Spring Practice

[SolicitorJacket]

Why we are not giving away, or giving deep discounts, to youth groups to fill seats that would go empty anyway is beyond me.

This suggestion comes up a lot when attendance is discussed and I always have the same question....who are these youth groups? While it sounds great in theory, I am not sure it works. We give away hundreds of tickets to kids on Band Day, yet I am not sure I ever met a die hard season ticket holding sidewalk fan whose Tech fanaticism was born on Band day.

Youth groups are led by adults who have to worry about scheduling, transporting, feeding and maintaining safety for a group of kids. Do they see free Tech vs Alcorn St tickets as incentive enough to undertake that job?

Additionally a lot of "youth groups" these days are sports teams who almost always seem to have Saturday games/events that preclude their parents from making it to games.

While I support the sentiment, hoping to build your fanbase through freebies to youth groups seems like one of those knee jerk ideas that sound good initially, but rarely pay off.

If someone has a concrete idea how to do this effecticely, I would completely support.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

Since I crapped on the idea, I need to make my own suggestion. The way to make it work would be to make it special. Instead of just free tickets....make a big deal. T shirts, lunch from the varsity, a tour of the edge museum, meet a player or coach, make a big deal with their picture on the jumbotron. Things that make memories.

Recruit these kids like you recruit an athlete. If you don't hook them emotionally some way, you will never make fans out of them.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

This suggestion comes up a lot when attendance is discussed and I always have the same question....who are these youth groups? While it sounds great in theory, I am not sure it works. We give away hundreds of tickets to kids on Band Day, yet I am not sure I ever met a die hard season ticket holding sidewalk fan whose Tech fanaticism was born on Band day.

Youth groups are led by adults who have to worry about scheduling, transporting, feeding and maintaining safety for a group of kids. Do they see free Tech vs Alcorn St tickets as incentive enough to undertake that job?

Additionally a lot of "youth groups" these days are sports teams who almost always seem to have Saturday games/events that preclude their parents from making it to games.

While I support the sentiment, hoping to build your fanbase through freebies to youth groups seems like one of those knee jerk ideas that sound good initially, but rarely pay off.

If someone has a concrete idea how to do this effecticely, I would completely support.

I don't have a detailed plan, but I but bet another program somewhere in the country has already done it or something similar. It wouldn't be hard for someone in our AA to do a little research. Why reinvent the wheel?

I am an adult scout leader in my son's boyscout troop. I'd jump at the chance to go to a free or cheap game and bring my scouts. There's one example right there. There are many more. School groups, church groups, boys and girls clubs of America, Big Brother and Big Sister. It doesn't even have to be youth, either. We need to build interest and excitement locally. We are in Atlanta, but we far from being Atlanta's team. And what's worse is it seems the powers that be are totally fine with it.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

People who complain about our spring game attendance need to keep that in mind.

Oh, and thanks for the quote in my sig.

I agree with Flee. Tech needs to Advertise/Market and make it a thing so it is one of the things to do in Atlanta.

 

[CTJacket]

Since I crapped on the idea, I need to make my own suggestion. The way to make it work would be to make it special. Instead of just free tickets....make a big deal. T shirts, lunch from the varsity, a tour of the edge museum, meet a player or coach, make a big deal with their picture on the jumbotron. Things that make memories.

Recruit these kids like you recruit an athlete. If you don't hook them emotionally some way, you will never make fans out of them.

I would think this is the way to do it. It doesn't even need to be a starting player, a redshirt will work and make an impression. They'll have a new favorite player (or players) and it'll create a connection.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

TStan needs to look to his own origin story for inspiration. Young Canadian with absolutely no ties to State of Georgia, Tech or American football meets some Tech players on Spring Break and gets hooked. It totally altered his course in life professionally and personally. We don't even have to go that far....just develop fans who want to come to a game several times a year.

 

[TromboneJacket]

This suggestion comes up a lot when attendance is discussed and I always have the same question....who are these youth groups? While it sounds great in theory, I am not sure it works. We give away hundreds of tickets to kids on Band Day, yet I am not sure I ever met a die hard season ticket holding sidewalk fan whose Tech fanaticism was born on Band day.

Youth groups are led by adults who have to worry about scheduling, transporting, feeding and maintaining safety for a group of kids. Do they see free Tech vs Alcorn St tickets as incentive enough to undertake that job?

Additionally a lot of "youth groups" these days are sports teams who almost always seem to have Saturday games/events that preclude their parents from making it to games.

While I support the sentiment, hoping to build your fanbase through freebies to youth groups seems like one of those knee jerk ideas that sound good initially, but rarely pay off.

If someone has a concrete idea how to do this effecticely, I would completely support.

To be fair, most of the kids at Band Day (which was always the most dreaded day for Tech band members) are already in high school. If they watch college football, they already have a team at that point. Fandom tends to either start young or once someone is already in college. If we want to cultivate lifelong fans, elementary and middle school kids are the age range we need to target, not high schoolers.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

If we want to cultivate lifelong fans, elementary and middle school kids are the age range we need to target, not high schoolers.

Agreed. However in order for that to be successful, the team has to perform well enough to be in the national discussion. Younger kids are especially subject to peer pressure and the ones we would be targeting are already surrounded by little dwags who will NEVER waiver in their obnoxious fandom. They will leave the Clemson, Tennessee and Auburn fans alone, but will feed our guys a steady diet of "Tech Sux". Even kids from strong Tech families have crumbled underneath that.

 

[Jim Prather]

Not necessarily. I am the only Tech fan in an entire (large) family of UGA fans. I attended a Tech game when I was young, loved the team and the fans, and have been a fan ever since. (And this was in the 70s and 80s - so not exactly the heyday of Tech football. ) Sometime, it is as simple as getting to them when they are young.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Agreed. However in order for that to be successful, the team has to perform well enough to be in the national discussion. Younger kids are especially subject to peer pressure and the ones we would be targeting are already surrounded by little dwags who will NEVER waiver in their obnoxious fandom. They will leave the Clemson, Tennessee and Auburn fans alone, but will feed our guys a steady diet of "Tech Sux". Even kids from strong Tech families have crumbled underneath that.

The current pastor at my church (only a part-time pastor, but with a full-time approach) is a Tech grad, as is his wife. Both got out in the late 80s. They have two sons, and for some ungodly (haha) reason, the youngest of their two sons wears a mutt cap to church. Fortunately, it's a silver one, and not a red one, but I still cringe every time I see it. I have told both him and his parents how they all need to throw that cap in the dumpster. But the kid is an example of how young minds can be led astray by heresy and follow the evil that is inherent in Athens.

 

[CTJacket]

The current pastor at my church (only a part-time pastor, but with a full-time approach) is a Tech grad, as is his wife. Both got out in the late 80s. They have two sons, and for some ungodly (haha) reason, the youngest of their two sons wears a mutt cap to church. Fortunately, it's a silver one, and not a red one, but I still cringe every time I see it. I have told both him and his parents how they all need to throw that cap in the dumpster. But the kid is an example of how young minds can be led astray by heresy and follow the evil that is inherent in Athens.

It's posts like this that need not a Like button but an I understand and dislike this too button.

 

[tmhunter52]

Since I crapped on the idea, I need to make my own suggestion. The way to make it work would be to make it special. Instead of just free tickets....make a big deal. T shirts, lunch from the varsity, a tour of the edge museum, meet a player or coach, make a big deal with their picture on the jumbotron. Things that make memories.

Recruit these kids like you recruit an athlete. If you don't hook them emotionally some way, you will never make fans out of them.

I have always thought that it’s far better to give away tickets to kids to fill the stands than it is to have empty seats at our games. Some of those kids will come back with their families and pay for their seats. I suspect game day walk-up sales are pretty predictable, so it shouldn’t be tough to figure out the projected empty seats and, therefore, the free group tickets to disburse.

 

[flea77]

Going to a GT game is super easy. Tickets are not expensive. Atlanta is used to much more traffic than there is on a Sat. The seats are awesome. No Road between the stands. The stands are really close to the field. The Band and cheerleaders / gold rush are fantastic. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than in the NE. The GT fans are not drunk *******s. So it should be easy w any effort to fill this stadium.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

Going to a GT game is super easy. Tickets are not expensive. Atlanta is used to much more traffic than there is on a Sat. The seats are awesome. No Road between the stands. The stands are really close to the field. The Band and cheerleaders / gold rush are fantastic. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than in the NE. The GT fans are not drunk *******s. So it should be easy w any effort to fill this stadium.

And yet....

 

[65Jacket]

The media second class citizen act toward GT does not help.

 

[65Jacket]

I have always thought that it’s far better to give away tickets to kids to fill the stands than it is to have empty seats at our games. Some of those kids will come back with their families and pay for their seats. I suspect game day walk-up sales are pretty predictable, so it shouldn’t be tough to figure out the projected empty seats and, therefore, the free group tickets to disburse.

It's an idea that sounds good,but it has never been very successful. It's a huge problem to get thousand of children to the game, and where to put the vehicles that bring them. Couple that with the fact that most youth sports programs are run by Dwag fans.

 

[jacketup]

Most of our alumni live out of state. Why don't we partner with an airline to offer discounted season airline tickets? Saturday tends to be a discounted travel day anyway. The rule would be travel Saturday morning and before noon on Sunday. Minimum of 4 games per year and paid in advance, with reservations confirmed at least 21 days in advance. Seems like a win-win.

I had a buddy (RIP) with a ton of frequent flyer miles. Fly nonstop into Atlanta, then MARTA in and out of downtown. So easy. Less stressful than driving in from Chattanooga or Savannah or maybe even Marietta.

 

[ATL1]

This suggestion comes up a lot when attendance is discussed and I always have the same question....who are these youth groups? While it sounds great in theory, I am not sure it works. We give away hundreds of tickets to kids on Band Day, yet I am not sure I ever met a die hard season ticket holding sidewalk fan whose Tech fanaticism was born on Band day.

Youth groups are led by adults who have to worry about scheduling, transporting, feeding and maintaining safety for a group of kids. Do they see free Tech vs Alcorn St tickets as incentive enough to undertake that job?

Additionally a lot of "youth groups" these days are sports teams who almost always seem to have Saturday games/events that preclude their parents from making it to games.

While I support the sentiment, hoping to build your fanbase through freebies to youth groups seems like one of those knee jerk ideas that sound good initially, but rarely pay off.

If someone has a concrete idea how to do this effecticely, I would completely support.

Not really. Provide the tickets the kids will come.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

The minor league baseball team in Jacksonville has Scout Night every year. Free tickets to the game and then they get to camp on the field after the game and watch usually the sandlot on the Jumbotron. We could easily adapt this model, but we just don’t have people thinking outside the box.

 

[iceeater1969]

The minor league baseball team in Jacksonville has Scout Night every year. Free tickets to the game and then they get to camp on the field after the game and watch usually the sandlot on the Jumbotron. We could easily adapt this model, but we just don’t have people thinking outside the box.

That is a great idea!