Bobby Dodd Renovation in the NE Stands

[awbuzz]

I am not sure I follow your logic. I don't see how it would make financial sense to pay to reduce the capacity of the stadium. Do you think that reducing the capacity would cause the people who currently buy season tickets to willingly pay more for those same tickets? Supply/demand would indicate that if the price goes up, sales would drop. Even if there was an artificial reduction in supply. I could see an argument if it was a product that cost money to produce, but we are talking about capital costs to decrease the capacity.

If the suggestion is to add more premium seating, that could make sense if all of the premium seating is currently sold out and there is demand for more. I just don't understand the reasoning behind paying more money to simply force a reduction in capacity, nor where the return on that capital spending would come from.

A voice of reason

Of course, many people are more than willing to spend other people's money.

 

[roadkill]

I am not sure I follow your logic. I don't see how it would make financial sense to pay to reduce the capacity of the stadium. Do you think that reducing the capacity would cause the people who currently buy season tickets to willingly pay more for those same tickets? Supply/demand would indicate that if the price goes up, sales would drop. Even if there was an artificial reduction in supply. I could see an argument if it was a product that cost money to produce, but we are talking about capital costs to decrease the capacity.

If the suggestion is to add more premium seating, that could make sense if all of the premium seating is currently sold out and there is demand for more. I just don't understand the reasoning behind paying more money to simply force a reduction in capacity, nor where the return on that capital spending would come from.

I think you either misunderstood my point or I wasn't being clear (probably the latter).

I wasn't intending to suggest that we spend money simply to reduce stadium capacity. However, spending money to improve the seating and offering an improved fan experience could help bolster our attendance and support a net revenue increase. If somewhat reduced capacity is a byproduct of stadium improvements, the reduction in supply is not a bad thing when our average attendance has been running in the 60th percentile range.

There are a number of factors that go into the ticket prices that our program can support. Supply vs. demand is one of those factors. Currently, we have a significant oversupply of seats.

Full disclosure: I was not a business major at Tech, but I took Econ 101. This issue seems like Econ 101 to me.

 

[Schlandy]

hope they do something to help BD in the near future

 

[stinger78]

I'm not following your point about underperformance. Can you elaborate?

Also, can you share your data source?

I'm not an advocate of lowering our capacity below 51k, but it makes sense from a revenue standpoint to have the capacity better aligned with expected ticket sales.

My data source is the GA Tech football information guide which is available on RR.com. It’s near the end. That sucker is 270 pages long!

 

[gtjackets930]

Every time I talk with my ticket rep about club or other premium seats, he says they're completely sold out with a waiting list.

Seems me to demand is certainly there given this info and the number of other people I know who are looking for better seats. Particularly those of us with young kids who would love an option with some indoor A/C access

 

[roadkill]

Every time I talk with my ticket rep about club or other premium seats, he says they're completely sold out with a waiting list.

Seems me to demand is certainly there given this info and the number of other people I know who are looking for better seats. Particularly those of us with young kids who would love an option with some indoor A/C access

Your experience aligns with my earlier comment (maybe in this thread but perhaps in another) responding to a poster complaining about vacant seats in the club section and assuming they were unsold. When I checked ticket availability, there was none. Lack of demand for premium seating options is not our problem.

 

[roadkill]

My data source is the GA Tech football information guide which is available on RR.com. It’s near the end. That sucker is 270 pages long!

Thanks - found it on page 266.

 

[Towaliga]

A voice of reason

Of course, many people are more than willing to spend other people's money.

You must have met my wife (and Stech81’s).

 

[TooTall]

You must have met my wife (and Stech81’s).

Not the same wife right? If so, that poor woman....

 

[UgaBlows]

Not the same wife right? If so, that poor woman....

God , no wonder she’s miserable, poor woman

 

[stinger 1957]

As has been mentioned win baby win is the single biggest solution to butts in the seats. Yep, other things will help attract butts and we have lost our fan base, some are gone forever, so we need to do things to build it back but winning is still the number one builder by far IMO. When we see that we are doing that and can hold it, then maybe we do some additional things. Not sure we will ever see need for 60M, TV and upcoming FB demographics are taking care of that.

 

[jpw67]

Given the discussions in this thread about updates to BDS, reducing capacity, and related issues, I’m sharing this info about the renovations currently underway at FSU’s Doak Campbell:

FSU Stadium Updates

Bottom line – FSU acknowledges the facts of lower attendance trends and the need for more premium seating, so they are reducing stadium capacity from 80k to below 70k while improving the in-stadium experience. That a “factory” school is doing this is telling.

Aligns with what we've been saying. To claim we have to have a stadium in the 55-60k range going forward totally ignores these trends. My vote is for something ultimately in the 45-50k range with more premium seating options.

 

[stinger78]

Aligns with what we've been saying. To claim we have to have a stadium in the 55-60k range going forward totally ignores these trends. My vote is for something ultimately in the 45-50k range with more premium seating options.

But why? That denies us the 5-10k seat upside that we make money off of for the bigger games, and we should have more bigger games going forward. This is especially true if we can add luxury boxes and keep seats (like my suggestion for the UE).

ETA: And for the “beer gardens,” BDS has both the SW and NW corners that are empty. How about put them there?

 

[forensicbuzz]

But why? That denies us the 5-10k seat upside that we make money off of for the bigger games, and we should have more bigger games going forward. This is especially true if we can add luxury boxes and keep seats (like my suggestion for the UE).

ETA: And for the “beer gardens,” BDS has both the SW and NW corners that are empty. How about put them there?

I'd pay more for more comfortable seats and more space. The higher price can cover the difference as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to be a sardine or sit on a concrete step.

 

[jpw67]

But why? That denies us the 5-10k seat upside that we make money off of for the bigger games, and we should have more bigger games going forward. This is especially true if we can add luxury boxes and keep seats (like my suggestion for the UE).

ETA: And for the “beer gardens,” BDS has both the SW and NW corners that are empty. How about put them there?

We'll have to agree to disagree. The reality is many, many NFL and MLB teams (as well as other universities) are making similar moves and none of them would be doing so if they felt they were losing money in the deal.

 

[stinger78]

We'll have to agree to disagree. The reality is many, many NFL and MLB teams (as well as other universities) are making similar moves and none of them would be doing so if they felt they were losing money in the deal.

OK, I respect that. Nobody in the US is building 100K seat stadia but college teams. I think it’s the passion that year upon year of thousands of engaged alumni bring to their college teams. If the GA Tech admin thinks we are pegged out at 45K then make it so, but that number is the historical attendance LCL, so to speak, of a successful season. That’s why I’m asking. It just seems too low.

There are reasons to do that, though. One might be if there is a market aberration that allows a significant upward revaluing of inventory (in this case seats). If there truly is a market demand for more expensive seats with more amenities, then you can wipe out some number of lesser priced seats and replace with fewer enhanced higher priced seats and make more money. How many and how to do are my questions.

You may not want to go there, and I’m cool with that, but it’s a question, when answered, that can provide some good information, IMO.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I think they should do a year over year study using footage to determine which seats are being purchased by uga fans in years where we host and those who continuously sell to opposing fans and cancel those accounts. Reconfigure the stadium to have wide, comfortable seats in some sections (raising prices in these areas) and have standing-only sections. This differentiation can be side-to--side sections or front-to-back sections; both ways would work. Include several terraced bar areas for the Millennials (North and South). Control inventory and put a great product on the field. Extend East stands over Techwood Drive, creating a tunnel. Did I say put a great product on the field?

 

[bobongo]

Or underperformance.

We were consistently between 45K-50K in average attendance between 2003 and 2019. For the first time since the late 1980's we averaged in the 30K's since 2021. Since 2003, when the UN opened, we averaged over 50K 6x - 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 under CCG, and 2009 and 2015 under CPJ. Since 2003, we averaged over 45K 14x. The only years we missed that mark were 2012 and 2018 under CPJ, and 2019-2023 under TFG/CBK.

Our capacity is now about 51K. Averaging 45K, which should be easily attainable if CBK stays on track, would put us at 88% capacity. That is our recent historical average if we don't limit the time frame to TFG. Recent history also shows that we can exceed that mark in given years as well. Only in 2003 did we go over 51K, but that season we hosted Auburn, Clemson, and UGAg at BDS.

Sustained, consistent winning will fill the stands. We now have the elements at the top (prez, AD, coach) to get that done.

 

[AUFC]

Sustained, consistent winning will fill the stands. We now have the elements at the top (prez, AD, coach) to get that done.

This wasn't really true when we were winning though. Even when we were a Top 10 team, we were getting about 90% capacity. And this was before the macro trends of college football attendance decline. We are a really small school compared to our athletic peers and trends are only getting worse as time goes on: https://goizueta.emory.edu/research...n-fan-based-businesses-risk-decreased-revenue

 

[bobongo]

This wasn't really true when we were winning though. Even when we were a Top 10 team, we were getting about 90% capacity. And this was before the macro trends of college football attendance decline. We are a really small school compared to our athletic peers and trends are only getting worse as time goes on: https://goizueta.emory.edu/research...n-fan-based-businesses-risk-decreased-revenue

The operative words are "sustained", and "consistent". I don't think we've been there since the Dodd era.