BDS Attendance

[dressedcheeseside]

It's interesting that some people want to complain about recruiting but we don't sell out our games. It's really discouraging to see all the empty seats right at kickoff. Especially when the gold seats are not filled up.

This is basically right. There are many reasons for it, some are just a part of being GT, some are self-inflicted by bad decisions and bad marketing.

We should think seriously about giving away North end zone nose bleed tickets to inner-city youth groups, Church groups, scouts, etc. Two huge benefits, 1: filling up seats for appearances, 2: cultivating non-alumni (sidewalk) fans.

 

[4shotB]

THAT, not a 12:20 kickoff, is the issue.

It certainly affects me and my attendance. I live 6 hours away in Central time zone. I have a choice of getting up at predawn and hustling like crazy to get in a seat at kickoff. When i do this, I miss any and all pregame festivities such as the players walk and the band playing in front of the student union. Those activities are part of the fun of attending a game since I can see all the events on the field on my large screen TV at home. Bottom line for me is, the actual game is not the draw (although I consider myself a die hard Tech fan). If I cannot tailgate/socialize pregame, I am not going to a game. Even if I drive down late Friday night, I have doubled my lodging expenses and won't arrive until midnight or so. By the time I get up, eat breakfast and get to the game it's almost kickoff anyways. So a noon game is not even on my radar although I will certainly not miss watching it on TV or computer.

So it has to be a (Saturday) afternoon or evening game for me. I imagine there are others who live in a 4 - 6 hour radius who feel the same way.

 

[Lawyer mark]

This is basically right. There are many reasons for it, some are just a part of being GT, some are self-inflicted by bad decisions and bad marketing.

We should think seriously about giving away North end zone nose bleed tickets to inner-city youth groups, Church groups, scouts, etc. Two huge benefits, 1: filling up seats for appearances, 2: cultivating non-alumni (sidewalk) fans.

I have been whining about this for years. Sell them to people like me that are cheap. I'll buy season tickets and show up... plus, I would burn tickets before selling to a uga fan!

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

I know of 4 season ticket seats that would be purchased if not for 2 of the reasons you stated above. One of my buddies is now paying more for Falcons season tickets as an alternative to GT because he anticipated most GT home games would be at noon on Saturday, and he is in ALTA. He was happy to eat the cost for a game or two, but it no longer made sense as of a couple years ago when he started eating half or more of the cost.

I don't know if he is representative of the problem at large, though I've met others who have passed on season tickets because of their children's youth sports. Perhaps there are those who are coming to games because of early starts and are offsetting the issue. I have no data of scale to support other than personal experience that says noon starts are detrimental to attendance.

Is it going to double our attendance? No. But over a couple of seasons of having a good distribution of starting times, I could see 10% to 20% increase. (Assuming the product on the field stays consistent) Which would be substantial. Especially if the early games of the season were later to reduce the heat factor. A 7:00PM start time yesterday would have been perfect from a stadium experience. Have the 12:00 games later in the season when it is colder in the evenings.

People who want to call it complaining and whining are just ignoring the facts.

 

[MWBATL]

[QUOTE="MountainBuzzMan, post: 344724, member: 3069"People who want to call it complaining and whining are just ignoring the facts.[/QUOTE]

Agree 1,000 %

 

[Vespidae]

A 7:00PM start time yesterday would have been perfect from a stadium experience. Have the 12:00 games later in the season when it is colder in the evenings.

I personally agree that evening games are the best. And non Tech alums who have been to night games (with their families) loved them. And bought season tix.

But let's not beat ourselves up too bad. My niece went to LSU. She said to watch the camera pans in the second half of an LSU game. Why, I asked? "Because no one is there." She said the stadium empties to get an early start on drinking.

For Tech, we are not going to fill an urban stadium with opponents out of the Top 20 and where we don't have historic rivalries. Put Auburn there instead of Pitt ...and it will fill.

Sustained winning against quality opponents fills the seats.

 

[HurricaneJacket]

I am not chiming into the argument itself and have no personal affiliation to fraternities, but this statement is an absurd lie. There were AT LEAST 200 people in the frats sections (left of swarm or right of the band). Gotta call out BS when I see it.

Thus was the North Stands 8 minutes before kick off. Frats and Srudents have to get their rears into the seats earlier. I was in the south endzone as a student and we were there an hour before kick off every game because of non secured seating. Lets move the North stands to that and see if they fill up more quickly.

 

[Milwaukee]

Fans of other schools have kids that play sports too, just sayin.

 

[HurricaneJacket]

Image here

 

[jacobchbe]

Our athletes deserve better fans.

 

[RonJohn]

People who want to call it complaining and whining are just ignoring the facts.

If it is a big game at 12:00 or 12:30, people find a way to make it. Those things are only issues when there isn't a lot of interest in the game to begin with.

 

[jacob]

My buddy has season tickets for the Florida gators and he said if they played 8 straight noon home games the fans would protest. Said he's never heard of a team having 8 straight noon games.

 

[coldbeer]

I have been whining about this for years. Sell them to people like me that are cheap. I'll buy season tickets and show up... plus, I would burn tickets before selling to a uga fan!

Tickets are already dirt cheap. And you can purchase season tix in certain sections without a license (Tech Fund).

P.S. The secondary market is like $10/seat, including junk fees, for most games outside UGA or Clemson. I bought four more Lower Level seats on Stub Hub this past week for the Pitt game for $48 total including the ridiculous junk fees.

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[wvGT11]

Image hereView attachment 2915

This has been an issue since I was at Tech 10 years ago. Noon games suck, especially when its blistering hot out, but its not the main reason fans are not showing up. Tech's actual fan base from what I have seen over the years is actually quite small from the students, alumni and in general the community. I've only seen Bobby Dodd sold out a handful of times and that was the during the UGA games and when we have been ranked pretty high.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I know fans are frustrated w/ all the recent Noon starts, but CPJ and tSTAN and the GTAA have zero control over the kick times at BDS. (TV partners have complete control over that due in part to the million dollar checks they write to the ACC annually.)

Not sure why some fans can't understand this basic factiod.


#QuonForHeisman #TogetherWeSwarm

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True, they have no "control" over them, but they can still make their displeasure known. The ACC and the TV people need to explain why 2/3 of our games over the past few years have had noon starts, a much higher ration than that of any other ACC team.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Noon starts can be an issue, but it's not the main one. I have seen Georgia and Clemson both have sellouts at noon games against cupcake teams, so then what is our main issue then? I was watching on TV yesterday and man the stadium looked empty and that looks bad

As I posted earlier, there was virtually nobody in the fraternity boys' sections.

 

[coldbeer]

True, they have no "control" over them, but they can still make their displeasure known. The ACC and the TV people need to explain why 2/3 of our games over the past few years have had noon starts, a much higher ration than that of any other ACC team.

Yes. They can and should make their displeasure known through appropriate channels.

But the idea that CPJ likes Noon starts so GT will play all home games then is just silly...

Diversity of home kickoff times is healthy for college football. Including GT.

Perhaps the ACC can address this formally as the new ACC network is formulated? Would love to see a rule like each ACC school is guaranteed at least one start in each time slot among their 6/7 home games (4 of which are ACC games).

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[dressedcheeseside]

As I posted earlier, there was virtually nobody in the fraternity boys' sections.

When I was a school lad, the frat boys (me included) sat in the lower east. We also had a decent number of bros in flashcard section (lower east between the 40's). Now, they're stuck in the North endzone. Still not a great excuse, but they sure dicked them over compared to when I was in school.

 

[RonJohn]

True, they have no "control" over them, but they can still make their displeasure known. The ACC and the TV people need to explain why 2/3 of our games over the past few years have had noon starts, a much higher ration than that of any other ACC team.

The broadcasters are in business. They are not concerned with being "fair". They are not concerned with the feelings of the fans at the game. They are trying to maximize TV revenue, period. The ACC, including GT, decided that TV money is more important than control over the start times of the games. If you want more control, then petition the GTAA to push for less TV money from the broadcasters in order to get more control of start times. I'm sure that will go far.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

The broadcasters are in business. They are not concerned with being "fair". They are not concerned with the feelings of the fans at the game. They are trying to maximize TV revenue, period. The ACC, including GT, decided that TV money is more important than control over the start times of the games. If you want more control, then petition the GTAA to push for less TV money from the broadcasters in order to get more control of start times. I'm sure that will go far.

I still contend that it can in no way hurt for TStan to express his feelings on the matter. He has absolutely nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain.