yes, we would have won the division.

Actually, I was wrong, UNC ended up 6-2, so they would have still won the division. But we would have been 2nd place.

 

[cpf2001]

Yeah we would’ve needed to beat Miami too that year I think. So you need Pyron to not break his collarbone and then the D not to break down late in that game and some luck.