Ticket Sales Down

#176
#176
Boca Vol said:
With so many of them, there's only so much hype to go around. I like the different match-ups but I'd still rather have home and home games.
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I'm with you on this. For me at least, an NFL stadium in a neutral city just doesn't come close to the unique atmosphere that each campus has. I actually really enjoy going to away games to see other game day experiences since every fan of every school thinks theirs is the best. No interest at all in going to an NFL stadium.
 
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#177
#177
blitz said:
Well, I don't want attendance to decline, but it has worked out well for me. I was able to upgrade my season tickets. I got closer to the field and closer to the 50 yard line. I was in QQ row 26, which were good seats for the money, but now I'm in FF row four. I'm pretty excited about it! Did anyone else change sections?
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I moved from FF Row 15 to AA row 3. Mostly because I had a guy in front of me standing the whole game.

I consider being low in the upper deck desirable, and AA,BB,EE, and FF have the lowest donation amount. I got in the stadium this summer and did a recon on the view.
I realized one reason I might go further back. The back row of the upper deck is such that you can stand the whole game without bugging anyone. You can lean up against the expensive seats.
I'll attach a picture of that row so you can see what I mean. I might consider moving there.
 

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#178
#178
ptcarter said:
I moved from FF Row 15 to AA row 3. Mostly because I had a guy in front of me standing the whole game.

I consider being low in the upper deck desirable, and AA,BB,EE, and FF have the lowest donation amount. I got in the stadium this summer and did a recon on the view.
I realized one reason I might go further back. The back row of the upper deck is such that you can stand the whole game without bugging anyone. You can lean up against the expensive seats.
I'll attach a picture of that row so you can see what I mean. I might consider moving there.
Click to expand...

This is where I am now (FF row 21), and I will never give them up as long as I can afford them. I had to sell this yr due to my work schedule. By chance, I sat there for Utah St in 2014 and immediately upgraded to season tickets. I love being able to stand and lean against the club level.
 
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#179
#179
There are many layers of Vol fans, as in any huge program. The outer layers of fans have lost that loving feeling. The program no longer garners the respect it used to. The hiring of Butch Jones was very important and the administration whiffed it. Losses to Vanderbilt did not help matters. This coach will need to prove something before the program is restored. Brick by brick is out the window.
 
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#180
#180
blitz said:
Well, I don't want attendance to decline, but it has worked out well for me. I was able to upgrade my season tickets. I got closer to the field and closer to the 50 yard line. I was in QQ row 26, which were good seats for the money, but now I'm in FF row four. I'm pretty excited about it! Did anyone else change sections?
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We moved from AA to BB. We are slowly making our way toward the 50. The seats in AA were good. But they were the entry way for the two rows behind and in front of us for some people.
 
#181
#181
Cost is the issue. For someone going to a single game a year, it’s a mini-vacation for the family. For season ticket holders the stadium food is prohibitive and not everyone that comes to the game tailgates. I used to make 3-4 games a year and by the time I traveled, ate on the strip, got to the stadium and bought a couple of dogs, peanuts, and a refillable coke we were talking $200 to $300. Too much for the infield product.
 
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#182
#182
I think the coaching search put many fans in wait and see mode. After the last couple coaches were mediocre, had little to no business getting the UT job hires and received unconditional support their first years. Fans sat back and all had a list of 4-6 coaches we should’ve and could’ve gotten, gruden not included, and the AD tried backdooring a coach with a questionable history and barely mediocre record on us. Then we all sat and watched as every top candidate was taken by others and we still ended up with coordinator that wasn’t on anyone’s list and probably wasn’t even on their second or third ti r lists either.
Not saying we didn’t get a good coach but at the end of the day we’ve watched our rivals go out and get the coaches they wanted while our school intentionally ignored the good coaches for the budget hire. Now fans are finally saying enough is enough and showing the school that their money isn’t coming unconditionally anymore. They either put out a product worth that money or the school can find other ways to support itself.

I know personally I have zero interest in paying the amount of money needed to attend a game just to watch us struggle cause the school has ran the football program into the ground with its last 2 hires. Even if Pruitt is the next Saban, it’ll take a few years to get the program back on track and until then I’m not paying out the rear to either watch us get hammered by our rivals or us beat up on dervy junior college.
 
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#185
#185
Starting each season with no hope of being better than mediocre (even that's a stretch) is what drove me away from donating/attending. There's nothing "lovable" about losing consistently. Sorry, Cubs fans. Alabama-level success would be worth it at almost any price, but for me it's either home team or do something more enriching with my time.
 
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#187
#187
Working on our 4th coach in a decade. One of the worst decades in Vol history. Terrible leadership from the higher ups. It's probably a combination of all those things. We won't know much about Pruitt's chances of success here in year 1 other than how he runs his program and how the team competes. That's what this year is going to be. A bonus would be going to a bowl game, not going to be easy to do that. They just let it erode to point were people aren't letting go of their money on false hope anymore. A lot of fans are just sick of stinking and would rather not put out that kind of money for a mediocre to bad product. Can't blame them, fix the product and things usually go better. Blind loyalty can sometimes be a bad thing, in the Vols case it's most certainly been the case. They would have fixed this crap long ago had the stands been half full most of the year. They only understood the bottom line.
 
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#188
#188
Poor product. High cost. We have to donate more than the cost of the tickets just to get to buy the tickets. Then the TV time outs drive the game on for everrrrrrrr. And they play day games early in the season and night games late in the season. Either fry or freeze. Now they are messing up parking spots. This might be our last year, after 45 years of donating, purchasing, and attending....even when they were getting their butts whipped. I never thought I would say that, but at some point you just get tired of the Big Orange Screw. UT is not what UT was, not just football but whole administration. Maybe Dean Davis can have a positive impact before he retires. If anyone can, it is he.
 
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#189
#189
All of the above are correct on slow ticket sales. The University has to realize fans want an experience too. Not a bad one, a good one. So how do they get there? Maybe retrofit the stadium with actual seats, not bleachers. Yes, you lose some seats, but I'm no longer willing to pay what I was paying for season tickets on the lower end and just live with being sandwiched between people where we all have to sit at an angle to fit in. I want some space. I don't want to feel like I've been physically violated every time I walk out of that stadium. There's nothing fun about it. I know I'm not alone in that sentiment. Keep adding, updating concourses as "Plaza" areas with big screens, lounge areas much like pro stadiums are doing and keep improving food options. The increase in commercial construction on the strip as well as construction on campus has decimated many former parking spots/tailgate areas. UT versus other SEC schools just doesn't have sufficient, well designed space for tailgating. It's just another item in the long list of grievances that are keeping fans away. Not sure how you fix that, but certainly needs to be addressed.
 
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#190
#190
As pretty much everyone else has said, the standard home viewing experience is light years better than it was just a few years ago. You can get a brand new 1080P 60" TV for just $200-$300 now if you shop appropriately. Plus you are within the comfort of your own home and I know a lot of people prefer that. I live in Northern Virginia and the drive itself is nearly 8 hours so it's tough to make it back to Neyland for more than 1 game a year.

Also, I'm sure a lot of people prefer watching at home to avoid undesirable drunkards. I had a friend come with me to a game one time only to act blackout the whole game and make a fool of himself in my family's season tickets. I'm sure a lot of people try to avoid that. I've avoided going back to my family seats for a few years now to avoid being lectured by the seniors that sit there lol.

I also believe it has to do with the fact that our OOC schedule is horrendous as well. It's long past time for the SEC to move to a 9-game conference schedule and to get rid of the cupcake games. Make it mandatory for every member. Tickets are way too expensive to be having 3 games a year at home against the Sisters of the Poor. The neutral site game doesn't help either. Enough with that. Go back to a home and home series with premier programs and put a quality product on the field. We only get 12-regular season games a year. There is no excuse for 3 of them to be typically against FCS opponents.
 
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#191
#191
More disgruntled fans than I expected. Really wish the University would take note and attempt to correct a few things.
 
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#192
#192
MY fear is a death-spiral. It goes like this : bad football , that is not even competitive football equals poor attendance , then the abysmal managers become upset and make another moronic hire ( after becoming the laughing stock of the power 5 schools) bad recruiting -( ( who wants to go to a loser school not named Vandy ) begets another ratchet down year. etc. Rinse, comb and repeat until you can shoot cannons off in the stands, during a game and hurt no one. That will be a real problem. The last 3 ADS before Phil have destroyed a handsome football tradition that took > 100 years to create in one decade. They should be in jail.
 
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#193
#193
I believe there are 3 main factors. Forget the bathrooms, the concessions, the hard metal “seat”...

The 3 biggest issues, I think, are the kickoff times, the schedule, and the product on the field.

I think a few folks almost died in 2016 at that Florida game. That was the absolute hottest game I’ve ever attended. Neyland wasn’t what it should’ve been considering we had just beaten Florida for the first time in 12 years. Everyone in the stands was ready to go home. It was miserable, even though we won. On the flip side of that, why is every game in November a night game?! I’ve frozen my arse off every Mizzou game.

Speaking of schedule, these neutral site, wannabe bowl games are bull$hi+. The last Saturday season opener at home I can recall was Utah State, and it was ELECTRIC in Neyland. For UTAH STATE. You wait 8 long months for football season. You don’t want to start it off with a damn bowl game. You want to play that inside the walls of Neyland. It really sets the tone for the entire season. Don’t believe it? Just take a look back at the years we didn’t play our first game at home. See if you notice anything.

And the biggest factor, you gotta win some big games. That Florida game in 16 was the only real meaningful victory in that stadium in almost a decade. Bama doesn’t have a problem selling tickets. Wonder why?
 
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#195
#195
Is this a joke? I'll give you 8 reasons why they're down and maybe 8-10 more years why they're down. Did we forget the Schiano fiasco so quickly? Just bc Currie and some others are gone does not mean that plenty of people still on staff tried to hire him and/or approved the hire. I'm happy with Pruitt, but I was happy with Butch and Dooley when they were hired also. People have finally learned this time around. Pruitt could be great but could be awful, we will see. We're not going to put up with mediocre hires anymore and support it. Pruitt was a decent hire but he was not the white whale we were hoping for. Butch Jones would still be here if he won one more game also. Until the administration proves they care about football, why should anyone spend their money to show they care.
 
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#196
#196
I hope,everyone realizes it's the same argument. TV has taken over because of poor product and higher prices. When the product improves the prices won't matter and the stadium will be full again. If the TV wasn't readily available, the stadium would be full now. One simply makes the other choice easier.
 
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#197
#197
UT is offering season tickets in GG-QQ for $350 each to all games as a promotion to teachers. Not sure if being shared with other groups as a member benefits feature.
 
#199
#199
VolAllen said:
I believe there are 3 main factors. Forget the bathrooms, the concessions, the hard metal “seat”...

The 3 biggest issues, I think, are the kickoff times, the schedule, and the product on the field.

I think a few folks almost died in 2016 at that Florida game. That was the absolute hottest game I’ve ever attended. Neyland wasn’t what it should’ve been considering we had just beaten Florida for the first time in 12 years. Everyone in the stands was ready to go home. It was miserable, even though we won. On the flip side of that, why is every game in November a night game?! I’ve frozen my arse off every Mizzou game.

Speaking of schedule, these neutral site, wannabe bowl games are bull$hi+. The last Saturday season opener at home I can recall was Utah State, and it was ELECTRIC in Neyland. For UTAH STATE. You wait 8 long months for football season. You don’t want to start it off with a damn bowl game. You want to play that inside the walls of Neyland. It really sets the tone for the entire season. Don’t believe it? Just take a look back at the years we didn’t play our first game at home. See if you notice anything.

And the biggest factor, you gotta win some big games. That Florida game in 16 was the only real meaningful victory in that stadium in almost a decade. Bama doesn’t have a problem selling tickets. Wonder why?
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Starting out on the road ruined the 98 season.
 
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