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re: UT ticket sales on the skids
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:34 pm to Grievous Angel
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:34 pm to Grievous Angel
There's a fair amount of fair-weatheredness, but it also has to do with rising ticket prices that are not concomitant with a better product on the field. When I was an undergrad just a few years ago, it was much easier to get tickets than it is now, for example.
And I went to the Alabama game in 2011 and the Tennessee turnout was, I would imagine, far lower than it had been in 2009.
Alabama has its share of fair weather fans. I'm amazed even here in Boulder how much nice new Alabama gear I see. And when I go home to Knoxville? Well, there's tons of newly awakened Alabama fans for some reason. I can't imagine why.
And I went to the Alabama game in 2011 and the Tennessee turnout was, I would imagine, far lower than it had been in 2009.
Alabama has its share of fair weather fans. I'm amazed even here in Boulder how much nice new Alabama gear I see. And when I go home to Knoxville? Well, there's tons of newly awakened Alabama fans for some reason. I can't imagine why.
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Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:37 pm to GoBigOrange86
quote:
Alabama has its share of fair weather fans. I'm amazed even here in Boulder how much nice new Alabama gear I see. And when I go home to Knoxville? Well, there's tons of newly awakened Alabama fans for some reason. I can't imagine why.
I see fewer "T"s on the windows of cars around Tuscaloosa these days as well. Those kind of people are always around.
I pay them no mind. Your attendance is primarily what I'm talking about. It fluctuates entirely too frequently. Certainly, you're down. But the fans bail out way too quickly. Even season to season.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:38 pm to Crompdaddy8
Ehhh
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:46 pm to Crompdaddy8
quote:
top 6 in attendance last year in both football and basketball. suck it.
I won't join in the flamefest and I'll say I'm honestly impressed.
Tennessee outdrew every school (on a per game basis) in the SEC save Alabama.
I'm too lazy to look up the actual attendance figures but I know firsthand that LSU was averaging in the low 60s (some games were in the 50s) during the dark days of Curley Hallman. Granted, our stadium only held about 80k back then but that is still way lower than 92% capacity.
ETA:
Tiger Stadium attendance during our 6 losing seasons in a row:
1989: 70,889
1990: 71,580
1991: 68,746
1992: 67,221
1993: 60,272
1994: 65,124
My advice to Tennessee fans is start buying all the season tickets you can afford this year. Every LSU fan now wishes they had in 1993 and 1994.
This post was edited on 5/7/12 at 6:56 pm
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:53 pm to Grievous Angel
quote:
I pay them no mind. Your attendance is primarily what I'm talking about. It fluctuates entirely too frequently. Certainly, you're down. But the fans bail out way too quickly. Even season to season.
I can't say I blame them, though. This has been a protracted skid in football. Even in Alabama's dark days, they gathered reasons for optimism. They followed the 1999 season with a terrible year, but got a new coach who immediately turned things around and gave the team a 10 win season in his second year. He bails, but Alabama has a built-in excuse for sucking because of the harsh NCAA sanctions, plus a couple years later they're back to winning 10 games. They fall of next year, but then they hire one of football's greatest coaches and it's right back up the ladder.
I guess what I'm saying is Alabama fluctuated during their dark period with some years of success (1999, 2002, 2005) that kept the fans hungry. Ours has been a steady downward trend with little reason for optimism.
The other thing I don't know enough to speak on are the economic factors. Does it cost more to attend Tennessee games than Alabama games? With season ticket prices and the way Bama distributes tickets to students, my guess is yes. But I don't know for sure.
And I don't disagree with you. I hate seeing people bail on Tennessee just because we suck. I love the Vols. They're my team no matter what and I'll be going to the games I can no matter how much we suck because, at the very least, I can still see the orange jerseys, the Power T, listen to Rocky Top, and have a gigantic silo of Coke. But I understand why people aren't willing to do that, either for economic reasons or just because they don't see better days ahead for athletics.
It'll be nice when we're good again, though. I can say that I stuck with the Vols through thick and thin, through very dark times, which will make reaching the mountaintop that much sweeter than the time does come. Being a fair weather fan? That just cheapens the whole experience. Real fandom is suffering with the team as well as sharing in their triumphs.
Rant over.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:56 pm to GoBigOrange86
I want to give you a hug. 
Posted on 5/7/12 at 6:59 pm to Bellabama
Can't feel bad for UT, been an LSU and Saints fan too long. 
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:01 pm to GoBigOrange86
I attended even more games during the 2010 and 2011 season. I just couldn't bail on my team when they needed me the most.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:02 pm to BrerTiger
the time to buy season tickets at LSU was 1999
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:04 pm to BurasTigah
I don't feel bad for UT... I feel bad for GoBigOrange. He's a good guy...
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:07 pm to BrerTiger
Is there a central location for attendance history by school?
I remember when Alabama was bad, there was still a waiting list for Tide Pride Tickets, but it was obviously not nearly as long as it is now. The big games were always expensive tickets, but the little games had terrible attendance.
I remember when Alabama was bad, there was still a waiting list for Tide Pride Tickets, but it was obviously not nearly as long as it is now. The big games were always expensive tickets, but the little games had terrible attendance.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:14 pm to Grievous Angel
quote:
Alabama has its share of fair weather fans
Penn State was only 96% sold out thanks to ten inches of snow that blakented the state in October the weekend of the Illinios game
Maybe the same thing happened at Tennesse last season ?
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:18 pm to heartbreakTiger
quote:
the time to buy season tickets at LSU was 1999
If you could get them...
Per LSU ( LINK) we still averaged 78,826 in 1999, pretty close to capacity (last year before stadium expansion in 2000) so the only season tickets available were likely in the nosebleed.
Whereas in 1993 and 1994, you could definitely get lower bowl season tickets without getting on a waiting list. One of my buddies did just that and bought up about a dozen seats in the north end zone. Sat in his section until I gave up my seats when I moved to Oregon in fall of '02. Naturally LSU has had its best decade ever since I moved away so I am forbidden to move back lest I jinx the football program.
:csb:
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:28 pm to BrerTiger
Alabama's attendance through the years
Here are all of Alabama's numbers... they list capacities and numbers for home and away games. Even in the icky years, almost all of the games are at or close to capacity.
Here are all of Alabama's numbers... they list capacities and numbers for home and away games. Even in the icky years, almost all of the games are at or close to capacity.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:33 pm to Bellabama
Most of the Bama non sell outs were Legion Field
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:38 pm to BrerTiger
I hate to see UT down because the UT/Bama game was always fun to watch when both teams were good. I'll just ignore the so called LSU "kids" and bandwagon "fans" that will dispute my next statement. I wish to God that Ole Miss has a great football team again. I'm an LSU graduate '72 and Ole Miss and LSU was a very heated rivalry. When I lived on campus, we had a Go To Hell Ole Miss week, the week before the game. Ole Miss cost us a NC and bowl game, back in '69. Those days were great for LSU too, because back then LSU had a true rival. In case you youngsters don't know, the LSU/Tulane rivalry went out of the window the year Tulane left the SEC. Bama and Georgia Tech was the biggest rivalry in the South, until Tech left the SEC. If I was a Tulane fan, I'd wish an eternity of Hell, for the AD and President, who took them out of the SEC and follow Ga.Tech. Tech is currently in a mediocre conference while Tulane is in a suck arse conference that is barely above the Sunbelt.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:44 pm to Bellabama
quote:
I feel bad for GoBigOrange. He's a good guy..
Aww, Bella, <3. That's very thoughtful.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:44 pm to KillianRussell
I know people tease Alabama for their rabid fans, but it's pretty cool that even in the off years, people still go to the games.
We've had our tickets for a long time, but I think I read somewhere that you can't inherit them anymore.
We've had our tickets for a long time, but I think I read somewhere that you can't inherit them anymore.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:45 pm to Crompdaddy8
quote:
2007 UT
A game I still
every time I think about SC in Knoxville that year. Anyway I can't really blame the UT fans. I know that ticket prices have gone up as the economy has gone down so that will naturally make it more difficult for a % of any fan base to get tix, and its hard to shell out cash during a hard economic time to see a poor product on the field.
But it seems to me like UT is taking the same approach that Gamecocks took towards Horn recently. It may seem like "bandwagoners jumping off" but there is no better way to protest an athletic department, and more specifically a coach, than by not showing up. Yelling, screaming, and letting your voice angrily be heard will do little. But if the fans stop showing up in large numbers? That will hit them where it hurts and force them to make a move.
Posted on 5/7/12 at 7:47 pm to avondale88
quote:
I hate to see UT down because the UT/Bama game was always fun to watch when both teams were good.
I fully agree with this. I think people forget how intense rivalries are when both teams are good. I remember when Phil was still at UT, and there was the whole secret witness thing, and the games were close, but Tennessee kept winning, it was HUGE. Auburn-Alabama was relegated to ESPN2 and everyone wondered if it would ever be like it was.
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