How about that crowd at UVA!!

RedPete

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Visit Kansas City sometime when the Chiefs make the playoffs. They light up the whole city in red/yellow with logos in all the skyscrapers. That kind of support doesn't happen here in Atlanta for the Falcons, let alone for Georgia Tech.

What am I talking about? Atlanta doesn't embrace our "home teams" to begin with and Georgia Tech SHOULD be Atlanta's College Team. Instead the only GT fans you find are alumni.

In Columbia (or any other college town) EVERYone is a South Carolina fan. People in rural areas root for the state school too.

So before calling Tech fan support "pathetic" and comparing BDS to some State U Stadium that fills itself, why not face reality. I'd love to see Stansbury figure out a way to turn Georgia Tech into Atlanta's College Team, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
OldJacketFan

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GTRX7 said:
Maybe we are talking past each other and missing each other's points. While I agree Tech fans are not among the very best at showing up for attendance, I think they are fine and probably above average for a BCS program. For me, the problem Tech has in not filling its stadium is not one of its fans not showing up to support the team in good times and bad, but is instead that we simply do not have a lot of fans to begin with. That is a totally different issue. According to the Tech alumni association, Tech only has 61k living alumni in the entire state of Georgia (LINK). That affects not only our ability to fill a stadium, but also bears a direct relationship to the number of "sidewalk" fans we have. I think you will agree that most sidewalk fans become so by having a family relationship with a Tech grad. The less Tech grads we have in the state, the less sidewalk fans. So, for me, it isn't a problem of Tech fans not being good fans, it is more of a problem of there simply not being a lot of Tech fans.

Now, if you can point me to a list of other schools that are similarly sized to Tech that regularly outdraw Tech in attendance, particularly in big cities, I will be happy to reconsider my position. Fact is, I have a feeling we may actually have the best attendance of any similarly sized school in the country located in a big city. Given that, it is simply hard for me to be too mad at the passion of our fans. And my broader point is that it is simply ridiculous to compare Tech's crowd to the crowd that USCe draws. It is apples to oranges.

Now, if you want to complaint that our marketing department is bad and we need more sidewalk fans, that is another discussion and one that could be worth having. That said, I think it is a hard sell. Anyone that has ever gone to high school in metro Atlanta can attest to that. Even among college football fans, the ratio of Tech fans to fans of other SEC schools is like 1 to 10. And that is before college.
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I agree we are hitting similar issues, my original post re: USC was a fan base that supports a program faithfully no matter what kind of season they have and I wold kill to see that kind of passion at Tech. To me was too may Tech "fans" are fairweather and that drives me up the wall. No doubt the GTAA and marketing folks have done a lousy job in attracting new fans but even alumni spread out can support the team in tangible ways. I kept my season tickets when I was in Los Angeles for 9 years and at no time were my seats empty. I left my tickets with a local cousin and if he didn't use them he made sure they were! That is one way and a very small but important way non resident alumni can show their support!
 
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RedPete said:
Visit Kansas City sometime when the Chiefs make the playoffs. They light up the whole city in red/yellow with logos in all the skyscrapers. That kind of support doesn't happen here in Atlanta for the Falcons, let alone for Georgia Tech.

What am I talking about? Atlanta doesn't embrace our "home teams" to begin with and Georgia Tech SHOULD be Atlanta's College Team. Instead the only GT fans you find are alumni.

In Columbia (or any other college town) EVERYone is a South Carolina fan. People in rural areas root for the state school too.

So before calling Tech fan support "pathetic" and comparing BDS to some State U Stadium that fills itself, why not face reality. I'd love to see Stansbury figure out a way to turn Georgia Tech into Atlanta's College Team, but I'm not holding my breath.
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So what word would you use for not filling the stadium? Again 5.8 MM people vs 975K. You tell me why it can't be filled on a regular basis. Oh and BTW I am a SIDEWALK season ticket holder for 50 plus years so don't talk to me about the only Tech fans are alumni
 
RedPete

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OldJacketFan said:
So what word would you use for not filling the stadium? Again 5.8 MM people vs 975K. You tell me why it can't be filled on a regular basis. Oh and BTW I am a SIDEWALK season ticket holder for 50 plus years so don't talk to me about the only Tech fans are alumni
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Nice to meet you sir. Glad you're on board with the Ramblin Wreck!
Why can't we fill the stadium on a regular basis? Same reason 13.1MM Los Angeles can't fill USCw's stadium or sell-out their brand new NFL team's 27,000 seat ballpark I guess. The fan culture of a big city is fragmented by it's transplant nature probably.

(Oh and sorry I didn't realize I was arguing with you directly. That post was my take about the whole thread.)
 
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RedPete said:
Nice to meet you sir. Glad you're on board with the Ramblin Wreck!
Why can't we fill the stadium on a regular basis? Same reason 13.1MM Los Angeles can't fill USCw's stadium or sell-out their brand new NFL team's 27,000 seat ballpark I guess. The fan culture of a big city is fragmented by it's transplant nature probably.

(Oh and sorry I didn't realize I was arguing with you directly. That post was my take about the whole thread.)
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As you might has guessed I am a passionate fan :D When I sit down at BDS and see a crowd that is 25-30% opposing fans it tends to annoy me. I have griped for years about the lack of top flight marketing by Tech and it still annoys me. There is no greater sports value that a season ticket to Tech and it should be screamed from the high heavens! What other major sport can you purchase a season ticket at the rate Tech charges?
 
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I know this is going to piss off some but we did better before we built the north stands and only had 46,000 seats. The question is 46,000 and only 7500 visiting fans better than 55,000 and 17500 fans .
 
OldJacketFan

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stech81 said:
I know this is going to piss off some but we did better before we built the north stands and only had 46,000 seats. The question is 46,000 and only 7500 visiting fans better than 55,000 and 17500 fans .
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If they change the seating from bench to chair I don't think you'd have to physically downsize the stadium at all to get it into the 48-50K range. Looking at the average attendance figures that have been posted on here Tech would then be filling 90% or better of the stadium at those numbers
 
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OldJacketFan said:
If they change the seating from bench to chair I don't think you'd have to physically downsize the stadium at all to get it into the 48-50K range. Looking at the average attendance figures that have been posted on here Tech would then be filling 90% or better of the stadium at those numbers
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I agree to fill a 48,000 is better than having 55,000 and empty seats.
 
DCSS

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Is there a college football program located in a major metropolitan area that consistently fills their stadium? Maybe USCw?
 
Whiskey_Clear

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Dustman said:
The ESPN app has the attendance for the GT UVA game at 38,448 which confirms my belief that they use ticket sales rather than actual attendance. We had a thread on here several weeks ago claiming that our attendance isn't as bad as we think it is. I stick by my original claim that we sell a lot of tickets that don't get used except for big games. I expect a decent crowd this weekend, and I will be there as always supporting our team.
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I think you will be disappointed. Our attendance is closely related to our # of wins and inversely proportionate to any success experienced by mutt nation. Mix a great mutt season with 500 winning percentage and a large proportion of our proud alumni go into hibernation early, not to be seen again till next October...IF things are looking up again.
 
Whiskey_Clear

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GTRX7 said:
That is just silly.

Sports to go to in Columbia:
USCe football/basketball
The Columbia Fireflies (minor league 1-A baseball)

Sports to go to in Atlanta:
GT football/basketball
Braves
Falcons
Hawks
Atlanta United
Dream (WNBA)
Gwinnett Braves (minor league baseball)
Gladiators (minor league hockey)
Rhinos (minor league rugby)
Silverbacks (minor league soccer)

Also, Atlanta is a huge transplant city where most folks didn't grow up and came here with pre-existing sports allegiances. That is not the case with Columbia. Atlanta is also probably the biggest or second biggest alumni city for teams like UGA, Auburn, Clemson, Alabama, FSU, etc. That is also not the case with Columbia. Atlanta also has a huge host of higher-end concerts and entertainment options that probably don't exist in Columbia. The competition for non-alumni fans for entertainment dollars in Atlanta is simply in another stratosphere compared to USCe.

How many college teams in large metropolitan cities draw well? Not a ton of college teams in downtown NYC, Chicago, Philly, Washington, Boston, Detroit, etc. packing out 77k in college stadiums on a regular basis. A few, but not many. Look at the list of top 30 NCAA attendance. USCw, UCLA, and Miami may the the only 3 in big city markets, with all three drawing less than USCe. Miami averages almost 20k less, at around 58k.
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OldJacketFan said:
Boatload of excuses, a resident of Columbia can avail themselves of the exact same options with a 2 hour or so drive. 5.8 MM people and we can't fill a 55K stadium. Pure unadulterated garbage for a fan base that prides itself in its brand.
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Though you two are at odds in this debate...you are both correct.
 
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Whiskey_Clear said:
I think you will be disappointed. Our attendance is closely related to our # of wins and inversely proportionate to any success experienced by mutt nation. Mix a great mutt season with 500 winning percentage and a large proportion of our proud alumni go into hibernation early, not to be seen again till next October...IF things are looking up again.
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And that my friend is one of the most shameful truths I've seen posted in a while. Some of Tech fans need to go to Webster's and be reminded what the word FAN means!
 
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RedPete said:
Visit Kansas City sometime when the Chiefs make the playoffs. They light up the whole city in red/yellow with logos in all the skyscrapers. That kind of support doesn't happen here in Atlanta for the Falcons, let alone for Georgia Tech.

What am I talking about? Atlanta doesn't embrace our "home teams" to begin with and Georgia Tech SHOULD be Atlanta's College Team. Instead the only GT fans you find are alumni.

In Columbia (or any other college town) EVERYone is a South Carolina fan. People in rural areas root for the state school too.

So before calling Tech fan support "pathetic" and comparing BDS to some State U Stadium that fills itself, why not face reality. I'd love to see Stansbury figure out a way to turn Georgia Tech into Atlanta's College Team, but I'm not holding my breath.
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How about providing some ideas yourself if it's so easy. You realize the City of Atlanta is run by....not a single Tech alum. Most are likely mutt fans...what is the motivation of Atlanta city council to promote Tech? What's gonna motivate the mayor? Or the Governor? The solution isn't gonna be government.

Others have discussed the challenges of attracting metro Atlanta sidewalk fans. Love to hear your ideas tho.
 
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