TBA Student Seating

#51
#51
dickens821 said:
The reason we can afford coaches, etc.... is from the 105,000 that show up to Neyland 7 times a year. Not to mention the money we get from the BCS every year. The 5,000 real attendance in basketball we had during Buzzball didn't.
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May have been low "real attendance" during those years, but they were still making their donations and purchasing the tickets, whether they attended the game or not.

Not to mention these Students tuition is absurdly more than what you're paying for your season tickets. The University is here for STUDENTS.
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Fine. Try having sucessful athletics on student tuition alone. Ask Vandy how it worked for them just collecting their stipen each year. I was born and raised a Vol fan, lived in K-town all my life, graduated from UT in '98, so I hear what you're saying about the University/students/tuition etc... what I'm saying is that it's ludacris to discount for 1 second the impact a loyal fanbase willing to open their wallets makes on an athletic department.
 
#52
#52
dickens821 said:
The reason we can afford coaches, etc.... is from the 105,000 that show up to Neyland 7 times a year. Not to mention the money we get from the BCS every year.
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By the way... this is all because for the most part, we're competing for an SEC Champ, or good bowl year in and year out. Think that'd be possible without the loyal donors?
 
#53
#53
Vercingetorix said:
I agree completely with your students-first, university-first stance, but the sad, real-world truth is that the UT athletic department is basically run as though it's an independent business that subcontracts out to the school and licenses the use of its trademarks. When Mike Hamilton looks at the student section, he sees comp tickets that his company has to give away for free.
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The kicker to me is that the UT athletic dept. doesn't even really rely on or expect all that big of revenues off of the basketball teams. I'm currently majoring in Sport Management here and we had a speaking from the athletic office come in and talk to us and he was saying that we make like 80+% of our money from football (I can't remember the exact number). So I mean obviously all the new attention to basketball is helping the income with the ticket sales but we normally aren't even relying on them hardly at all.

I don't understand the logic behind not giving the students the best seating. Even if they just gave us the lower level on one side that would still leave a whole separate side they could sell.

Last time I checked the people participating in the game are students and these are COLLEGE basketball games...why aren't all the students given good seats, or at least seats where they can see the court!
 
#55
#55
RockyTop572 said:
The kicker to me is that the UT athletic dept. doesn't even really rely on or expect all that big of revenues off of the basketball teams. I'm currently majoring in Sport Management here and we had a speaking from the athletic office come in and talk to us and he was saying that we make like 80+% of our money from football (I can't remember the exact number). So I mean obviously all the new attention to basketball is helping the income with the ticket sales but we normally aren't even relying on them hardly at all.

I don't understand the logic behind not giving the students the best seating. Even if they just gave us the lower level on one side that would still leave a whole separate side they could sell.

Last time I checked the people participating in the game are students and these are COLLEGE basketball games...why aren't all the students given good seats, or at least seats where they can see the court!
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The problem is that the people in those lower-level, courtisde whom you'd like to displace are not mere ticket-buying fans; they're the donors on whom the UTAD depends. They have season tickets to the football games and make donations for that, too. Hamilton's not going to alienate those donors so that people getting free tickets can see better.

I don't disagree with you -- I'd love it if the students were all lined up on the lower level right across from the cameras. But it's not going to happen anytime soon, and leaving 1400 unused tickets to a big conference game like UF certainly doesn't help.
 
#56
#56
Courtside seats are never going to happen. What I'd propose is something like this:

tbaseatingmap07tj6.jpg


Red seats for each game, blue seats added for the big games.
 
#57
#57
That is exactly what I believe should happen. I tried explaining that earlier but an added visual is always nice :good!:
 
#59
#59
The ones I know about are some or most of the seats in sections of the upper deck corners, such as 327. The back 2/3's of the section can't see the court. Also, parts of the corners in sections have trouble seeing when you are so high that the central jumbotron obsructs a good chunk of the court.
 
#60
#60
Students show up and cheer very loudly, I dunno what everyone's problem is, I was THERE tonight in the MIDDLE of it and know what was going on...

It's like half this board has some bias against the students, who make up the University... without UT and its students, Knoxville would just be another small town on the Tennessee River, don't forget that.

Why take away students seats when you can't fill them with general admissions anyway? Seriously..

And as far as noise is concerned, compare some of the schools you all mentioned earlier- Duke isn't afraid to put their students on the sidelines, their gym is also very small compared to TBA; Kentucky also dosen't cram its students into the nosebleed and expect great results like UT AD and many on this board do... sure there are better atmospheres out there, but we students are trying to make it the best we can..

What's really sad is when the band plays Rocky Top and ONLY the students sing along, I think we should take away everyone else's seats until they learn to sing along! :rolleyes:
 
#61
#61
Vercingetorix said:
The problem is that the people in those lower-level, courtisde whom you'd like to displace are not mere ticket-buying fans; they're the donors on whom the UTAD depends. They have season tickets to the football games and make donations for that, too. Hamilton's not going to alienate those donors so that people getting free tickets can see better.

I don't disagree with you -- I'd love it if the students were all lined up on the lower level right across from the cameras. But it's not going to happen anytime soon, and leaving 1400 unused tickets to a big conference game like UF certainly doesn't help.
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Ok well first off of those 1400 unused tickets most of those are "obstructed view" tickets. It's bad enough to sit up top but especially when you can't even see the court...

Second that's great that there are so many donors, I'm not suggesting striping the entire lower level from them by any means, what I'm suggesting is what a lot of schools already do and if I'm not mistaken they all have a good number of donors as well.

I wasn't aware that our tickets were free...students pay a fee every semester for tickets in addition to tuition (which is very high and expected to greatly increase again). You making it sound like I'm asking for a hand out is unfair. I want the boosters to be happy and have good seats just as much as you, but I also want to maintain an environment that encourages students to come and support THEIR team. I don't feel like what I'm suggesting is a stretch from league standards by any means.
 
#62
#62
I, for one, would love to see some student seating on the sidelines or AT LEAST on both ends of the court. People who claim that the rest of the arena is normally very quiet are speaking only the truth.
 
#63
#63
RockyTop572 said:
Ok well first off of those 1400 unused tickets most of those are "obstructed view" tickets. It's bad enough to sit up top but especially when you can't even see the court...

Second that's great that there are so many donors, I'm not suggesting striping the entire lower level from them by any means, what I'm suggesting is what a lot of schools already do and if I'm not mistaken they all have a good number of donors as well.

I wasn't aware that our tickets were free...students pay a fee every semester for tickets in addition to tuition (which is very high and expected to greatly increase again). You making it sound like I'm asking for a handout is unfair. I want the boosters to be happy and have good seats just as much as you, but I also want to maintain an environment that encourages students to come and support THEIR team. I don't feel like what I'm suggesting is a stretch from league standards by any means.
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I'm not saying that it's right that students have the crappy seats, or that I'm in favor of it; I'm just saying that that's how it's going to be, given the businesslike way the athletic department works. I paid four years of exorbitant activities fees myself, so I know how it is. The students are the reason there's a university in the first place, and yet they always get the shaft. That's the way it was when I was there, too; it'll probably never change. We were complaining about how bad the students' seats were when I was a student a decade and a half ago.

My only beef with the students is this: if you had told me when I was trudging out of the arena after yet another miserable Wade Houston performance back in 1992 that one day we'd have an exciting Top 5 team, a legitimate shot at going to the Final Four, etc. etc.....and that yet our students would still leave 1400 tickets unclaimed for a big conference matchup against the two-team defending national champions, I wouldn't have believed it. Regardless of how bad the seats are.
 
#64
#64
kiddiedoc said:
I, for one, would love to see some student seating on the sidelines or AT LEAST on both ends of the court. People who claim that the rest of the arena is normally very quiet are speaking only the truth.
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Hate to admit it, but what florida does for home games is great for creating a loud & hostile environment... students all along the lower level sidelines. I'm with you, wish we would do that too.
 
#65
#65
Why not fill the first 3 to 6 rows with students around the entire floor and let the donors take the rest of the lower levels. the donors do alot of hand sitting. It drives me nuts. Proportionally how many students attend each game compared to capactiy.

I can remember camping out for my tickets for days.
 
#66
#66
Sudden Impact said:
Why not fill the first 3 to 6 rows with students around the entire floor and let the donors take the rest of the lower levels. the donors do alot of hand sitting. It drives me nuts. Proportionally how many students attend each game compared to capactiy.

I can remember camping out for my tickets for days.
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I can remember having a whole row to myself and using the seat bottoms in front of me for foot rests! The Kevin O'Neal era wasn't the finest time to attend Tennessee b-ball games....

But we were pretty dang good in football back then.
 
#67
#67
General Jack said:
I can remember having a whole row to myself and using the seat bottoms in front of me for foot rests! The Kevin O'Neal era wasn't the finest time to attend Tennessee b-ball games....

But we were pretty dang good in football back then.
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I was there for the ernie and bernie show. that was when you could have a whole section at the football game to yourself.
 
#69
#69
Vercingetorix said:
My only beef with the students is this: if you had told me when I was trudging out of the arena after yet another miserable Wade Houston performance back in 1992 that one day we'd have an exciting Top 5 team, a legitimate shot at going to the Final Four, etc. etc.....and that yet our students would still leave 1400 tickets unclaimed for a big conference matchup against the two-team defending national champions, I wouldn't have believed it. Regardless of how bad the seats are.
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I understand your beef...I have the same beef with people who tell me they aren't sure if they can make it to games. But I urge you to be slow to judge the student support though. A lot of people have classes until 5pm or later and can't get to the games hours before the doors open to go in and stake out seats. I have had friends multiple times this season get out of class and ASSUME that all the student seats will be gone by the time they get there. Granted they are to blame as well and they should actually go check it out, but if they already had a ticket, that wouldn't be happening. My criticism wasn't just of the seating location but ticket system as a whole. There are a lot of people who think its not worth waiting outside for hours only to end up in the upper deck. I honestly think that if people had a guaranteed seat and knew it was at least a decent seat (not obstructed view), every student seat would be filled. The remaining student tickets that aren't claimed can be sold.

And I know you can empathize with the situation, my rebuttal wasn't necessarily just for you, I was defending my ideas vs. yours (which I commonly hear). Just because something is how it's always been doesn't mean it's right. And I know that you know that but you can either just gripe or try to push for change. I try to choose the latter.
 
#71
#71
I totally agree that the students need to be on both sides of the court behind the baskets. This will make the arena louder due to noise coming from both sides of the court.

I personally don't like to see any seats left unused in the student section, but I can't blame any of the students who don't want to sit at the very top corner to watch the game on a screen. Personally I have never been higher than 4 rows back, but I have gone and waited hours to get these seats for some bigger games. This is tough and I do think there should be a better way for dedicated students like me to get good seats without having to wait for countless hours in the freezing cold during winter.
 
#72
#72
I would also like to say that I am expecting the two remaining games of the season to be packed out. It honestly does help when the games are on the weekends.
 
#73
#73
This really doesnt have much to do with a lot of whats being talked about right now but..

My girlfriend has a friend who attends UT. I would consider her to be somewhat social and outgoing. She has gone to plenty of football games and usually goes to the big basketball games ie UK, UF.

But the other night, we called her and told her we had arrived for the Arkansas game - and what she said made me sick to my stomach. She replied "Oh, we have a game tonight?"

So I think maybe the lack of students attending the games has something to do with UT being a football school. People aren't ready for us to become a basketball school. And you know, basketball doesnt "do it" for a lot of people.
 
#74
#74
K-town Vol Fan said:
This really doesnt have much to do with a lot of whats being talked about right now but..

My girlfriend has a friend who attends UT. I would consider her to be somewhat social and outgoing. She has gone to plenty of football games and usually goes to the big basketball games ie UK, UF.

But the other night, we called her and told her we had arrived for the Arkansas game - and what she said made me sick to my stomach. She replied "Oh, we have a game tonight?"

So I think maybe the lack of students attending the games has something to do with UT being a football school. People aren't ready for us to become a basketball school. And you know, basketball doesnt "do it" for a lot of people.
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Very true. I've heard this too even though I'm in denial. It's pretty much only girls that I hear this from though. I don't really want to ever admit that something like that could be an issue...
 
#75
#75
I do think the advertising for games has dropped this year. There just doesn't seem to be as much hype as the past couple Pearl years.
 
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