Empty Seats

[MWBATL]

We GT fans continue to make the same decades old mistakes .

To win in any endeavor, one must first beat their competition. To beat your competition, you must correctly identify your competition. No amount of advertising or slogans will overcome that.

Beating our real competition will sell more tickets.

In Atlanta GA, winning the Coastal division of the ACC does not make the hair stand up on the back of the neck of people we need to attract and sell more tickets to.

Not rocket science.

This!!

 

[Killer Bee]

Tickets from the ticket office are $80 plus fees. So, I am not sure how good of a sign that is.

Really don't know who looked at the GT market and decided the demand for this game would warrant and $80 face value.

Bingo. A walk-up football fan isn't paying $80 to watch this team, and frankly, neither am I. Nosebleed seats should be $15 tops, regardless of the opponent.

 

[Animal02]

We graduate a lot more students now than we did 15 years ago, so it's not alumni base. If that were the case, our attendance would be up a good bit.

There are a couple of reasons, but TV coverage is one of them. Attendance is down in the B1G, SEC, Pac-whatever, NFL, and so on, even with more people today than 20 years ago. You can probably find counterexamples, but the arenas that are full are ones that already had a waiting list. Even teams that had waiting lists ten years ago are having empty seats these days. People want to watch on their big screen TV sets.

You may be growing your fan base, just not in the stadium.

There are also a lot more teams in top-level college football, and more in the NFL. That's splitting up the audience.

Tech does not graduate near the numbers of other big state schools and they are having trouble filling the stands as you pointed out.
Tech alumni - due to the nature of their degrees, are spread out all over the world. Of all the people I knew at Tech, very few are in the Atlanta area or even Georgia for that matter.. Schools with teaching degrees, lower lever medical degrees, etc will tend to have more alumni stay within the region......because the job market can absorb them........not the same case with engineers......especially top level engineers that command a high $$$.

 

[Henrymcg]

Tech should tarp the upper 1/2 of the north end zone, and pack everyone into the remaining seats. I'm tired of seeing them empty.

Need to spread the seats apart a couple of inches so we are not sitting *** cheek to *** cheek

 

[TheTaxJacket]

I was going to come to the game if the tickets were $30-$35 a piece. I can't do $80. That's $160 for me and my wife. Just can't swing that right now as bad as I want to be there cheering them on.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Tech does not graduate near the numbers of other big state schools and they are having trouble filling the stands as you pointed out.
Tech alumni - due to the nature of their degrees, are spread out all over the world. Of all the people I knew at Tech, very few are in the Atlanta area or even Georgia for that matter.. Schools with teaching degrees, lower lever medical degrees, etc will tend to have more alumni stay within the region......because the job market can absorb them........not the same case with engineers......especially top level engineers that command a high $$$.

Ergo - we must attract non alums to buy tix. How do you do that?

A dumb butt marketing major from the evening school of commerce can give you the answer in 2 seconds.

Man, all these brilliant Tech minds can not figure out this simple question ? Unreal.

 

[33jacket]

Tech does not graduate near the numbers of other big state schools and they are having trouble filling the stands as you pointed out.
Tech alumni - due to the nature of their degrees, are spread out all over the world. Of all the people I knew at Tech, very few are in the Atlanta area or even Georgia for that matter.. Schools with teaching degrees, lower lever medical degrees, etc will tend to have more alumni stay within the region......because the job market can absorb them........not the same case with engineers......especially top level engineers that command a high $$$.

I wont debate, just use facts and everyone can determine what they want.

Gt has about 50 percent of its alive alumni in or around an hour within campus

The number above is around 55000 alumni in the atlanta area

If just HALF of the alumni in the atlanta area brought one friend or family member the stadium would be oversold every week, students take 8000 seats and then visiting seats are around 5000.

If 1/3 of the alumni in the altanta area bought two tickets, when combined with our non-alumni ticket holders, students, and away fans the stadium would be sold out every game.

Draw the conclusions u need to out of these numbers.

What they mean for me is an alumni base that is apathetic to sports.

Back when i worked the AA DRad told me he can only rely on about 21000 purchases a year which was something around 10000 households which were not nearly alumni dominated. Alot of non alumns.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

We graduate a lot more students now than we did 15 years ago, so it's not alumni base. If that were the case, our attendance would be up a good bit.

There are a couple of reasons, but TV coverage is one of them. Attendance is down in the B1G, SEC, Pac-whatever, NFL, and so on, even with more people today than 20 years ago. You can probably find counterexamples, but the arenas that are full are ones that already had a waiting list. Even teams that had waiting lists ten years ago are having empty seats these days. People want to watch on their big screen TV sets.

You may be growing your fan base, just not in the stadium.

There are also a lot more teams in top-level college football, and more in the NFL. That's splitting up the audience.

Yes, I remember reading about Nick freakin' Saban pleading with students to come to games.

 

[Animal02]

Ergo - we must attract non alums to buy tix. How do you do that?

A dumb butt marketing major from the evening school of commerce can give you the answer in 2 seconds.

Man, all these brilliant Tech minds can not figure out this simple question ? Unreal.

I agree but think that is easier said than done.....UGA, Georgia Southern, are far easier to relate to for the side walk fan than Tech.

 

[Animal02]

I wont debate, just use facts and everyone can determine what they want.

Gt has about 50 percent of its alive alumni in or around an hour within campus

The number above is around 55000 alumni in the atlanta area

If just HALF of the alumni in the atlanta area brought one friend or family member the stadium would be oversold every week, students take 8000 seats and then visiting seats are around 5000.

If 1/3 of the alumni in the altanta area bought two tickets, when combined with our non-alumni ticket holders, students, and away fans the stadium would be sold out every game.

Draw the conclusions u need to out of these numbers.

What they mean for me is an alumni base that is apathetic to sports.

Back when i worked the AA DRad told me he can only rely on about 21000 purchases a year which was something around 10000 households which were not nearly alumni dominated. Alot of non alumns.

Okay......55k.....total living alumni in the Atlanta area...... Ohio State has something like 500k living alumni and 285k living in the state U of Mich is about the same..so that is 5 time the alumni base and the have trouble with just having twice the attendance......so the "apathetic alumni support" doesn't hold.......A lot of Tech alumni do not care about football....or sports in general........and I do think that the AA has not been willing to make it easier for students to attend games nor get interested in football in the past (from what I have read....complaints etc.)......so there is a whole generation of lost potential. Combined that with the number that were turned off while students in the late '70s and early '80s. (I will admit it took me years to get interested in Tech sports after living through that.)
To be honest, I think expecting 1/3 of the alumni within an hour drive to buy two tickets is living in fantasy land.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I agree with animal. I'm probably more passionate about football than most. But with young kids growing up in my family there are many things tugging me away from the stadium on game days. Kids soccer right now primarily but other things as well. I imagine this is true for most and it factors. Combine these distractions / obligations on top of a fan less passionate.....equals less attendance. Now factor in the ability to watch it on TV or even on tape delay.....increases the issue.

 

[Animal02]

I agree with animal. I'm probably more passionate about football than most. But with young kids growing up in my family there are many things tugging me away from the stadium on game days. Kids soccer right now primarily but other things as well. I imagine this is true for most and it factors. Combine these distractions / obligations on top of a fan less passionate.....equals less attendance. Now factor in the ability to watch it on TV or even on tape delay.....increases the issue.

And not knowing when the damn game is going to be played until one week prior is just asinine. ESPN is really killing game attending fans.

 

[Treb1982]

And not knowing when the damn game is going to be played until one week prior is just asinine. ESPN is really killing game attending fans.

100% accurate. My dad and I shared season tickets the last several years . We got tired of all the noon games, 6 day options, and Thursday night games (I know this year it wasn't an issue) due to us having to drive from Augusta.

 

[awbuzz]

And not knowing when the damn game is going to be played until one week prior is just asinine. ESPN is really killing game attending fans.

I second, third and fourth this motion/comment.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I have very reasonable expectations that I will be moving far away from Atlanta next year and likely will never live here again. So chances to go see the Jackets play will become rarer and rarer. I don't take kindly to being labelled an apathetic fan or part of an apathetic fan base though. Coming on a site of people by definition anything but apathetic due to their constant discussing of GT and its teams to make lazy complaints about attendance as if doing so is constructive or warranted chaps my hide a bit.

Lexjacket had the sort of post that actually is constructive and not just lazy trolling on the issue of game attendance. My brother and I have both been able to get some other non-Tech fan people to attend some games. The experience can be a great form of entertainment so what Lex suggested is the way to go if you have a problem with number of tickets being sold and overall attendance at games.

 

[DCSS]

I hope the ones complaining about attendance are planning to be at the game this Saturday.

 

[LargeFO]

I can't justify paying that like a few others mentioned. Would love to be there but on a very tight budget right now.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Not gonna get there till halftime at best. My girl's soccer team made it to the championship game with a noon kickoff also. Hate missing Clemson kick but better than feeling like a lousy dad. Now I just need to find out who scheduled the time for that soccer kickoff so I can bring the pain. Probably a mutt fan.

 

[Russellm0704]

Tech did a tremendous job to nearly fill up the stadium with Tech fans at the Miami game. There were several promotions and ads everywhere. Why did they not do this again? Did they just expect the fans to come and pay the higher ticket price because it is Clemson? Having a sold out stadium for a nationally televised game helps our recruiting. Better recruiting puts a better product on the field. Better product should result in more wins over the big 4. More wins over big 4 results in an increase in attendance in the long term.
The players deserve a full stadium for this game. They have not been shy about telling us how much they appreciate it. And they have played their butts off to make for a promising season that was suppose to be another mediocre year. Is the price increase really worth this to Tech?

 

[Buzztheirazz]

I hope the ones complaining about attendance are planning to be at the game this Saturday.

+1

I have a ****ing wedding in south GA. Pissed.