We got to get fans in the stands!!!

[CheCha54]

Don't worry....Kennesaw St fans smell blood in the water and will fill our stands expecting a big win.

I hope they are overconfident.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I get the point. But players sign on the dotted line knowing the deal. And if they don’t then that’s on them and their lack of preparedness when choosing a school. And if the number of fans affects their play then that is also on them. Right now GT’s football reputation is summed up in one word “soft”. If a player lets the fans impact them negatively then they are even softer than their play has been. I just think too many players believe toughness is defined by standing over someone after a tackle or tossing legs as they get up from a pile. That‘s all just street ball BS. Toughness is what the Citadel had and did. Toughness is what NIU did when down a TD. Toughness is helping an opposing player up from the ground so you can knock h8m down again on the next play. GT is fake tough and that’s the worst kind.

 

[Adadu]

Not gonna happen with the direction the program is heading on the field.

 

[AUFC]

I will be attending more games this year because of alcohol sales. I had 2 beers pre-game around campus and then nursed 3 beers at my seats over the next 3 hours. Far better than the past experience of having 4 or 5 beers pre-game and then sobering up and feeling sleepy throughout the first half.

Now if Coach Collins would let the band play rather than blaring music over the PA every down, it might feel like a college football game again.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Problem what about people like me who paid full price for their tickets Tech going going to slap them in the face . Great way to do to the few season ticket holders we have watch next season and season ticket holders will drop again . Not much you can do with the worse team in the ACC ( maybe worse than Duke we will see) 4 more years of CGC and we will need to play division 2 football.

Give them partial refunds. Give them priority on reseating in the now cheaper prime seats. How much is actually made in ticket sales vs. tv and ACC contract and other revenue streams? I say pack the house even if we break even cause we are losing a lot more than money with a ghost town on game day.

 

[stech81]

Give them partial refunds. Give them priority on reseating in the now cheaper prime seats. How much is actually made in ticket sales vs. tv and ACC contract and other revenue streams? I say pack the house even if we break even cause we are losing a lot more than money with a ghost town on game day.

OK

 

[billga99]

Wins will help. But the reality is major college programs fill their stadiums with less than stellar products. 2019 Nebraska 89,348, South Carolina 77,962, etc. It comes down to a combo of alumni and fans on the street who should be fans in the stands. Our alumni as a percent of interest in sports is less than most of the Power 5 schools. In terms of sidewalk fans, we are far, far behind Georgia. That trend has been going on for years. People want to point to the Dodd era, but at that time there were no Falcons, Southern Schools were not (or very minorly) integrated, and GT and Georgia were comparable in terms of records.

The biggest place to grow is sidewalk fans. But until we have an exciting brand of football and win more consistently, it will be a big struggle. That takes money and the NIL impact will make that even harder. The best teams pay their head coaches AND coordinators good money. Our coordinators are 212th and 257th on list of assistant coaches pay (obviously more than just coordinators). Collins is 48th. All these stats are from 2020. TS is really hamstrung to make a big difference without far more money to spend.

But in terms of this topic, cheap or free tickets might help. It would also help to sponsor high schools, youth programs, military, etc. to attend which is both goodwill and maybe make some new fans.

 

[wrmathis]

I sometimes feel I’m the only side-walk fan in Albany, GA. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if I went to GT when I’m wearing my gear. Almost always, it‘s a GT grad asking that works at P&G. When I see UGa gear, I always assume they never went there.

I promise you arent the only side walk fan in albany. My dad lives just north of the county line in Lee Co and hes always been a Tech fan

 

[DavidStandingBear]

Nebraska had sold out 375 consecutive games before this week and needed donors to buy up many remaining tickets late in the week to keep the sell out streak alive. They aren't immune to apathy in their fan base.

From Nebraska: you’re right and we are getting apathetic, but we have only 1 major team in the state. Not even Scott frost can win here now. By the way we don’t have the high school talent to run his offense, so gave to target TX, GA, FL, ... with little to offer

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I

Give them partial refunds. Give them priority on reseating in the now cheaper prime seats. How much is actually made in ticket sales vs. tv and ACC contract and other revenue streams? I say pack the house even if we break even cause we are losing a lot more than money with a ghost town on game day.

I remember reading economic analysis over 30 years ago that showed that the solution for empty seats at sporting events was to lower prices and create cheap seats. Smarter people than I have shown time and again that this would work. The only draw back is that some people like the idea of high price tickets because it shows how elite they are and how special the event is.

I have friends who support uga and they complain how the ticket prices go up, that you have to pay more just to keep seats your family has had for three generations or get moved to nosebleed, and that the parking places they used to have are now reserved for RV owners who pledge $100,000 or more to the athletic department.

And then they turn around and make fun of Tech’s bargain basement ticket prices because it shows we are not elite.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

"We are as much to blame as the coaches are." Nope. They bought it, and now they have broken it. This is all on the players and the coaches.

Yep, I’m now looking for a gt football data base to do some analytics. but Since I was a freshman there in 1970 I would guess that we are aggregate break even at best. Neither a good product nor source of pride.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

It’s a fine and fair comparison. Return to normalcy, heightened expectations, 7:30 kickoff. there’s literally no excuse for the terrible attendance other then our fans just didn’t show up, period.

I was t a marketing major, but maybe if sales are low then prices are too high? And sell enough beer to net out ahead? E.g., 55,000 beer drinkers

 

[DavidStandingBear]

After watching a lot of games over the weekend and especially the FSU game tonight. That place was rocking and they showed out in droves and the players responded to it and gave them a will to fight . I personally feel like if we had that kind of atmosphere the players would play a whole lot harder and wound care a whole lot more Bc they bust they *** all year long and the first game they play in is 26 thousand empty seats stadium at night in prime time that got to be like a slap in they face and drain the life out them to the point to why should they care if the fans don’t care. We are as much to blame as the coaches and players are!!!!

The players probably like Collins’ schtik, but I find it very annoying. I also wonder how many alums still live in Atlanta?

 

[DavidStandingBear]

I

I remember reading economic analysis over 30 years ago that showed that the solution for empty seats at sporting events was to lower prices and create cheap seats. Smarter people than I have shown time and again that this would work. The only draw back is that some people like the idea of high price tickets because it shows how elite they are and how special the event is.

I have friends who support uga and they complain how the ticket prices go up, that you have to pay more just to keep seats your family has had for three generations or get moved to nosebleed, and that the parking places they used to have are now reserved for RV owners who pledge $100,000 or more to the athletic department.

And then they turn around and make fun of Tech’s bargain basement ticket prices because it shows we are not elite.

Yes sorry I missed your comment before I posted the same basic idea afterwards

 

[Buzztheirazz]

Maybe we should focus on making money off of concerts or something where people will definitely be in the seats. Use the value of our downtown real estate.

 

[jeffgt14]

It's not a complex formula. Win and be competitive and you'll fill the stands. Quit comparing with the likes of Nebraska and South Carolina, etc. Those are the minorities. Generally, if you only win 25% of your games you only see about 60% attendance.

 

[bobongo]

It's not a complex formula. Win and be competitive and you'll fill the stands. Quit comparing with the likes of Nebraska and South Carolina, etc. Those are the minorities. Generally, if you only win 25% of your games you only see about 60% attendance.

Winning? That's old school. The only things that matter are branding and better concessions. Louder piped-in music. Louder PA system. Beer gardens. Sky boxes. Armchair seats with cupholders. Activities for the kids. Circus atmosphere. You get the picture.

 

[candrewk]

I'm a block leader in the student section (basically oversees my Greek org's seats), and have no idea how I'm going to get people to a noon KSU game next week. We have to keep good attendance to stay on the front row, and I'm terrified I'm going to be the reason we lose our good seats.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I promise you arent the only side walk fan in albany. My dad lives just north of the county line in Lee Co and hes always been a Tech fan

Ditto. I live in Dougherty and my very small Presbyterian church has produced not one, not two, but three cum laude graduates of Georgia Tech who had the added benefit of having me as their Sunday school teacher...ahem. I have two friends that I play tennis with who are Tech graduates and manage to go to a couple of games a year as well They are out there, even in a dwag infested swamp like Albany.

 

[Vespidae]

Attendance? You can forget it. I read all of the NCAA studies on attendance and it's declining everywhere. It is particularly a problem for urban schools with a limited alumni density within 5 miles of campus. (Sound like Tech?) It will not matter if Tech wins the ACC or not ... attendance is NOT going to recover given the ten different options people have to watch games today (streaming, cable, phone, bar, etc.)

The fact is, ESPN and other broadcasters don't care what the attendance is. It's programming content. Period. We (schools) traded game day experience for money. Lots of money.

We should reconfigure BDS for a 40,000 seat experience. And that's being generous. I love BDS but ... compared to modern stadium design, it is woefully out of date. Keep the site, but ... we need a modern stadium. I'm very impressed with some of the smaller programs and their new facilities.