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Changes coming to high-end tailgating on Alabama's quad
Posted on 6/30/17 at 6:35 pm
Posted on 6/30/17 at 6:35 pm
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I love my alma mater, but I am saddened by the ever growing corporate greed the University exhibits during sporting events. The University is all about higher education and is a state sponsored school, right?
quote:
Unlike the densely-packed hodgepodge tapestry of the Grove at Ole Miss, this is the model of uniformity as required by the University of Alabama. It's also a big business -- for both the school and the private company that choreographs the whole thing every week. These prime tailgating spots aren't first come, first served like elsewhere in the football mad SEC. Schools like Alabama bid out the rights to this select real estate between the Denny Chimes and Gorgas Library. The Tailgate Guys, an Auburn-based companythat's expanded to a dozen schools, now has the contract. It bought Tuscaloosa's Game Day Tents after last season and got the exclusive rights to Alabama's Quad and Presidential Park, a small plot behind fraternity houses a block from Bryant-Denny Stadium. With it, prices have changed for the 2017 season. Gone are the basic packages that fans like Billy Stewart's group used for years. Instead, the high-end offerings with taller price tags replaced the $1,000 season-long package Stewart shared with friends. He estimated a comparable setup with as many as nine tents would cost somewhere approaching $30,000 for the 2017 season.
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The tent-only, bare bones package was losing money, Duffey said. Approximately 30 percent of their customers used that option last year. Of that group, Duffey estimated half have renewed for this season. The least expensive season-long package on the quad now costs $2,450 before the extras like food and drink.
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After amendments were made for 2017, the Tailgate Guys pay a total of $76,000 per game for the right to sell the packages. That adds up to $532,000 a season to break even just on the land. The university also gets 30 percent of the Tailgate Guys sales over $1 million
quote:
A package for $7,355 includes a bigger 20x20 tent, three tables, 15 chairs and two coolers with ice. The $15,015 option gets the 20x20 tent, six tables, 20 chairs, the coolers and a 47-inch HD television. The Presidential Park packages range from $7,560 to $10,280 with similar offerings. These prices do not include food or drinks.
I love my alma mater, but I am saddened by the ever growing corporate greed the University exhibits during sporting events. The University is all about higher education and is a state sponsored school, right?
3
Posted on 6/30/17 at 8:17 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
love my alma mater, but I am saddened by the ever growing corporate greed the University exhibits during sporting events. The University is all about higher education and is a state sponsored school, right?
On the other hand, these things wouldn't exist if there wasn't a demand for it.
But yeah, sucks for the people who aren't filthy rich.
Posted on 6/30/17 at 8:33 pm to 3down10
anything for a buck. Pricing Joe Sixpack out of the market.
Posted on 6/30/17 at 8:36 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
The University is all about higher education and is a state sponsored school, right?
Little of UA's budget comes from state appropriations.
You may not like it, but it cost well in excess of a billion dollars to build up the campus. That has to be paid for.
Posted on 6/30/17 at 8:43 pm to Evolved Simian
Then give back to the average fan who MADE Alabama what they are. I get it. Everything costs money. But every once in a while, throw the rank and file guys a bone. Just a little appreciation, you know?
Posted on 6/30/17 at 10:16 pm to 3down10
quote:
On the other hand, these things wouldn't exist if there wasn't a demand for it.
But yeah, sucks for the people who aren't filthy rich.
the "demand" for these are area companies. Individuals really can't afford these. Companies can bring clients (so taxes can be written off) or employees for "team building" exercises and a "work- life balance" exercise.
Forget the ol guys from the fraternity or friends from the old neighborhood getting together for some nice drinks and good ol fun. Now, you have to hang out with your boss and coworkers and if you're lucky, you can sip a couple of beers using corporate logoed coozies.
Posted on 7/1/17 at 12:36 am to East Coast Band
quote:
the "demand" for these are area companies. Individuals really can't afford these. Companies can bring clients (so taxes can be written off) or employees for "team building" exercises and a "work- life balance" exercise. Forget the ol guys from the fraternity or friends from the old neighborhood getting together for some nice drinks and good ol fun. Now, you have to hang out with your boss and coworkers and if you're lucky, you can sip a couple of beers using corporate logoed coozies.
Sickening
Posted on 7/1/17 at 9:57 pm to uofarolltide
You can still set up your own tent on the quad or anywhere else on campus. It's not like they have stopped allowing people to do their own thing.
And, my family got the cheapest tent for the season. Brother, sister, parents and another couple split 5 ways. We'd rather pay $500 a piece to not worry about setting up and taking down and security than doing it all on our own. I know a bunch of groups of friends and families that do this together for the season and split up games or all use it together. When you have 10 people splitting one tent it's really not that expensive.
So, in conclusion, I don't really have a problem with it as long as most of campus is still wide open for anyone and everyone.
And, my family got the cheapest tent for the season. Brother, sister, parents and another couple split 5 ways. We'd rather pay $500 a piece to not worry about setting up and taking down and security than doing it all on our own. I know a bunch of groups of friends and families that do this together for the season and split up games or all use it together. When you have 10 people splitting one tent it's really not that expensive.
So, in conclusion, I don't really have a problem with it as long as most of campus is still wide open for anyone and everyone.
This post was edited on 7/1/17 at 9:59 pm
Posted on 7/2/17 at 12:22 am to Evolved Simian
quote:
You may not like it, but it cost well in excess of a billion dollars to build up the campus. That has to be paid for.
UA has money to blow. They certainly don't need this to cover their nonstop projects.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:26 am to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
So, in conclusion, I don't really have a problem with it as long as most of campus is still wide open for anyone and everyone.
I can assure you that if there is enough demand / money to be made the University will do what it can to make the money. And if they can sell out the entire quad to people who'll give them $$$'s, they most certainly will. The locations they have taken are already the best spots on the quad.
Posted on 7/10/17 at 1:03 pm to East Coast Band
That is sad. Back in the early 90's I could get a free parking spot behind Lloyd Hall, load my cooler, a couple of chairs and a table on a luggage dolly and haul it over to the Quad and have a nice morning of tailgating before games. Oh, well. Nice while it lasted...
Posted on 7/10/17 at 3:44 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
You can still set up your own tent on the quad or anywhere else on campus. It's not like they have stopped allowing people to do their own thing.
No, but they've made it increasingly more difficult. Not everyone gets to town on Friday to set their tents up on the open areas on the Quad. Not everyone wants to pay another few hundred for a season parking pass. Not everyone wants to deal with lugging a bunch of crap from the Soccer fields, then lugging it back. Not everyone that that doesn't want to do this can afford these tent set ups, or know enough people to pool their money to afford it.
I got the hint a long time ago the University, particularly the atheltic department, only cared about my wallet. I stopped supporting them financially as much as possible. I get that it takes money to have successful teams on the field in every sport, but I just don't care enough to open my wallet up to them every time I turn around.
I also get a lot of the parking/traffic changes had to be done with the expanded stadium. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Besides, I think they over expanded the stadium to begin with.
Sorry for my rant. I've gotten so jaded at my alma mater.
Posted on 7/10/17 at 4:06 pm to The Spleen
Yea, I mean I understand and agree with a lot of that, but at some point I got to the point that I enjoyed games and trips back to campus too much to dwell on all of it. It is what it is. And, like I said a few posts up, while it isn't cheap, a group of 6-8 can rent a tent and a parking space at the Ferg for $200 a person for the season. I would rather pay $0 but $200 to have things set up and only have to drag in the mobile dish and TV for 7 Saturdays is an acceptable deal for me.
Does it suck for others who can't afford $200 or don't have a group of 10 to share it with? Sure. Does it still piss me off that everything I do there, including the tickets I buy and every additional thing I get/get solicited by the Athletic Department to get, costs money? 100% it is does. But I have kids now that love going to campus, my own seats and I love going to campus. My parents come, I see college friends and it's a full day of good times. So, I just kind of decided to stop getting pissed about all of the stuff around it and do it if I could and if it became too much figure something else out or don't do it at all.
Oh well - we will suck again soon and the herd with be culled.
Does it suck for others who can't afford $200 or don't have a group of 10 to share it with? Sure. Does it still piss me off that everything I do there, including the tickets I buy and every additional thing I get/get solicited by the Athletic Department to get, costs money? 100% it is does. But I have kids now that love going to campus, my own seats and I love going to campus. My parents come, I see college friends and it's a full day of good times. So, I just kind of decided to stop getting pissed about all of the stuff around it and do it if I could and if it became too much figure something else out or don't do it at all.
Oh well - we will suck again soon and the herd with be culled.
This post was edited on 7/10/17 at 4:09 pm
Posted on 7/10/17 at 4:36 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to make their own decisions. I just get a little peeved when people downplay that drastic changes that have been made to the Alabama football fan experience. And I totally get the reasons for a lot of those changes, success on the field being the main one. So it is a double edged sword. I'm lucky enough that I can afford it if I wanted to. I know many that aren't that fortunate.
Posted on 7/10/17 at 4:54 pm to The Spleen
quote:
I just get a little peeved when people downplay that drastic changes that have been made to the Alabama football fan experience.
Yea - I agree. It has changed a lot since the mid 1990s - from adding the decks to playing big games in Tuscaloosa to the Saban era. Everything has changed, from the campus to the student body to the more corporate nature of things, etc.
I agree with a lot of your irritations, too. All of them, really.
Posted on 7/10/17 at 9:22 pm to SummerOfGeorge
The whole aura surrounding it is what sickens me. Look, there's always been a business aspect to it and at Alabama, that's always been pretty huge. Football pays the bills. I get that. If you have half a brain, you get that. But in the olden days, it felt like (and maybe this is just nostalgia or gilding the lily) there was still a down home family feel to it. That we were all there to support our Crimson Tide and the University was appreciative of that and they were kind of the accomodating host. I remember when I first joined Tide Pride, I got a meal served to me on game day by University staff. And no, the food wasn't great, but it was the thought behind it. I was contributing to Alabama and they appreciated it enough to feed me and make me feel welcome. I moved up several levels over the years and as time went by, the dues went up and the perks went away. I was getting less swag when I quit a few years ago at the Crimson Tide level than I was getting at the entry level when I first joined. And everything went from feeling like gracious host to "how can we separate you from more of your money?" It became all about the points and the dollars and we don't care if Tide Pride seats in Atlanta are in the rafters, take them or leave them. The whole feel changed from one of appreciation to one of exploitation. I still love Alabama, but I have no illusions that Alabama cares.
Posted on 7/10/17 at 10:20 pm to phil4bama
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phil4bama
100% agree - and I think it applies to CFB as a whole and certainly the SEC.
It's very Auburn to say, but SEC games and atmospheres were family atmospheres. The league was regional, everything was traditional, students and alums were from the state or the region, etc. It was our thing, even when I was a kid in the late 80s and 90s.
It's not like that anymore. And, personally, I don't find it as enjoyable.
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