East Stands were embarrasing

[GT_05]

Im tired of US being the worst fan base in college football and then want to have a coaches head or give a player hell for bot giving a 100 % when we can even fill a 54k stadium half full!!! Im tired of the entitlement of GT fans who say well i pay my money to sit in the heat and watch them lose! Guess what! They work there A$@%$ off week in and week out for you to only pay HALF of what most colleges pay for a game, not to mention we pay coach and staff nickels to perform like dollars! I could go on and on and yes i am frustrated just as much as the next guy but damn. There is 130 FBS schools you always wanna do great but only a couple will win 11 or 12. Why dont we stand behind our team 100% of the time and show the players we got there back for once!!! We may win a few games if we would put our money where our mouth is and our *** where a seat is!!

Preach it from the rooftops!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jophish17]

New problem. I was introduced to an app yesterday and $30/mo you can attend dozens of events in Atalanta. Including all the Tech home games. All of them. I paid $1600 for mine. That’s a problem.

Inwego is great! Notice how the successful teams in town (Falcons, United) and acts (Beyoncé) don't participate... they don't have a reason to. BUT inwego might actually bring more casual fans in once or twice a year, so if we can convert to regular purchases, it would certainly be worth it. The capacity is going unused otherwise.

Not to mention the increase in the percentage of women on campus.

Great point- there's more to do than drink and hang out at the game with your buddies

 

[senoiajacket]

Hopefully it sends a message to the powers that be.

Not sure the powers that be even have it as a priority. We left the game w 8-10 minutes left in the fourth walking towards our vehicle parked in home park. Pres Bud & Ms Pres Bud past us going east down 10th street in their presidential golf cart on the side walk. If they were returning from the game, they sure took the long way!!

 

[herb]

Bring the baby and sit in the west stands where there is shade for all games except nooners. I admit there is no immediate gratification from attending most games this season but think about long term payoff. You are instilling a love of all things GT by taking your kids to games and that is what GT needs in the long run. I have 2 young kids (6 & 3) and while I don't get to focus on the game as much with them present I take them to games and we watch away games together because I know that 5 years from now we can share the passion of GT and GT athletics. To me it's worth it.

Yes! Take them early, take them often, just take them.

 

[sgreer]

Im tired of US being the worst fan base in college football and then want to have a coaches head or give a player hell for bot giving a 100 % when we can even fill a 54k stadium half full!!! Im tired of the entitlement of GT fans who say well i pay my money to sit in the heat and watch them lose! Guess what! They work there A$@%$ off week in and week out for you to only pay HALF of what most colleges pay for a game, not to mention we pay coach and staff nickels to perform like dollars! I could go on and on and yes i am frustrated just as much as the next guy but damn. There is 130 FBS schools you always wanna do great but only a couple will win 11 or 12. Why dont we stand behind our team 100% of the time and show the players we got there back for once!!! We may win a few games if we would put our money where our mouth is and our *** where a seat is!!

Im tired of US being the worst fan base in college football and then want to have a coaches head or give a player hell for bot giving a 100 % when we can even fill a 54k stadium half full!!! Im tired of the entitlement of GT fans who say well i pay my money to sit in the heat and watch them lose! Guess what! They work there A$@%$ off week in and week out for you to only pay HALF of what most colleges pay for a game, not to mention we pay coach and staff nickels to perform like dollars! I could go on and on and yes i am frustrated just as much as the next guy but damn. There is 130 FBS schools you always wanna do great but only a couple will win 11 or 12. Why dont we stand behind our team 100% of the time and show the players we got there back for once!!! We may win a few games if we would put our money where our mouth is and our *** where a seat is!!

I have been following Tech for over 40 years and have never seen Tech fill the stadium with Trch fans- even when Hamilton was there- even when Calvin was there. There has always been about 40K that show up most games and I appreciate and celebrate the ones that do. I have been there where the atmosphere was loud and fun. Leaving the SEC, Falcons coming here were big reasons the base shrunk. That and a lot of alumni I know that do love be in metro Atlanta never go to games or really care.

 

[BootsCostMoney]

Not to mention the increase in the percentage of women on campus.

Correct. Now I don’t want to put out any subtle xenophobic or prejudiced vibes with what I’m saying. It’s just worth pointing at that your average college football fan, one who not only sports team apparel but buys tickets year in year out, who makes sure their kids become fans, are white males. Particularly, kids who are “home grown”. Not to say that other demographics aren’t diehard fans and invested, as well. It’s just that they don’t make up the base of the overall college football viewing public. We have to have an orientation for new students that covers when to cheer at ball games. Every other college has international students too, why do ours need an orientation? Maybe because they makeup a disproportionate larger portion of the student body? That really says it all.

 

[lv20gt]

Im tired of US being the worst fan base in college football and then want to have a coaches head or give a player hell for bot giving a 100 % when we can even fill a 54k stadium half full!!! Im tired of the entitlement of GT fans who say well i pay my money to sit in the heat and watch them lose! Guess what! They work there A$@%$ off week in and week out for you to only pay HALF of what most colleges pay for a game, not to mention we pay coach and staff nickels to perform like dollars!

Bull ****. They work hard. So what? I work hard every week also. Most people do. So why should I spend my money, which again I worked hard for, for something that isn't entertaining?

Their reward for their hard work is a free ride to a top university that most probably wouldn't have gotten in if they didn't play a game well. No, fans shouldn't feel obligated to spend their money on a bad product just because the students work hard. There are plenty of hard working student athletes playing in front of almost nobody in smaller sports, and plenty of other hard working students who are putting in just as much work that aren't getting 40k people supporting them.

Also, Johnson gets 3 mil for this. That is hardly nickels, but I'm sure you're going to make the comparison to Alabama or Clemson as if they are the only programs performing better than us.

 

[BCJacket]

I give one my opinion and that doesn't make it right just my opinion

First you need to make a ticket hard to get. At 55,000 we are not able to sale out unless the opposing team brings I 20,000 fan. I know this sounds dumb but it's coming from me , go back to 44,000 . I'm not talking about spending money to do construction to change things , but make the seating a little wider add another 6" to each sit so you have room and can be comfortable.

We have to start winning ( very easy to say hard to do )

Not sure how to do this but they scan the tickets but maybe after each year if you have season tickets and attend all the games the next year you get a 5% discount on your season tickets.

Not sure how you could do this But I have been to Clemson, FSU, Auburn and was able to park for free. Yes I know we have limited space , but add the price of the tickets and then add $30 and it can hurt.

Fully agree with this part of your post. Bottom line, most fans will go to a game if they feel like it's the best use of their time and money. For people who live their lives around their football team, all they need is the game win or lose. The UGAs and Bamas have 10s and 10s of thousands of those fans. We have 10-20,000, tops?

Being realistic; if Tech wants to fill the stadium, they have to raise the value and/or lower the cost. For too many fans, the overall experience of staying home and watching on TV is the better than going down to the game. For all the reasons people on this board have mentioned repeatedly: our stadium is hot and uncomfortable in the sun, the lines (for everything, entry, food, water, restrooms) are too long, concessions are mediocre and expensive, the on field product hasn't been great the last few years, etc. Not to mention things largely outside of Tech's control that detract from the experience; like traffic, parking, petty crime...

If the goal is to maximize revenue from attendance, then lower the gross attendance goal and get more money from fewer fans for a 'premium experience'. Make 75% of the stadium "club seating" and cut the capacity some. Install real (wider, more comfortable) seats, better concessions, some air conditioned areas in the concourses with TV monitors, sell alcohol, let people bring stuff in, look into installing sun shades, more overall staff to serve customers across the board...

UNC replaced their bleachers with real seats. Cost ~$6 million. Reduced their capacity 10,000. But they weren't filling up for Football any way. The new capacity roughly matches their average attendance last year. Charging $6 more per seat to cover the costs. I think that would make a huge impact on the game day experience at BDS.

https://goheels.com/news/2018/1/7/football-individual-seats-coming-in-kenan-stadium.aspx

I do believe Tech Football has an opportunity to be a "thing to do" in Atlanta again. But it needs to compete on quality of experience and value with the other options in town. Look at how much better the Brave's attendance has been since they moved to the new ballpark with a much better overall experience. Tons of people going to Suntrust Park who could care less about Braves baseball. But it's a thing to do and a fun experience. It's a smaller park, but they're filling it up and making more money per fan.

Just for example: if we were able to fill the stadium with 45,000, that are paying 50% more for a better experience, we make ~18% more revenue vs a 55,000 sellout baseline. (Assuming the marginal cost of the experience improvement isn't prohibitive.) And I'd say make some of the upper stands walk-up $5 tickets for the "classic" experience.

This last one will piss some off. No matter what you do the School ( President and anyone else that makes decisions) has got to want to win and really care about the sports teams . This is where we fail in my opinion. I get the opinion ( only my opinion) that the president has the attitude Ok you can have your team but don't ask for help if you want something you raise the money. This we never change unless the majority of the alumni want it to change. ( which I don't see ) . anyone can come up with ways but if you are fighting the school there is no hope. There you do want us fans don't want and say we can't compete like this we need to drop down to another division. And here is where I ask for help for those that were Tech fans in the 70's It was talked about then what did we do ?

I've had the same gripes in the past, complaining about "the Hill". But after educating myself more, I've learned two things:
1) "the Hill"/President's office is limited by State Law/BOR regulations on how involved, especially financially, they can be in athletics. Mainly, it's to protect students from having their tuition go to pay for football. Which, let's be real, a football team doesn't add much to the academic experience. Asking our students to underwrite an entertainment product that mostly benefits non-students would be pretty unfair.
2) The President's office does tacitly support athletics (but see#1). When folks talk about "the Hill" as the President's office. They're barking up the wrong tree. Or at least focusing on just one of a dozen trees that need to be barked up. There are a lot of other stakeholders who control aspects of the Institute that don't support Tech athletics... BOR, the Alumni Association, the City of Atlanta, the GTRI... Many, if not most, of the gripes we have about the Institute's relationship with Athletics are controlled by parties outside "the Hill". If we really want change, we need to push our policy makers (State/Local Government reps) to change the laws and regulations governing the USG.

 

[Vespidae]

Fully agree with this part of your post. Bottom line, most fans will go to a game if they feel like it's the best use of their time and money. For people who live their lives around their football team, all they need is the game win or lose. The UGAs and Bamas have 10s and 10s of thousands of those fans. We have 10-20,000, tops?

Being realistic; if Tech wants to fill the stadium, they have to raise the value and/or lower the cost. For too many fans, the overall experience of staying home and watching on TV is the better than going down to the game. For all the reasons people on this board have mentioned repeatedly: our stadium is hot and uncomfortable in the sun, the lines (for everything, entry, food, water, restrooms) are too long, concessions are mediocre and expensive, the on field product hasn't been great the last few years, etc. Not to mention things largely outside of Tech's control that detract from the experience; like traffic, parking, petty crime...

If the goal is to maximize revenue from attendance, then lower the gross attendance goal and get more money from fewer fans for a 'premium experience'. Make 75% of the stadium "club seating" and cut the capacity some. Install real (wider, more comfortable) seats, better concessions, some air conditioned areas in the concourses with TV monitors, sell alcohol, let people bring stuff in, look into installing sun shades, more overall staff to serve customers across the board...

UNC replaced their bleachers with real seats. Cost ~$6 million. Reduced their capacity 10,000. But they weren't filling up for Football any way. The new capacity roughly matches their average attendance last year. Charging $6 more per seat to cover the costs. I think that would make a huge impact on the game day experience at BDS.

https://goheels.com/news/2018/1/7/football-individual-seats-coming-in-kenan-stadium.aspx

I do believe Tech Football has an opportunity to be a "thing to do" in Atlanta again. But it needs to compete on quality of experience and value with the other options in town. Look at how much better the Brave's attendance has been since they moved to the new ballpark with a much better overall experience. Tons of people going to Suntrust Park who could care less about Braves baseball. But it's a thing to do and a fun experience. It's a smaller park, but they're filling it up and making more money per fan.

Just for example: if we were able to fill the stadium with 45,000, that are paying 50% more for a better experience, we make ~18% more revenue vs a 55,000 sellout baseline. (Assuming the marginal cost of the experience improvement isn't prohibitive.) And I'd say make some of the upper stands walk-up $5 tickets for the "classic" experience.



I've had the same gripes in the past, complaining about "the Hill". But after educating myself more, I've learned two things:
1) "the Hill"/President's office is limited by State Law/BOR regulations on how involved, especially financially, they can be in athletics. Mainly, it's to protect students from having their tuition go to pay for football. Which, let's be real, a football team doesn't add much to the academic experience. Asking our students to underwrite an entertainment product that mostly benefits non-students would be pretty unfair.
2) The President's office does tacitly support athletics (but see#1). When folks talk about "the Hill" as the President's office. They're barking up the wrong tree. Or at least focusing on just one of a dozen trees that need to be barked up. There are a lot of other stakeholders who control aspects of the Institute that don't support Tech athletics... BOR, the Alumni Association, the City of Atlanta, the GTRI... Many, if not most, of the gripes we have about the Institute's relationship with Athletics are controlled by parties outside "the Hill". If we really want change, we need to push our policy makers (State/Local Government reps) to change the laws and regulations governing the USG.

Good post.

The problem with attendance is e erything you mentioned. But also, the expectations of the fan experience have changed. I love going because it’s my school I’m supporting, not some movie, or concert. So there’s an emotional connection too.

But BDS needs a concourse with live action viewing, better seating, group function areas, restaurants near the stadium, etc. in short, they need a lot.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

Just curious, but have any of you thought about the change in demographics in the student body makeup and how it impacts the fan base as a whole? Especially over time. I know most Tech grads have always had to leave Atlanta and Georgia for jobs post-grad for a number of years, but how has the increase in student admissions from foreign countries and places outside the college football loving-South and the State of Georgia over the last 30-40 years affected our student body and alumni body demographic makeup? Regardless of record, I’ve seen a steady drop in fans over the last 30+ years and more and more people on campus who could care less about sports in general. This has included years from the 1990 natty team, the Little Joe years and O-Leary, and on to CPJ to now. Some ups and some downs.

I’m just not sure many of you oldheads really have a grip on what the school is like in 2018 and who actually makes up the student body nowadays. We’re not breeding many future athletic supporters.

*************Smack on the dot!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO right!!!!

The problem I have with this comment and the agreement you have is it does not have to be true. If anyone has spent time looking at how Stanford handles their sports programs, money and getting alumni to support the sports program is not a problem, yet Stanford has an even more diverse student body than Tech has. Standford's Sports program is loaded with cash. It all starts with a well run AD office. I have high hopes with Todd. The previous idiot really set us back.

So this is just a lame excuse in my opinion, but there is some truth in it due to how poorly our AD has been run in the past.

 

[awbuzz]

Sorry for the duplicate posts. The first one never showed up on my monitor, so I posted it a second time.

I thought it was good enough to be posted twice.

 

[a5ehren]

The problem I have with this comment and the agreement you have is it does not have to be true. If anyone has spent time looking at how Stanford handles their sports programs, money and getting alumni to support the sports program is not a problem, yet Stanford has an even more diverse student body than Tech has. Standford's Sports program is loaded with cash. It all starts with a well run AD office. I have high hopes with Todd. The previous idiot really set us back.

So this is just a lame excuse in my opinion, but there is some truth in it due to how poorly our AD has been run in the past.

Stanford was drawing maybe 5k a game until they were winning 10 games a year. They still don't do huge numbers, either.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

Stanford was drawing maybe 5k a game until they were winning 10 games a year. They still don't do huge numbers, either.

No one on the west cost really has good numbers. I was thinking about fan support turning into dollars from ticket sales. Standford has gone after their alumni through an aggressive donation plan and they are successful independent of nationality.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

You haven't filed taxes with the new standard deduction yet. If you are itemizing 24k that's a lot especially with the combined 10k limit on property / local income tax.

Guess I will find out in January.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Deed restriction on Peters Park. That is why there are tennis courts on top.

I would imagine that ripping out what's there now and replacing it with an actual park would fall into the restrictions of the deed.

 

[BigDaddyBuzz]

I have been preaching for years to rip out the bleachers and put in all chairbacks like the club section. This would reduce seating by approx 8-10k and would be much more comfortable for fans. If that 6 mill number is accurate Stansbury should be all over this.

 

[alagold]

Fully agree with this part of your post. Bottom line, most fans will go to a game if they feel like it's the best use of their time and money. For people who live their lives around their football team, all they need is the game win or lose. The UGAs and Bamas have 10s and 10s of thousands of those fans. We have 10-20,000, tops?

Being realistic; if Tech wants to fill the stadium, they have to raise the value and/or lower the cost. For too many fans, the overall experience of staying home and watching on TV is the better than going down to the game. For all the reasons people on this board have mentioned repeatedly: our stadium is hot and uncomfortable in the sun, the lines (for everything, entry, food, water, restrooms) are too long, concessions are mediocre and expensive, the on field product hasn't been great the last few years, etc. Not to mention things largely outside of Tech's control that detract from the experience; like traffic, parking, petty crime...

If the goal is to maximize revenue from attendance, then lower the gross attendance goal and get more money from fewer fans for a 'premium experience'. Make 75% of the stadium "club seating" and cut the capacity some. Install real (wider, more comfortable) seats, better concessions, some air conditioned areas in the concourses with TV monitors, sell alcohol, let people bring stuff in, look into installing sun shades, more overall staff to serve customers across the board...

UNC replaced their bleachers with real seats. Cost ~$6 million. Reduced their capacity 10,000. But they weren't filling up for Football any way. The new capacity roughly matches their average attendance last year. Charging $6 more per seat to cover the costs. I think that would make a huge impact on the game day experience at BDS.

https://goheels.com/news/2018/1/7/football-individual-seats-coming-in-kenan-stadium.aspx

I do believe Tech Football has an opportunity to be a "thing to do" in Atlanta again. But it needs to compete on quality of experience and value with the other options in town. Look at how much better the Brave's attendance has been since they moved to the new ballpark with a much better overall experience. Tons of people going to Suntrust Park who could care less about Braves baseball. But it's a thing to do and a fun experience. It's a smaller park, but they're filling it up and making more money per fan.

Just for example: if we were able to fill the stadium with 45,000, that are paying 50% more for a better experience, we make ~18% more revenue vs a 55,000 sellout baseline. (Assuming the marginal cost of the experience improvement isn't prohibitive.) And I'd say make some of the upper stands walk-up $5 tickets for the "classic" experience.



I've had the same gripes in the past, complaining about "the Hill". But after educating myself more, I've learned two things:
1) "the Hill"/President's office is limited by State Law/BOR regulations on how involved, especially financially, they can be in athletics. Mainly, it's to protect students from having their tuition go to pay for football. Which, let's be real, a football team doesn't add much to the academic experience. Asking our students to underwrite an entertainment product that mostly benefits non-students would be pretty unfair.
2) The President's office does tacitly support athletics (but see#1). When folks talk about "the Hill" as the President's office. They're barking up the wrong tree. Or at least focusing on just one of a dozen trees that need to be barked up. There are a lot of other stakeholders who control aspects of the Institute that don't support Tech athletics... BOR, the Alumni Association, the City of Atlanta, the GTRI... Many, if not most, of the gripes we have about the Institute's relationship with Athletics are controlled by parties outside "the Hill". If we really want change, we need to push our policy makers (State/Local Government reps) to change the laws and regulations governing the USG.

I'm going to disagree one point anyway.The PRESIDENT has GOT to be responsible for hiring the best AD.Based on the performance of at least 2 ADs that is a VERY VERY sad commentary on the hiring (or caring enough) skills from that office. of course ,what do you expect from a guy hiring men that STEAL from the school.!

 

[wvGT11]

Not than any of us have business in Athens, but has anyone else been there on game day. Such a different vibe than campus here and I don't think there is anything that can be done to change that. What I am curious to see is if there are any other schools in major metro areas like us, that have actually been able to build a brand and consistent game turn out.
In Athens on saturday, what else is there to do other than go to the game or watch from a bar.

 

[iceeater1969]

I'm going to disagree one point anyway.The PRESIDENT has GOT to be responsible for hiring the best AD.Based on the performance of at least 2 ADs that is a VERY VERY sad commentary on the hiring (or caring enough) skills from that office. of course ,what do you expect from a guy hiring men that STEAL from the school.!

He had previous AD worked up strategic plan for athletic excellence. Boiler plate 98% and a place for old ad to hide.

Did previous AD have any football experience?

Did he require reports of meetings the AD and Coach had ? Per coach previous A D and he seldom talked. ( Are we to assume the prez did not know coach was begging for recruiting, better stuff .. ?


Does he require ( strongly suggest like giving to United way) high salaried profs and admin to go to any games( not just football)? And require the gtaa to show them how the team is preparing?

Does the hill require the AA to share on a use restricted basis) its Alumni list with the gtaa. ?

How does he document to BOR pointing out the Ga tech 85 rating and the uga 50 rating in football graduation rates. ? Ask them to require that rate be visibly located in every Jersey. We are proud of our rating and will be proceeding to implement across entire gtaa. IMO uga at 50 is exploitation. The 2 schools should have aligned incentives.

Coach has part of his compensation as a bonus for the grad rate FOR FOOTBALL. Does Perz have one of similar size for football?

Per above does he advise we are considering to suspend the gt uga ganes until the 6 year running average of the schooks are close.

Gtaa has the prof of the week announced at half time. This prof was good at this or that. How are the football players being highlited for their efforts?

FOR THE GT PREZ COMPARED TO OTHER SCHOOLS , RESEARCH REVENUE is A GIGANTIC PERCENT OF BUDGET AND THE BASIS FOR ATTRACTING TOP PROFESSORS.

If prez is going to do anything for gt football, he better do it with the gentleness of a dove and the guile of a fox.
11 uga, 5 gt, and 6 other is distribution on BOR could respond harshly.

 

[Animal02]

Im tired of US being the worst fan base in college football and then want to have a coaches head or give a player hell for bot giving a 100 % when we can even fill a 54k stadium half full!!! Im tired of the entitlement of GT fans who say well i pay my money to sit in the heat and watch them lose! Guess what! They work there A$@%$ off week in and week out for you to only pay HALF of what most colleges pay for a game, not to mention we pay coach and staff nickels to perform like dollars! I could go on and on and yes i am frustrated just as much as the next guy but damn. There is 130 FBS schools you always wanna do great but only a couple will win 11 or 12. Why dont we stand behind our team 100% of the time and show the players we got there back for once!!! We may win a few games if we would put our money where our mouth is and our *** where a seat is!!

Where is the 100 like button?