Just saw this on Facebook. We have maroon and orange 3 game mini-plans this year.
Here's the hokiesports link.
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Just saw this on Facebook. We have maroon and orange 3 game mini-plans this year.
Here's the hokiesports link.
Comments
#Whitness Get's it!! Not only does this make sense ( 3 games and Miami included.. what a great idea) but big things are going on behind the scenes to get the Miami game sold out! Not that it should be a problem but its great knowing we have an absolute Genius at the helm!!!
On second note: would buying this be a good idea If I am looking for 2 tickets to Miami game. $tubhub is quoting about 100-120 for a good seat? I am driving up from FL and bringing the significant other.
Do you have a hokie pp?
no :(
Well poop, I don't have guest tickets to flaunt around anymore, but as the game gets closer I may have some options!
that would be awesome.. I know i can check a couple weeks before/week before the game for returned Miami ticket allotment as well on vtfootball . And if I start to worry I'll fork it up for $tubhub .
Gracias Amigo!
Better have the app open 4th quarter of the tOSU game…#turningpoint
Didn't we make fun of uva for doing this last year?
yes but that's because they can't even get decent #'s/fans to 1 game. These packages are obviously revolved around that Thursday Night game vs Miami and 2 other decent games. Maroon package looks to be the better one IMO unless you fancy Bill and Mary
It's funny because if I didn't already have plans, I would buy the Orange package only because this year will be the end of 6 years straight of attending the Season Opener, but that's just me.
I hope so. Nothing is better than a good LOL at UVA.
I think it was because they called it the "home field advantage" package and advertised it in like pennysaver or something similar.
ValPak!
I got a ValPak in the mail down here in FL and lo and behold there were UVA ticket coupons in there.
My wife got us tickets to see The Fray on Groupon and my first thought was, "This is like going to a UVA game with a ValPak coupon."
So much for selling out our season tickets allotment. While I like the willingness to evolve from Whit, I guess that is proof that Hokies want to see the product on the field prove itself before committing to tickets now.
Season tickets are limited.
I see this as an attempt to use the Miami game to make sure some of the more minor games are sold out.
Yes, there is a cap on season tickets, but obviously that has not been reached, nor are we apparently close to it. That was my original point. If we were near, then we wouldn't be including the most prized ticket in a season ticket mini-package. As far as using the Miami game to sell other single game tickets, well of course. If season tickets were sold out, though, we wouldn't have Miami tickets to bundle. As I said above, I'm glad Whit is doing this, and not just leaving them hanging.
Season Tickets are not limited - other than ensuring you have student and mandatory away fan allotments. Other than that since the 98 season to the 2012 season they have ALL been season tickets. Single game tickets -other than those returned from the away fans were not available until 2012.
I'm not thrilled that we haven't been able to sell out the season tickets, but I am glad there is an effort being made to get close.
I'm not so sure its a clear as that. I attended VT in the early 2000's and used to go down to most games, having season tickets from the year after I graduated until last year. At this point, living in NoVa, having 2 kids, a mortgage and all other things that come with that; getting to VT has become harder to do. A small package appeals to my availability and financial restrictions; even if at heart I'd be down there tailgating for all the games.
But, prioritizing is a part of the whole question. You have to ask if you want to spend the amount of the full season package and commit to getting your ROI by attending every game and investing further money and time. Or do you tell yourself - 'It's not worth THAT much to me, because of these other factors'? I fully understand the obligations part, but that has never changed. The folks who had season tickets in the 80's weren't typically 20-somethings, they were married with families and business and everything else. That doesn't change, just the individual's perspective. Zoom to 2014 - what people have to ask themselves, as WHit has said himself publicly, is - Do I want to spend the time & money for these games?' So, the mini-package helps ease the investment. The product on the field is also a big part of that, and that is why season ticket sales lagged this year. Whit is addressing his part of it with this and other actions to be announced in the future. But, the product on the field makes a difference, too. As the expense increases, the demand for return increases and the restructuring of priorities increases.
Of note: ECU=W&M
What this tells you:
1. BC is apparently not a crowd pleaser (can we get a different cross over yet? Louisville would be nice).
2. ECU = W&M
Edit: cds7c above me beat me to it
L'ville would be nice, but I think that they'll be consistently tied with Miami. NC State would be my in the middle choice but not sure what kind of in-state crossover things they have with UNC and Duke. Anyone but BC (and Wake) though!
Miami's permanent crossover is FSU and Louisville's is UVA
Atlantic Coast Conference Football
Primary Crossover Opponents
(2014-2024)
Atlantic Division .................Coastal Division
Boston College .......................... Virginia Tech
Clemson .................................... Georgia Tech
Florida State .............................. Miami
Louisville ................................... Virginia
NC State .................................... North Carolina
Syracuse ................................... Pittsburgh
Wake Forest .............................. Duke
Source (with ACC schedules through 2024)
When one looks at those crossovers, one can easily see there are four that are etched in granite, never to change. That leaves VT/BC, UofL/UVa, Syr/Pitt as the only ones that aren't locked together long term. When you look at Syracuse & Pittsburgh, that makes a lot of sense for reasons too numerous to list. Then, actually, our match with BC goes back well into the Big East days, and has proven to be a competitive 'rivalry' over the last several years. UofL is a glamour opponent, but the only history we have with them is ancient Metro basketball, and the Marcus stomp. Neither of which really impact the general public. I'd rather have UofL, but BC manages to irritate us enough to make it a worthwhile match.
how we got screwed over with that one is beyond my comprehension. I mean really Clemson is way closer than BC and its a much better team overall. Why oh Why do they continue to match up bottom dwellers with top dogs of the other side. I want to see a little acc championship game early in the year and at the end of the year..
I mean even lolva got a respectable opponent in L'ville... I guess I cant have my #piecakecookiecupcakeicecream and eat it too. I'll stick to Bourbon
Well, Clemson/GT is an actual rivalry game.
I've always felt that they should've put UVA in the Atlantic and made them our cross division rival. That gives UVA a yearly shot at FSU (which is strangely always an entertaining game) and we are still in the same division as Miami at GT.
If you match us with Clemson, then who matches with GT? BC had ZERO connection to them, they did have a connection with us from the Big East, while Clemson & GT have strong connections based on geography and recruiting rivalries. Also - Jim Weaver volunteered us for that, so as to create the least possible disruption to the 'old ACC' members. Might as well get used to it, we've got it for the next decade and longer.
thank you both, its just sad to see us matched up with BC. Yeah they had a good year this year but again we got weaver'd for sure.
I get the Big East stuff but come on its 2014 and the Big East is about as toast as London drinking a Zima at halftime. If the ACC wanted to try and match the SEC then match best teams as cross over games. Don't do it based on the last 20 years but what it could become in the next 20.
IE: South Carolinahh gets both A&M and Auburn as their crossover games this year.. oh my word!!
We've had a lot of really competitive and crucial games against BC since the Michael Vick days. I didn't want them as our CD rival, either, but it has turned out well, objectively speaking. The trouble with wanting to play the flavor of the month in good teams is you'd be changing every three seasons and the fan bases interest would be watered down because you can't create seven rivalries based on who's been a good team lately. Doing it the way they did ensures there are a minimum of five very solid rivalries out of seven.
good point there I guess I have to take off my hokie hat and put on my acc hat for a hot minute.
Texas A&M??? The team that gave up 50 some points to Duke and just lost their star QB and star receiver...whoopty-do! Sorry I just don't think Texas A&M will be any good this year. I live in Columbia and have to here about way to much SC football, how they play the hardest schedules and how even though the SEC East has sucked for the last three years it's still the SEC.
At the end of the day they won a (edited) well reputable bowl game, so I'd say they're a good team.. And everyone knew A&M's defense wasn't stellar, it was bend but don't break for sure. But the got the results on Offense and ended up winning. I can only imagine what VT would do if we had a top 15-25 offense with our current D, can you say BCS Bowl win yeah I can. Hopefully we will find out shortly.
They brought in 4th best QB in '13 and the 1st rated QB this year along with some good WR's. Yes the SEC is hyped up way to much but its all ESPN, and it will take a couple more years of ACC beating them in bowl/cross over games to change that.
When exactly did Texas A&M win a BCS bowl game?
edited.. regardless it is a more reputable bowl game than the Russell athletics bowl. All of this would be a mute point however according to the refs he (Danny) didn't maintain control throughout the whole catch. Some Bullllishh
A&M's offense was good enough to make them a good team, but they don't have a bend don't break D. That implies that you give up yards but hold strong on the board. A&M last year had an AWFUL defense.
What the hell was the ACC thinking setting this plan in stone for 10 years? These days strength of schedule is everything, and to set this for so long is ridiculous. If you have a team with an upward swing playing one with a downward swing year in and year out it doesn't make sense for anyone. Not the teams ranked higher relying on S.O.S., not a team in a downward trend trying to get wins and not the league as a whole (especially if the higher ranking team is in NC contention). Maybe set them 2 years out and no longer. Unless there is something I'm missing 10 years just doesn't seem to help anyone.
Strength of schedule in conference remains a distance behind conference branding in priority - as it should. Every program in the nation knows they can impact SOS by their OOC scheduling, and that is what they do. Because of the size of the conference, you MUST set scheduling logic for years in advance. Folks need to step outside the bubble and look at the bigger picture. Conference scheduling is about the good & equity of the conference, not just one's favorite team.
Unless you're in the SEC and can play Samford, San Jose State, FAU, Western Carolina
Some of the SEC teams might book East Carolina, if they weren't so closely tied to us for the next three decades by Jim Weaver.
Wake Forest has mini-plans:
1. Two game
2. Three game
3. Four game
And you get to pick the games you attend!! It's pretty cool.
Wake Forest individual game tickets are on sale now too for my fellow NC Hokies.
So, wait...153 for 3 tickets. How much are individual tickets this year? 51?
$50 in the season ticket package
Tickets are $52 a piece if buying through the University as far as I know. At least that's what they are charging me for them. That might include the processing fee though.
As long as we don't drop down to Groupon status, a la BC, NCSU and others recently have, I'm good with this. It's likely that Miami/UVA will sell out no matter what, so hopefully this moves some tix for the other games in the process.
to late the Cincinnati/VT game was when it was at Fedex Field. But BrAvO to Whit and the new Leaders of Tech Athletics for finding ways to increase ticket sales instead of ignoring the problem as the Old Guard was doing.
I expect lots more changes too, So excited to see what changes come to Lane, and would love to know what ideas fail - Beer Sales
Got an email about this.
Not surprised to see the Miami game on here. Thursday night games have rarely ever been packed houses in the past. This is the athletic department doing everything in their power to ensure a packed to the brim house this season for the Miami game while ensuring as many tickets as possible fall into Hokie hands. Not only that, but this is the same kind of ticketing procedures that other schools have implemented on us in the past. I can only hope this trend continues to basketball, and the ticket office sets a prohibitive price on tickets for the UNC and Duke games to ensure the place is packed with Hokies.
I think it's more trying to get people to go to games they likely wouldn't have gone to (W&M, ECU, and BC) for a chance to go to the most desired games on the schedule. It's more to fill seats for the smaller games than to fill them for Miami and UVA.
That's precisely what it is. I'm pretty sure there are as many mini-deals as there are Miami/UVA tickets, although UVA might be a bit tricky with it being on Black Friday and all. Pretty sure I'm gonna have to leave CA late on Thanksgiving night for that one.
I'm not going to doubt that, but I'm saying its also a way to target these sales to people who specifically want to go to the Thursday Night or Thanksgiving weekend games, which have historically been some of the easier tickets to get leading up to the game, even during years where we were rolling and packing in Lane.
Its knocking out 2 birds with 1 stone. So suck it, Miami and BC!!!! (get it? cause Ibis and Eagle mascots.... see? it was a joke.... it was funny, right?...... yeah.... I'll go)
Thursday Night Games could easily be fixed, open up more student seating.
This is trying to convince a lot of people who don't want to spend $700 on 2 season tickets to at least come to the better games.
The simplest way of looking at it is that this is Whit taking care of fans who can only make a few games each year and don't want the up-front cost and financial risk of not getting what they paid when re-selling the games they are not attending. There is a significant portion of the fan base that can get to Lane for only a few games but would prefer to lock up their seats before the season starts. This is me this year, and I really appreciated paying $460 instead of $1,060 for 3 tickets to attend 2 ACC match-ups and our best non-conf home game. Thanks for doing me a solid Whit, now I don't have to waste time on StubHub buying and selling.
Same here, this is a great option for people living out of town that can only make a few games. No way I could swing season tickets, this is a perfect alternative.
My only disappointment with these mini-tickets are the fact that their presence means that not all of the season tickets were sold. It wasn't so long ago that all season tickets were accounted for every year. I think the availability has more to do with the slump our local economy is in, but the last two years performance and lack of big games hasn't helped.
I look forward to these tickets being gone next year, because alumni are snapping up the season tickets again.
I expect that the mini-packages will be here for the long term. Also, while the economy that tanked in 2008 might have not come to the minds of Hokie fans until 2012(unlikely), I don't think that can be used as one of the top factors. It's not just one thing - it's several things, and Whit understands that, thankfully, and is acting on it. It's about team performance, game day experience, expense, availability, time allocation, and other reasons that don't fit on bumper stickers as slogans.
Agreed. And they may have actually "held" some tickets just for this purpose of putting mini game plans together. It also allows alumni to get tickets, and sell tickets to their friends without having to go through stub-hub or similar outlets that gouge prices.
If I could get tix from my buddy down in Blacksburg, I would be all over one of these, and would be willing to sell the other games I wouldn't be using at face value. To a Hokie. They make out, I make it to the game I want at $51 per ticket. Win win.
Well I'd say it's not just one thing, but it is one large thing that broke the camels back.
Scheduling. The home schedule sucks and really sucks for someone out of town.
Pre-Game Fun - VT seems very limited, but to each can improve it own there own
Losing - It sucks but we're a team and buying tickets in the good years just like the bad years
Stadium - Some Alumni seem to always yell for me to sit down but I can always get different seats
Not HD - But a great and fun atmosphere, though could use some help
Scheduling is 100% within the Football programs control and fault. I can do nothing about it and those in charge can do 100% - See WVU
Just to give ya'll an idea on what type of tickets are available for the mini game package. Its row 4J section 37. So it's not like they're amazing seats/lower bowl these are the upper levels that VT is just trying to clean up.
I would compare it to Grass in a weird way: sometimes there's this yellow patch and all it needs is Miracle Grow aka Whit Babcock and some TLC and BOOM Green again...or in our reference SOLD OUT LANE!!!!
Agreed; they had some in section 33 when the offer first came out, so my guess is that the available seats were in 33/35/37.
The only thing I don't like about this is that Miami and UVA aren't in the same bracket. I understand the marketing/sales reason for it, that we want to tempt people to buy tickets for other games based on wanting to see us play Miami or UVA, but it feels like when I bought Queen's greatest hits and found out that Bohemian Rhapsody is only on the DOUBLE ALBUM of Queen's greatest hits.
Agreed, but $150 for 3 games with the mini-pack plus $100 on StubHub for either Miami or UVa, for a combined $250 total, would still be a very solid deal to attend those 4 games.
At least we didn't ask fans to set their own price, amiright?!
http://bloguin.com/thestudentsection/wp-content/uploads/sites/165/2014/0...
Tix Purchased! W&M and Miami, see yall there!
oh, anybody wanna buy some BC tix? haha
I bit. I was already planning on going to the Miami game anyway and was also toying with the thought of attending the W&M opener (along with trips to anOSU and delivering one of my pieces to the Duke game).
This was enough to have me commit. I also reserved my VT/WV tix while I was there.
Well played, Whit...well played.
We're you actually able to buy the 3-pack with the Miami game? I tried several times this afternoon and could only complete purchase by choosing the UVA game. Just curious if that means the Miami game is sold out??
A call to the ticket office today could confirm that for you, but it sounds as though that is the case. That would make sense, since that package is the more desirable of the two. Tickets will still be available below face value at Lane, as they always are, but folks needed to be quick to take advantage of the mini-package offer. There were no totals given on the amount of tickets available when it was announced, for a reason. If all else fails, you can buy scalped tickets when you go for the Miami game.
Appreciate the response. Yep, I'll plan on looking for options the day of the Miami game. I live pretty far away so was really only looking for the Miami ticket anyway. If I had secured a mini-plan, I would have likely given the other 2 tickets to family in Blacksburg. Thanks!