Student section

RedPete

Ramblin' Wreck
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944
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Atlanta, GA
Yep - sounds alot like the late 80s/early 90s when I was there. We always packed the East side though. The attendance these days is dismal, not that I blame students.

The stadium capacity was a lot smaller in the 80s & 90s. I bet student sections hold 50-70% more now. Can anyone dig up hard numbers?


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Messages
13,443
Location
Augusta, GA
A pic from the 2015 GT vs ND game. The wedge in the corner that is partially full in this picture (fills up by game time) is where the students sit...and the band, I think.

c1658b38a78959df27e4fc12fb26d85c.jpg




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Yep. And that section goes all the way from the bend to the 50. Pretty good seats.
 
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13,443
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Augusta, GA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Dodd_Stadium

Looks like capacity was 46,000 when I was there and is now 55,000. I don't think it's why there are so many empty seats though.
I guess they destroyed the old south stands in the mid to late 80s, decreasing the capacity to 46K. It went up again when they built the new north stands and deck in the early 90s. But how has the capacity gone up since 2003? Have any changes been made since then?
 

boger2337

Helluva Engineer
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3,435
A pic from the 2015 GT vs ND game. The wedge in the corner that is partially full in this picture (fills up by game time) is where the students sit...and the band, I think.

c1658b38a78959df27e4fc12fb26d85c.jpg




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Haha I'm in there!!! About 45 yard line your side of the field, left side!!!! Nice!!!
 

gtg970g

Jolly Good Fellow
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327
Moving long-time STH out of the west stands is not necessary. We could have students take over all of the east side and the two east corners and make the end zones more club space. Overflow student seating for big games can be in the corners of upper east. This would make for a much better image on TV. Students can take the sun; my 3 & 6 y/o and the 80 year olds I sit near in LW cannot.
 

MikeJackets1967

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Lovely Ducktown,Tennessee
Moving long-time STH out of the west stands is not necessary. We could have students take over all of the east side and the two east corners and make the end zones more club space. Overflow student seating for big games can be in the corners of upper east. This would make for a much better image on TV. Students can take the sun; my 3 & 6 y/o and the 80 year olds I sit near in LW cannot.
I couldn't take that either with my very light skin i would sunburn in 45 minutes:rolleyes:
 

mstranahan

Helluva Engineer
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1,561
I seriously doubt the AD would move the highest paying STH from midfield to the end zone. Do that and you lose every club member. I don't know the Tech Fund numbers for every section, but I would guess that those 4 club sections make up at least 40% of ticket revenue for football.
 

Heisman's Ghost

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4,866
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Albany Georgia
EXCELLENT article. I particularly like the following ----

Del Conte and Martin have reconfigured the seating to give Texas students a contiguous bloc of seats with the Texas band blasting from the middle. They have made that student seating first-come, first-serve to get those students in the stadium and yelling. They have cut down on ads on the video boards and forbidden on-field, thanks-for-writing-that-big-check presentations if those presentations bring down the energy level in the stadium. The newcomers are trying to remind Texas fans that football games are supposed to be fun. And it just so happens that for the past two Saturdays, the team has given fans a reason to keep partying in the stands.

and this ---

Inside the stadium, the change in vibe begins in the student section. Texas controversially displaced some season-ticket holders to create a contiguous student section, but officials considered this a critical element. (Texas sought the advice of consultant Guido D’Elia, the man responsible for creating the gameday atmosphere at Penn State, which is home to one of the nation’s great student sections.)
Martin and Del Conte eliminated a lottery-based student ticketing system that gave students assigned seats in favor of a first-come, best-served approach. “It’s like the difference between having a flight on Southwest Airlines versus a flight on United,” Martin says, referencing the Lone Star State-based airline that famously does not assign seats. “If you’re flying Southwest, you’re going to get your butt to the airport early.”

This makes so much sense. Put the students ALL of them in the lower east with the band right smack dab in the middle of them. First come first serve with tickets covered by the student fees for each home game. Play all of the early home games at night. TV be damned. Get the concessions and parking straightened out. It is beyond ridiculous that the athletic department cannot figure these things out.
 

Heisman's Ghost

Helluva Engineer
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Albany Georgia
I seriously doubt the AD would move the highest paying STH from midfield to the end zone. Do that and you lose every club member. I don't know the Tech Fund numbers for every section, but I would guess that those 4 club sections make up at least 40% of ticket revenue for football.[/QUOTE
Screw em. Half of those seats are empty on game days anyway. Put them in the west stands with the alumni where they belong.
 

RedPete

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
944
Location
Atlanta, GA
I guess they destroyed the old south stands in the mid to late 80s, decreasing the capacity to 46K. It went up again when they built the new north stands and deck in the early 90s. But how has the capacity gone up since 2003? Have any changes been made since then?

The new north stands were NOT there in the 90s. I know because I was sitting at the base of the camera stand atop the old north stands the last time we beat georgia at home in 99. That’s me shaking the camera when the game winning kick goes through. 2003 was when they extended the lower east stands around in front of the south endzone and built the new north stands w/upper deck


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13,443
Location
Augusta, GA
The new north stands were NOT there in the 90s. I know because I was sitting at the base of the camera stand atop the old north stands the last time we beat georgia at home in 99. That’s me shaking the camera when the game winning kick goes through. 2003 was when they extended the lower east stands around in front of the south endzone and built the new north stands w/upper deck


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You are correct. The new north stands didn't come until 2003. I'm old and forget when things happened. LOL
 
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