Bobby Dodd sold out.

[GTRX7]

I agree with your comments on Bobby Dodd. It is an awesome place to see a game. We can agree to disagree on ticket prices. The exact same seat through ticketmaster for a single game for Atlanta United in the north endzone is $35 and is $40 for Tech football through the GTAA. Ticket prices are not the reason for Tech's attendance. Tech's ticket pricing is probably among the bottom half in the ACC and probably cheaper than all SEC tickets besides Vandy.

All in all, Tech does okay in ticket sales. I agree with others that believe we should not have expanded past 45-50k. Reasons for Tech's attendance have been discussed a bunch. Attendance in general is declining everywhere with all games on TV and everyone having a giant flatscreen in their living room. Plus, we are still a relatively small, specialized, academically oriented school with barely enough registered alumni in the state of Georgia to even fill the stadium. (Only 61k -- http://factbook.gatech.edu/student-...l-distribution-of-alumni-by-state-table-6-11/). Atlanta also presents significant entertainment competition that you don't find around rural campuses.

Hopefully we can pick up some new fans out of this that have had a chance to see how special a place Bobby Dodd can be to see a game.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

Tech may only have 61k alum in state but attending football games is rarely a solo event. Spouses, kids, friends all use tickets.

So if Tech is selling 30k season tickets, even if you were to presume that only Tech alum buy season tickets, you would still only be selling season tickets to between 7 and 15k alums.

I would love to know for factory schools the % of alums, guests of alums, students and sidewalk fans who fill the stadiums every Saturday.

I would also love to know the average age of a season ticket holder at the various schools. I am really concerned that Tech's base is substantially older and unless something is done will continue to dwindle as more trade the West Stands for the Pearly Gates.

 

[stech81]

Tech may only have 61k alum in state but attending football games is rarely a solo event. Spouses, kids, friends all use tickets.

So if Tech is selling 30k season tickets, even if you were to presume that only Tech alum buy season tickets, you would still only be selling season tickets to between 7 and 15k alums.

I would love to know for factory schools the % of alums, guests of alums, students and sidewalk fans who fill the stadiums every Saturday.

I would also love to know the average age of a season ticket holder at the various schools. I am really concerned that Tech's base is substantially older and unless something is done will continue to dwindle as more trade the West Stands for the Pearly Gates.

I know a lot of people will not agree. But maybe to get young blood in we could sale season tickets or single tickets to families with kids under 12 at a lower price for their (kids only) . Not sure how this would work but it's just an idea.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

I think the biggest priority should be making sure that all the seats that are within view of the TV cameras are full.

The club area is a unique challenge and has been discussed ad nauseum. My main concern is the death of the Tech crowd in the Upper East. The corners have been a problem for years, but since the Tech fund came in, the UE crowd has been steadily retreating to the 50.

TV seems to value Tech for a lot of noon kickoffs. That equals more intense sun in the UE. Fewer people are willing to pay Tech fund prices to get fried to a crisp. This is despite the fact that the UE has some of the best views of any seats in P5 football.

The problem comes when the TV cameras show empty seats. The potential sidewalk fan at home says "That atmosphere looks lame, no way am I going to spend money to watch college football in a half empty stadium". They have no way of knowing we are 85-90% capacity because a ton of fans are out of the main camera shots.

 

[flea77]

I agree with your comments on Bobby Dodd. It is an awesome place to see a game. We can agree to disagree on ticket prices. The exact same seat through ticketmaster for a single game for Atlanta United in the north endzone is $35 and is $40 for Tech football through the GTAA. Ticket prices are not the reason for Tech's attendance. Tech's ticket pricing is probably among the bottom half in the ACC and probably cheaper than all SEC tickets besides Vandy.

All in all, Tech does okay in ticket sales. I agree with others that believe we should not have expanded past 45-50k. Reasons for Tech's attendance have been discussed a bunch. Attendance in general is declining everywhere with all games on TV and everyone having a giant flatscreen in their living room. Plus, we are still a relatively small, specialized, academically oriented school with barely enough registered alumni in the state of Georgia to even fill the stadium. (Only 61k -- http://factbook.gatech.edu/student-...l-distribution-of-alumni-by-state-table-6-11/). Atlanta also presents significant entertainment competition that you don't find around rural campuses.

Hopefully we can pick up some new fans out of this that have had a chance to see how special a place Bobby Dodd can be to see a game.

Season tickets... not ticket master single game. attendance for most college teams are down. Our friends to the northeast claim sell outs but there are always thousands of empty seats and you can always sit anywhere you want in Sanford by using stubhub. I could prob sit in the same area at GT without buying season tickets w the " donation" use stub hub and save 2 grand easy. If you look at united season ticket cost divide into 17 it's pretty inexpensive. When Will is gone I will buy 1 ticket so I can get my rv pass and get the rest on stub hub . My point is if you want to have more season ticket sales, promote or make it more affordable for younger folks. The mandatory contribution per ticket is what I believe keeps people from purchasing season tickets. Get rid of that. Sell beer give the beer sale profits to the Athletic Dept!! Mske season tickets for the upper north 25.00 a game , free student tickets w a free guest. Lower the price for upper east. Give the club seats a extra lounge pass per ticket so you have twice the butts per seat. Then maybe it won't look like crap on TV. HS kids watch games. It hurts recruiting w all the empty gold seats on tv. The beer sales would make up for it. Along w a full stadium. Now that the attendance issue is fixed. Has anyone noticed all the promotions for our spring game?

 

[GTRX7]

We seem to be going round and round on ticket prices, so I will stop after this. There are lots of Tech season tickets available without a required A-T fund contribution. And the cheapest Tech season tickets ($300) are less than the cheapest Atlanta United season tickets ($350) - though for fewer games. That said, cheap single game tickets are also comparable ($35 v $40). I just don't think ticket prices are the issue with Tech attendance.

As for beer sales, I think most of us would fully support that. However, beer sales are controlled by ACC rules, which only permits them in very limited circumstances (like only in the club seats now, and only inside). The ACC prohibits Tech from selling beer throughout the stadium. That would be a huge source of revenue though, and may help increase attendance. I hope the ACC ultimately changes its policy on that.

 

[stech81]

Season tickets... not ticket master single game. attendance for most college teams are down. Our friends to the northeast claim sell outs but there are always thousands of empty seats and you can always sit anywhere you want in Sanford by using stubhub. I could prob sit in the same area at GT without buying season tickets w the " donation" use stub hub and save 2 grand easy. If you look at united season ticket cost divide into 17 it's pretty inexpensive. When Will is gone I will buy 1 ticket so I can get my rv pass and get the rest on stub hub . My point is if you want to have more season ticket sales, promote or make it more affordable for younger folks. The mandatory contribution per ticket is what I believe keeps people from purchasing season tickets. Get rid of that. Sell beer give the beer sale profits to the Athletic Dept!! Mske season tickets for the upper north 25.00 a game , free student tickets w a free guest. Lower the price for upper east. Give the club seats a extra lounge pass per ticket so you have twice the butts per seat. Then maybe it won't look like crap on TV. HS kids watch games. It hurts recruiting w all the empty gold seats on tv. The beer sales would make up for it. Along w a full stadium. Now that the attendance issue is fixed. Has anyone noticed all the promotions for our spring game?

Glad to hear you will still come to the games after Will is finished at Tech. You will always be in the Tech family.

 

[CuseJacket]

We seem to be going round and round on ticket prices, so I will stop after this. There are lots of Tech season tickets available without a required A-T fund contribution. And the cheapest Tech season tickets ($300) are less than the cheapest Atlanta United season tickets ($350) - though for fewer games. That said, cheap single game tickets are also comparable ($35 v $40). I just don't think ticket prices are the issue with Tech attendance.

As for beer sales, I think most of us would fully support that. However, beer sales are controlled by ACC rules, which only permits them in very limited circumstances (like only in the club seats now, and only inside). The ACC prohibits Tech from selling beer throughout the stadium. That would be a huge source of revenue though, and may help increase attendance. I hope the ACC ultimately changes its policy on that.

Syracuse, Louisville and Miami sell beer. No limits on who can purchase, other than being 21+.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/beer-map-shows-trend-stadiums-selling-beer/

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Syracuse, Louisville and Miami sell beer. No limits on who can purchase, other than being 21+.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/beer-map-shows-trend-stadiums-selling-beer/

Miami plays in the Orange Bowl (or whatever they call that stadium), so the stadium has the rights. I don't know who owns rights in the Cariier Dome (ask CuseJacket) or Louisville's stadium.

 

[AE 87]

Syracuse, Louisville and Miami sell beer. No limits on who can purchase, other than being 21+.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/beer-map-shows-trend-stadiums-selling-beer/

I don't know and too lazy to research. Are those stadiums on campus? Could ACC have rules for on-campus stadiums and beer sales?

 

[JacketFromUGA]

I don't know and too lazy to research. Are those stadiums on campus? Could ACC have rules for on-campus stadiums and beer sales?

too lazy to read the top left of the map?

 

[CuseJacket]

The Carrier Dome is on campus (also says as much in the map I included) and has been selling beer since it opened in 1980.

I was thinking that the only explanation is the new ACC members were allowed to grandfather in their rights to beer sales. Then I found this article published in 2011.

Beer sales at Carrier Dome appear safe as ACC leaves decision to the schools

SU’s decision to move to the Atlantic Coast Conference should not affect the school’s decision to sell beer at home games, as the ACC leaves it up to the schools to sell beer during athletic events or not.

SU has long been unusual among colleges in that the on-campus Dome has sold beer during football and basketball games since the facility opened in 1980. Only a handful of other colleges do the same and many of those only serve at off-campus facilities.

For regular season games, the NCAA leaves it up to the schools to make the decision, as does the Big East.

 

[AE 87]

too lazy to read the top left of the map?

LOL. Apparently.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

The Carrier Dome is on campus (also says as much in the map I included) and has been selling beer since it opened in 1980.

I was thinking that the only explanation is the new ACC members were allowed to grandfather in their rights to beer sales. Then I found this article published in 2011.

Beer sales at Carrier Dome appear safe as ACC leaves decision to the schools

So if Tech wanted to sell beer at the games, based on that, I guess they could.

 

[GTRX7]

The Carrier Dome is on campus (also says as much in the map I included) and has been selling beer since it opened in 1980.

I was thinking that the only explanation is the new ACC members were allowed to grandfather in their rights to beer sales. Then I found this article published in 2011.

Beer sales at Carrier Dome appear safe as ACC leaves decision to the schools

Wow. Guess I stand corrected. I knew Louisville permitted beer sales but also thought they were grandfathered in. I have always been frustrated that there have been no beer sales at the ACC football championship, which also supported my ACC belief. That said, I just googled it as well and I guess you are right. Looks like Wake is going to add beer sales soon, and they just started beer sales at the ACC bball tournament last year.

Tech should really consider this. For a revenue challenged school, this could really help.

 

[RonJohn]

Has anyone noticed all the promotions for our spring game?

I haven't seen anything posted about promotions.

 

[gtg147g]

Exactly

 

[Vespidae]

For GT to have consistent sellouts in football GT will need to;
1. Provide an exciting brand of football.
2. Consistently win with exciting brand of football.
3. Have star players with exciting winning brand of football.
4. Build a better reputation within the ATL community.
5. Be attractive to the millinials which again includes being cutting edge, exciting, sexy, & fresh. Ways to get bridge technology with the football experience.
6. Better link with Black Atlanta. In what ways does GT interact with the AUC? radio? TV? in the public schools.
7. Consistent alum support. CPJ is the head coach alum should be 100% committed to him.
8. Area youth and community leagues should be invited regularly free entry.
9. Lower prices
10. Enhancements to in game fan experience.

I would add that you need a strong, devoted alumni base. And a quality schedule.

 

[flea77]

I would add that you need a strong, devoted alumni base. And a quality schedule.

South Carolina ... They would fill their stadium if they went 1-12 5 years in a row. I think they have the most devoted fans in the country.

 

[Eastman]

South Carolina ... They would fill their stadium if they went 1-12 5 years in a row. I think they have the most devoted fans in the country.

So true. I moved to Columbia from Savannah and my son graduated last year from USC. I recall being shocked at how optimistic the fans were and how full the stands were in 98 when they lost ten in a row. The next year they went 0-11 and the fans still came in droves despite never having won a bowl game to that point. I was impressed and started rooting for them.