What is the state of our fan base?

[stech81]

Point blank we are old.

 

[684Bee]

Point blank we are old.

I hope that younger fans will step up, but I’m not overly optimistic.

 

[billga99]

I think our alumni are largely apathetic towards sports. Thus the fraction that become fans is smaller than the average large state U. Been that way a long, long time. Of the fans, the past 5-7 years has been hard. CPJ struggled a bit his last couple of seasons and the next 4 were horrible, so that’s 6-7 seasons running. This year was better but so inconsistent that we gave back the goodwill we earned every other game. I’d say, though, we have hit our low point and should move up from here. If CBK can keep up the incremental improvements in recruiting and play, and if the staff stays together, we will probably push 40K again within a couple of years. That would be close to our modern average. Even in the later Dodd years 45-50K was the norm.

I have a female neighbor who is late 40s who is a GT engineer. She has told me she wish GT would give up sports and be more like MIT. That is beyond apathetic.

 

[Bogey]

I have a female neighbor who is late 40s who is a GT engineer. She has told me she wish GT would give up sports and be more like MIT. That is beyond apathetic.

Without knowing the context of yall's whole conversation, sounds to me like she was trying to piss you off.

 

[wesgt123]

Me personally I've been frustrated but the last 4 years were mostly because of that. Im pleased that we got to a bowl, that was my main goal for this season.

I have to remind myself to be patient. my off-season expectations were a little high in reality, but to be fair we blew a few games we could/should have won

Im not expecting a win this weekend but damnit I'll be watching and hoping for something crazy to happen. We have a chance and that's all we can ask for. TO HELL WITH GEORGIA

 

[cpf2001]

Go study what schools with engaged student fanbases do and start copying that. Expand the base. For every “they’re international, they’ll never care” excuse turn that into a “they didn’t grow up a UGA or Bama fan” opportunity. Stop feeding the “objective” “logical” “sports are a waste, just like everything else in life outside the library, be more like MIT” and start getting people to have fun and to want to have fun. Snobbery is just a lazy way for people to feel superior, get them to have more to their school identity and experience than smugness.

I think this year has some good steps in that direction - find things the kids are already into and use that to get people in the door - but you also have to stay serious about competing since you can’t convince people 3-9 every year is a fun diversion they should have as a hobby.

This is a twenty year project, not a two year one.

 

[wesgt123]

I was pleased with the turnout for attendance at the Cuse game. Way more filled up than I expected and I thought it was obvious from seeing the stands that this fan base was ready to go bowling

 

[okiemon]

I hope that younger fans will step up, but I’m not overly optimistic.

I am not optimistic about that, either. Kids today are the fourth generation to grow up with UGA being the state's football team and GT being the also-ran. Even though we've had some good seasons since, including the Natty in 1990, we Boomers are the last to remember the real glory days of Tech football.

 

[MonroeJacket]

This year Key arrested the slide in non-mutt game attendance at about 34k, basically level with last year. In total we've lost about 11k fans since the CPJ days or about 25% of our fanbase. It has cost us about $3.5M/yr just in revenue at the gate. Realistically we can probably recover 2-3k per year (5% growth) or reclaim about $1M/yr in seat sales unless we go on a massive winning streak which is unlikely but not impossible. Essentially we're looking at about a 4-5 year recovery just to get to where we used to be mostly dissatisfied at having a 80-90% full stadium. The other alternative is dropping or freezing ticket prices trying to hit a mix where revenue is up but prices are lower in order to get butts in the seats. That's what I'd do as you got a better chance once fans are here of gaining momentum than waiting for Key to rebuild the roster & staff as best he can.

Not a fan of Young Gravy, but it did get a thousand kids or so lined up on North Ave to watch him flop around like a baby giraffe. Getting students back to the games needs to be a high priority. Maybe they need to raffle off scholarships every quarter where you have to be there to win?

I think the block party spot needs to move to the lawn by Student Center and Library because the slice of North Ave is just a poor location. Maybe it's good for the ACC Network crew and gives a good tv backdrop, but as far as assembling a crowd it's lacking. I've long been a a fan of improving the gameday experience. I'd target food, music and tech exhibits. Batt got this much improvement, he just needs to keep working it.

I like the night games and hope we have a larger percentage of them particularly earlier in the season. Not sure what we can do about that other than win.

Redesigning the stadium with more seat backs and party decks will help. We'd lose max attendance, but how many 55k games are we likely to have anytime soon other than the mutts? ND will probably always be at the Benz.

I agree the NA location is a weird spot with tight quarters. I like Callaway better w/ yellow jacket alley. And yes, the green is a no brainer spot for a big stage and a big crowd with fan fair activities, BUT…

Correct me if I’m wrong…the block party locale is potentially a temporary spot? I thought the main two reasons they moved it there were GTAA renovations, which they haven’t even started yet? I think one of the main reason it’s on NA is it’s putting a party at Tech front and center for ATL to see and it’s more visible as opposed to being tucked in campus somewhere.

 

[GTJeff1975]

This is an interesting question. In the early 80's I had season tickets with my dear departed Dad. Attendance was bad, not sure the exact count in some games but I'm pretty sure it was below where we are at today. I used to get a little hung-up on attendance and be disappointed with our turn-out, today I feel as long as we create a home field advantage that's OK. We should never be compared to UGAG, that program has different priorities and their fan base cares little about what does or doesn't go on in the classroom. The comment in this thread about being afraid to identify with GT, especially with UGAGers is disgusting. I'm not only proud to be one of the few and represent my school, but there is nothing they can say that doesn't make me even prouder to be a GT guy.

Absolutely agree. Well said. Beyond disgusting. Why would any Tech alum care about fans from that 3rd tier college think?? I have a degree from one of the best, toughest engineering universities on planet Earth. When those clowns try to harrass me about how superior they are I don’t even entertain debating those ignorant Neanderthals. That whole barking crap they do to people is so crass I honestly feel embarrassed for them.

I was sitting at the airport in Chicago last night having a friendly discussion with a UGA fan about football (very respectful and had a very high opinion of Tech). Another guy heard us and said “ You like Tech?” I said yes sir proud alumnus. I bleed old gold and white. He starts “ I hate those bugs. I’m a gawja fan! “ I just politely shook my head.

We’re getting better and I’m proud of this team. Be proud Jackets.

 

[Bogey]

I generally have no problem with Georgia alumni. And also with UGA fans who also respect Tech for what we are. I play golf with a bunch of them and they never talk smack but do talk about the successes of their program amongst themselves, and rightfully so.

 

[jpw67]

I used to be against this idea, but I'm starting to think it might be a good thing. I believe Stanford did this a few years ago ... And if you watch other games, outside of the handful of big $$ programs, a lot of schools don't have the huge stadiums, TCU played for the NC last year, I think their stadium holds 40-45K.

Exactly. It's no longer about how many seats you can cram into a space. It's about the amenities and the overall game experience. You see this in MLB and with a lot of the new CFB stadiums.

 

[cpf2001]

Stanford’s new stadium is nice - no bad seats, and and concourses all around with open views to the field - but was also a full demo. I don’t want to go that far so stuff like connecting all the stands together probably isn’t practical, but wider seat backs everywhere would go a long way, I think.

And then if the grumpier fans in the stands have less to whine about, that helps too.

 

[GTJake]

Exactly. It's no longer about how many seats you can cram into a space. It's about the amenities and the overall game experience. You see this in MLB and with a lot of the new CFB stadiums.

Absolutely, we went to three home games this year, the night game at Bobby Dodd vs. UNC was awesome. There is probably room for improvement but home games on campus by far surpass Mercedes-Benz !

 

[CEB]

I generally have no problem with Georgia alumni. And also with UGA fans who also respect Tech for what we are. I play golf with a bunch of them and they never talk smack but do talk about the successes of their program amongst themselves, and rightfully so.

I mostly agree with this, but I welcome the smack talk and crap they spew.
I have several friends and neighbors who are Dwags and I get crap from them all the time. The day the crap stops is the day we’ve become truly irrelevant.
Take it, laugh at it, give it back.

 

[bke1984]

I have a female neighbor who is late 40s who is a GT engineer. She has told me she wish GT would give up sports and be more like MIT. That is beyond apathetic.

Tell her to do us a favor and move to Massachusetts.

 

[bke1984]

I generally have no problem with Georgia alumni. And also with UGA fans who also respect Tech for what we are. I play golf with a bunch of them and they never talk smack but do talk about the successes of their program amongst themselves, and rightfully so.

You need to meet a few more of them

 

[Bogey]

You need to meet a few more of them

I try to stay away from their circles as much as I can.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

Here’s the average home attendance figures nationally:

https://collegefootballnews.com/rankings/college-football-attendance-rankings-2023-five-year-program-analysis

Call me an optimist, but being 51st in attendance during a five year period that included four straight losing seasons and arguably the worst three year stretch in our history is honestly better than I would expect just reading this thread.

 

[Southern psu fan]

I curious what we think our fan base is looking like these days, and what the potential is. I was really hoping to see us put 40k in Bobby Dodd last night, but honestly it wasn’t even close. I believe it was 32k.

The crowd was still solid and energy was high so this isn’t meant as a negative post. I’m just curious if people think we will return to 45k+ crowds if we continue to progress from here, or if our fan base has genuinely dissipated through the last 5-7 years

Losing is brutal on putting fans in the seats. If Brent Key keeps up the good work the fans will jump through hoops to come to the games. Winning solves 99.999999% of your problems. Just win!