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from Nashville? Do you get like 9mpg in your car/monster truck?
I have no issue with people who truly believe it's too expensive for their family but if ticket prices are this low then there's really nothing above free that could get you into Neyland. Complaining about the price is a bit ridiculous at that point.
However, there are enough UT fans within an hr drive that the stadium should be filled every week
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slobberknocker
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Etownvol
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Goliver24
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I agree that we should support our fans no matter who we play, however, I don't have the money to buy season tickets and make it to every game out of the year. I normally try to go to two or three games a year. And yes if I can find reasonable seats for a reasonable price i'm going to choose an SEC game over WKU or Ohio.
byobbio
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I am going to take what i think is a different spin on this. I don't think it's fulmer's fault. Although, we've seen the program dwindle in recent years. But, we were in the SEC championship two years ago and have a national championship in the past 11. So, it can't be lack of success. Maybe we're spoiled, i don't know. Maybe it's the big screen tv's at home.
I will say this, however. As a marketing consultant, i get to understand the psychology of the consumer. I also get to know what makes people spend money, participate, spread the word and more. In UT Football, there are so many rabid fans. There are also the ones that have the money. My conclusion is that the blue collar fan is being left out. I remember when Doug Dickey had all the seat numbers scratched off and made the seats more narrow. Coupled with the fact that you have no leg room (the stadium was originally built in the early 1900's), you now have 107,000 fans with fans still outside the gates wanting to get in. Even so, you had an experience. You also had somewhat of a sense of pride. You had people bragging that they sat through 105 temps or 32 temps to see the Vols along with 107, 000 other fans. You also have bragging rights. You can talk trash to anybody when there is 107,000 fans. You can tell Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, pretty much anybody that you have more fans. It is a sense of pride. It is a sense of a one-up on the competition regardless of what happens on the football field. You also have a team that is led by UT blood.
Remember, this is no knock against the current regime.
I remember 20 years ago when season tix used to cost $120 each. Then, in need of cash, they began to demand more money in the form of a "donation." Or a mandatory donation. Then, they put in beautiful skyboxes where corporations can spend their funny money on perks for clients (who are not rabid UT fans, by the way). You have air conditioning. You have alcohol. You have Tv's with replay's. You have women in their Sunday best. You have kids running around wreaking havoc. You are watching the game that is like 50 miles away down on earth through plexiglass where somebody might be able to crack a window so you can sort of get the gametime atmosphere. You have meals at halftime and ice cream in the second half. You have food, food and more hot food from a buffet. It's like #1 Great American Buffet at your beckoned calling.
Now, we have the new section of skyboxes. They are nicer. More plush. More Conference Center ambience. What more can you ask?
OK, there's more. You are going to have the Plaza Terrace, or something like that. My wife and i sat there during the WK game. It will have chair backed seating and free food and drinks (no alcohol). All for a "donation" of $6,000 or something like that. It is not enclosed, however.
Where am i going with this? Well, it's obvious to me that first, we are pampering our fans. No longer is the blue collar fan welcome on a season ticket basis. We are catering to the corporation types that can afford big bucks for a seat to give to clients. We are catering to people who are less rabid than they were when, say, Johnny was coach. We also have a non-UT blood coach who is doing a good job, IMO. fans are no longer braving the elements to see the game. They are sitting up in skyboxes where the experience is no longer anything more than what you would get at home.
Simply, I just think we have lost our customer base to TV. They are getting big money from TV revenue, but the experience is no longer. And now, we don't have the bragging rights either. Ohio State has more fans. Penn State has more fans. Michigan is off the charts. There are more to follow (alabama?).
It's just not the same UT anymore for me and probably for a lot of other fans. I mean, i still get gimpy on Saturdays and I am on this site more than i care to admit. But there is something that is just not right when we've discontinued letting the blue collar guy in and we've allowed corporate to take over.
When the corporate money runs out, what happens then? Well, you have empty seats and when you try to come back to the blue collar guy with a "limited amount of crappy seats" available, well, they know they can buy them on the street for $10.
Now, we have an undefeated Auburn team coming in and we are 2-2. We have a "limited amount of tix available". This is troubling. And it's not Fulmers' or Johnny's fault. I would put this on the athletic dept and NCAA for allowing the skyrocketing price of having a football team to get out of hand. Now, real fans can't come and watch. And thus, the experience is quite boring.
It's sad because I used to lose sleep in Friday nights. Now? I just get ready and go to the game. It's just not the same.
Recommendation: Mike Hamilton: Study NASCAR. They have some similar problems. And they've gone down similar paths.
BYOBBIO
I will say this, however. As a marketing consultant, i get to understand the psychology of the consumer. I also get to know what makes people spend money, participate, spread the word and more. In UT Football, there are so many rabid fans. There are also the ones that have the money. My conclusion is that the blue collar fan is being left out. I remember when Doug Dickey had all the seat numbers scratched off and made the seats more narrow. Coupled with the fact that you have no leg room (the stadium was originally built in the early 1900's), you now have 107,000 fans with fans still outside the gates wanting to get in. Even so, you had an experience. You also had somewhat of a sense of pride. You had people bragging that they sat through 105 temps or 32 temps to see the Vols along with 107, 000 other fans. You also have bragging rights. You can talk trash to anybody when there is 107,000 fans. You can tell Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, pretty much anybody that you have more fans. It is a sense of pride. It is a sense of a one-up on the competition regardless of what happens on the football field. You also have a team that is led by UT blood.
Remember, this is no knock against the current regime.
I remember 20 years ago when season tix used to cost $120 each. Then, in need of cash, they began to demand more money in the form of a "donation." Or a mandatory donation. Then, they put in beautiful skyboxes where corporations can spend their funny money on perks for clients (who are not rabid UT fans, by the way). You have air conditioning. You have alcohol. You have Tv's with replay's. You have women in their Sunday best. You have kids running around wreaking havoc. You are watching the game that is like 50 miles away down on earth through plexiglass where somebody might be able to crack a window so you can sort of get the gametime atmosphere. You have meals at halftime and ice cream in the second half. You have food, food and more hot food from a buffet. It's like #1 Great American Buffet at your beckoned calling.
Now, we have the new section of skyboxes. They are nicer. More plush. More Conference Center ambience. What more can you ask?
OK, there's more. You are going to have the Plaza Terrace, or something like that. My wife and i sat there during the WK game. It will have chair backed seating and free food and drinks (no alcohol). All for a "donation" of $6,000 or something like that. It is not enclosed, however.
Where am i going with this? Well, it's obvious to me that first, we are pampering our fans. No longer is the blue collar fan welcome on a season ticket basis. We are catering to the corporation types that can afford big bucks for a seat to give to clients. We are catering to people who are less rabid than they were when, say, Johnny was coach. We also have a non-UT blood coach who is doing a good job, IMO. fans are no longer braving the elements to see the game. They are sitting up in skyboxes where the experience is no longer anything more than what you would get at home.
Simply, I just think we have lost our customer base to TV. They are getting big money from TV revenue, but the experience is no longer. And now, we don't have the bragging rights either. Ohio State has more fans. Penn State has more fans. Michigan is off the charts. There are more to follow (alabama?).
It's just not the same UT anymore for me and probably for a lot of other fans. I mean, i still get gimpy on Saturdays and I am on this site more than i care to admit. But there is something that is just not right when we've discontinued letting the blue collar guy in and we've allowed corporate to take over.
When the corporate money runs out, what happens then? Well, you have empty seats and when you try to come back to the blue collar guy with a "limited amount of crappy seats" available, well, they know they can buy them on the street for $10.
Now, we have an undefeated Auburn team coming in and we are 2-2. We have a "limited amount of tix available". This is troubling. And it's not Fulmers' or Johnny's fault. I would put this on the athletic dept and NCAA for allowing the skyrocketing price of having a football team to get out of hand. Now, real fans can't come and watch. And thus, the experience is quite boring.
It's sad because I used to lose sleep in Friday nights. Now? I just get ready and go to the game. It's just not the same.
Recommendation: Mike Hamilton: Study NASCAR. They have some similar problems. And they've gone down similar paths.
BYOBBIO
1orangews6
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The economy has hit my household pretty hard for me and my wife. We have cut back on our spending big time. I normally go to several games a year but Ohio will probably be the only one I get to see this year. It was my son's (7) first UT game and I wanted him to experience a UT game at Neyland which was something I never got to do as a kid. The trip cost over $200 for the three of us for the tickets, food, and gas. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal but I don't see paying more for the other games when that money can be spent else where. I love my VOLS but I just can afford it at the moment.
MikeHamiltonFan
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I think there's a lot of good stuff there BYOBBIO. I too have a feeling that the ESPN/SEC tv deal has a lot to do with some of the decisions they are making. If you wipe out 6000 or so seats, multiply that times 8 home games and concessions...the money has to come from somewhere. Sure, they sell the additional skyboxes and get bigger donations. Not counting concessions or donations for those lost seats, at 50 bucks a ticket, that's nearly 2 and a half million bucks gone this year alone. The donations alone are probably double or triple that, maybe more. Figure in concessions, I have no clue, but it wouldn't be chump change. The bigger question is where do those displaced folks go? Hamilton knows, they'll watch at home. It won't surprise me to see stadium seats popping up in the coming years, a few sections at a time.Eventually, seeing capacity at 75,000 or so. All the while the price for a family of four skyrockets and more and more tailgaiting happens in driveways and backyards like mine. What are the worst seats, right under the Jumbotron? Make them 10 bucks a seat, call it Berryworld, I bet that section would be packed...this year.
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