Stansbury Already Doing Work

LibertyTurns

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Maybe we could do some things to get the students and alums there:
a. Provide some entertainment. Dang aren't there bands in Atlanta or nearby. Some bouncy houses for the youngsters. Place where the hoity toity can go to rub elbows, etc.
b. Students love cheap food. Setup a bunch of cheap eats in the north stands for example and don't make the lines 10 mikes long.
c. How about having some decent fan gear to buy?

Damn I could go on for longer but it's really not that hard. The game experience needs to be worth the time and money to go to those who are not ardent fans like us that will go no matter how bad you crap on us.
 

SolicitorJacket

Jolly Good Fellow
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McDonough, GA
Maybe we could do some things to get the students and alums there:
a. Provide some entertainment. Dang aren't there bands in Atlanta or nearby. Some bouncy houses for the youngsters. Place where the hoity toity can go to rub elbows, etc.
b. Students love cheap food. Setup a bunch of cheap eats in the north stands for example and don't make the lines 10 mikes long.
c. How about having some decent fan gear to buy?

I used to do the whole tailgating thing and may again in the future, but right now, I just try to be in my seat before the national anthem. What I am getting at is that I dont spend a lot of time pre-game.

However, I do remember them having a lot of what you mentioned in a and b with Wreckfest...at least bands, high end tailgate tents, inflatables and other kids stuff. Hasnt helped much.

Also they used to have a pretty big selection of gear for sale right on 3rd street before you head up the hill.
 

Oldgoldandwhite

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I always felt an empty seat was next to useless. Sell at a huge discount on game day unless they are reserved tickets. Then sell standing room tickets for non sellouts for a buck.
 

bigsands

Jolly Good Fellow
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169
I live out of state and don't make it to enough games to deserve a vote, but I would start by removing the benches and put in some real seats. Real longshot - investigate some creative ways to get some shade for the seating areas.
 

33jacket

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Screw it. Just put in stripper poles and make the upper north concourse cheetah 2.

Then. In another area cater to women

Then. In another have year round dragoncon get the dorks in.

**** it make the ****ing place an amusement park.

Because the on field product isnt enough so now we need sweedish sure grip suck machines at each seat?

Here is an idea. Take that money. Invest in the actual program and actual program improvements like team lounge. Locker room. Recruting staff. Bigger asst coach budgets for better asst coach hires.

And screw Stansbury World. Because no amount of food, umbrellas and alcohol makes up for the enjoyment of being a top 10 team and seasons like 2014

For me its comical. Break down our internal barriers get a better program consistently and seats fill up. Our issue is we have one good year every half decade
 

Vespidae

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I think if you go down this path it's a slippery slope before you're a joke. Why not put in hot tubs, free Cheetah girl massages, and a hair salon?

The problem with Tech's program is the lack of a serious booster program. A good booster program generates dollars, which fund investment, which improves facilities, which improves recruiting and coaching. We have to improve across the board all the time and the only way to do that is a broad program.

If this is where TStan is spending his time, I'm not impressed.
 

LibertyTurns

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I think if you go down this path it's a slippery slope before you're a joke. Why not put in hot tubs, free Cheetah girl massages, and a hair salon?

The problem with Tech's program is the lack of a serious booster program. A good booster program generates dollars, which fund investment, which improves facilities, which improves recruiting and coaching. We have to improve across the board all the time and the only way to do that is a broad program.

If this is where TStan is spending his time, I'm not impressed.
Only been a GT fan for 4 decades now so I don't have the tenure of some of you nor the football team ties. It's not the same environment as it was in the Dodd glory days where the stadium was packed & people flocked to The Flats to watch GT play. Today many have jobs that are not 9-5, 5 days a week. Heck, I now work nearly 7 days a week and getting to the games is a chore (only missed 2 home games the last 3 years). Kids sports have exploded & many are year round. Alternatives abound to the traditional sports of days gone by. TV has impacted attendance significantly because before it was either watch in person or listen on radio. We can hope to evolve into Bammer or find the GT way.

I believe GT is in the center of a great town yet leverages none of the advantages its surroundings. Music is just one I cited to bring in people to the event. Back in my day there used to be a ton of live bands at the fraternity houses on game day. I think it provides something to the gameday experience that's missing today.

GT possesses a superior research capability but uses none of it to its advantage. Our stadium and surrounding areas should have top notch technology. The best video boards, acoustics, etc. Our athletes should have the best analytics at their disposal, we should be a leader in equipment design, etc. Where else should companies like Nike, UA go to in order to get access to athletes & designers/scientists/engineers than the best techological institute in the world? Maybe it helps with winning- it certainly couldn't hurt bringing in top coaches and recruits.

Kids are a key element whether we like to think so or not. Make a kid a fan when they're young & they're more likely to be a fan when they're older. Those that just arrived on campus need to be lured to the games as they often come from areas other than GA. We need to market to them to make them lifelong fans instead of saying "they're nerds & are not into sports".

Yeah I wish GT could field Top 10 teams every year but I'd have to go back 50+ years for the last time we had back to back Top 10 teams?? It was before my time. We won the 1990 National Championship & I don't remember attendance being off the chart good either during the run up or the year after. Maybe I'm mistaken because I was gone a lot during those years.

Stansbury has a big challenge. He needs a comprehensive approach to righting the ship. There's major challenges on every front- big donor support, debt service, fanbase spread all over the world and coming from all over the world, tough academics, major athletic program reputations leaving a lot to be desired, facilities needing upgrades because we lag the top competition, understaffed staffs, etc. I hope he transforms our athletic departments and I hope he has the vision & ability to execute.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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It could be called The Swarm Lounge:cool:

Fify

I get @33jacket's reservations. They are legit here. There is also the other side of the coin. That most of us have completely given up on. Creating / enticing new sidewalk fans. Not an easy thing to do in Atlanta. So much competition for entertainment dollars. Will take a visionary and maybe some luck to pull off much on this front. Doesn't mean it's impossible.

Post game entertainment / activities / access could potentially be a draw for sidewalk fans. Create an area for fans to stay and socialize at post game to watch other games that follow while providing food and beer / booze. Or bands like others have said, or a combo. Anything along these lines would have to be profitable and still compete with surrounding entertainment. I know I'm not enough of a visionary to make it happen. But if Stansbury can? God bless.
 

stevo0718

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
86
They need to get more students in those seats....Which will increase interest down the road. Decreasing seats available to under 50k would be foolish. Removing the north stands that are only 20 years old would be just as foolish. Put visitors in the upper north.
I agree more students in the seats would be better. But it's really really hard to change people.

And what is the impetus for this change? Winning? I kind of doubt it will fully solve the problem. We don't have a culture of filling up stadiums because getting tickets is looked at as a given. Having tickets to a Georgia Tech football games isn't coveted.

When you can get tickets for $10-$15 how invested are you in going to games and getting into them?

Think about tickets to Braves games... even when the Braves were really good, you could get tickets for $10 walking up. Their stadium was too big and couldn't create any demand.

But! Except for 08-09 we haven't had back to back exciting & very successful seasons, so it's hard to say whether winning would solve the issue. 09 had an AVG attendance of 52k+ (Best in CPJ era) but guess what? We only had 5 home games that year... you know what that means, less supply.
 

Lawyer mark

Jolly Good Fellow
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Marietta
Need to bring back $99 season ticket. Sidewalk fans will buy and fill stands and buy concessions... really bone head to not have them when there is demand and seats will be empty. Season ticket price is not only consideration. You could give seats away and it would produce money from parking and concessions.
 

Vespidae

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I'm not sure getting more students in the stands is realistic. First, more Tech students are international and they don't go to games. Second, with more Georgia colleges starting engineering programs, we are reducing the pool even further.

Tech really has to own a pipeline, high school by high school ... and develop a brand that works in Georgia and especially Atlanta. That gets back to boosters.

I still like the idea of hosting a game in Savannah or so ... just to increase Tech's exposure in the state. We'll see. Lots to do ... but please, no cabanas.
 

Towaliga

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I am a sidewalk fan who now has 3 season tickets, and would fully support something being done with the upper north (where I sit). I know some people compare what has been proposed to installing stripper poles and cheap attractions, but I can tell you that the current situation up there reeks of something more appealing to dwag/Walmart fans. The food choice is peanuts (when they aren't sold out), popcorn (when they aren't sold out), pretzels (when they aren't sold out), hot dogs and hamburgers, soft drinks, and seasonal cold hot-chocolate. I know they use volunteers to man the concession stands, and they are trying their hardest, but there is a total lack of professional food and beverage service. For the last Clemson game, as soon as the first half ended, I went and got in the concession line (and my seat is about as close to the concession stand as you can get). There were maybe 10 people in line in front of me, and the service was so slow, I missed the first 3 minutes of the second half.

With regards to the $99 season ticket that Lawyer Mark mentioned, I agree. However, there needs to be some thought, consideration, and consistency to how it is implemented. Before I became a full season ticket holder, I purchased the mini-package they used to have for a few seasons, and for all but one game, my seats (they varied in location from game to game) were always in the middle of the other teams fans. There's nothing worse than sitting in the middle of a bunch of leg-humpers when they beat you. The one game where I was in the middle of Tech fans, I was on the west upper deck on the end last row in the stadium, and had to stand the whole game (which I didn't mind, but my wife did) because the fans wouldn't slide over. To make matters worse, the dwag fan that was sitting on the end of the row next to me was drunk and kept missing his spit cup and spit tobacco juice on my shoes about six times. To his credit, he apologized every time he did it.:vomit:

If Stansbury wanted to put together a think tank of volunteers of grads and sidewalk fans to brainstorm how to make the GT game day experience more enticing and enjoyable, I would volunteer in a heartbeat.
 
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Vespidae

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I happen to like watching a game at BDS. It's easy to get to, good views from most seats, and it's fast ... from 3rd Street to my seat in 5 min.

I think Tech made a mistake making all the improvements they did to the non rev sports. Football and basketball drive virtually all of the money. To keep the program working, you have to keep the machine humming.

I grant you that the concessions need improvement, but they are better than they were. There are legions of companies that could advise Tech on the latest experience. Just check out the new Mercedes stadium.

Whatever we do, it should be classy. I don't want Tech to go down the path of silly cars, free oil change day, and swimming pools at the stadium. Once we go the goofy route, it's hard to come back.

We'll see what TStan does ...
 

TechTravis

Ramblin' Wreck
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666
I say turn it into the casino from Back to the Future 2. Just pagan rituals and scantily clad women everywhere. Being "old school" gets you left behind. Butts in the seats by any means necessary...
 

MountainBuzzMan

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South Forsyth
We need to attract a new generation of fans. Us old farts need to accept the fact that the only thing consistent is change. The game day atmosphere needs to adapt as well to attract what the younger generation is interested in. For those who have been living under a rock the last 5-10 years, the area around the Biltmore has completely changed and is now packed with tech companies and their technical employees. We now have a lot of people who live within walking distance who happen to have a good bit of disposable income. A good percentage of these people are Tech grads. They are foodies who also enjoy the burgeoning Atlanta beer scene. Take advantage of this.

There are a bunch of Tech grads who run/own micro breweries. I say turn the whole upper north into low cost club section with at least 5 Tech related brewery booths and encourage the local food scene to to go nuts. Make it a local destination event for these people. What a great way to sample the local brews as well.

With our recruiting limitations, saying just win baby will solve all our issues while true, ignores the hard reality of Tech. Packing the stadium generates more revenue which allows us to spend more money on athletics. Tech has no choice but to change with the times or face a slow painful decline for football attendance.
 

LongforDodd

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AJC article this morning, Saturday, said TS is putting a former player, Jeff Keisler, in charge of focused fund raising and other stuff.
 

CuseJacket

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Here's the article
Sugiura: Former Stansbury teammate, colleague hired in fund-raising role
Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury has brought a former Yellow Jackets teammate and colleague to the athletic department, former Tech football player Jeff Keisler. As associate athletic director for annual giving and engagement in the Alexander-Tharpe Fund, Keisler will be responsible for expanding the athletic association’s donor base and developing ideas and procedures to create new revenue sources.

Also
Sugiura: Contract reveals high commitment between Stansbury, Tech
 

Vespidae

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Auburn, AL
Let's not forget reality. FBS attendance in general, is down. Of all P5 conferences, the ACC is last at 49,827 per game. Compared to the teams we play, Tech does pretty well.

The problem with filling the stadium is schedule. We don't play a lot of teams that have big draws in the area. Consistently play TN, Auburn, and Alabama ... and you'll see the stadium fill. But playing teams that don't draw a lot of fans themselves, it strains credibility that they will drive to Atlanta to watch a game. Even Clemson, which is only 2 hrs away, didn't fill out.

Free beer and stripper poles aren't going to fill a stadium. Playing opponents with a good draw, putting on a good product, and developing a local fan base of loyal alumni will.
 
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