I might be in the minority on this one, but it kind of sucks that we have gotten to this point where we started advertising and promoting how many tickets are left until a "sell out", especially this game.
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Normally I would agree with you on this, but attendance is down all throughout college football. It's a problem almost every school is facing. And I think Thursday night games are difficult to sell out, although we have done so since '95 which is a testament to Hokie Naton. It's a 2 day commitment for most, and if not, you're heading to work on almost zero sleep. Considering the way the Hokies have been the past 2 years and so far this season, I'm alright with it being close to a sell out, and more importantly the Athletic Dept. advertising to sell more tickets.
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Yea I hear you, but like you said we have done it since '95 sucessfully without all the advertisement, but like you said, it is directly related to the product VT has produced on the field as of late.
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Except we didn't really do it since '95. Sure, Weaver pulled all types of semantic phrases & forced purchases by VT academic depts & Hokie donors & advertisers in order to parse his words in pretending we had sellouts. Sure, some fans cling to that as though it were a badge of honor. But the truth of the matter, as anyone who has actually attended a home game in the last five seasons could attest, is that attendance has been down for years. Just as it has all across the nation.
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Totally agree - it is getting harder and harder to sell out games. Universities are finding students aren't using up their allotment a lot of the times, and people are staying home in bigger numbers due to a number of factors - cost, taking the time to travel to the game, and the fact that their 50/60" HDTV shows them the action a lot better than they can get in the stands. On top of that, they have to deal with lousy cell phone signals on gameday. It all adds up to decreasing numbers going to games across the country - Hokie Nation is no exception.
Hopefully Whit can think of ways to counter these points.
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I understand where you're coming from but I like that our athletic department is trying to be as successful as a business as possible (huzzah Whit!). If that means swallowing a little pride to advertise that tickets are still available, I'm ok with it.
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It's also good marketing. Limited chance! Don't miss out on something special!
Across all sports, without active pushing from the top execs/ADs, there is no guarantee that tickets sell, especially with costs rising across all sports, college and professional.
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Thursday night games are always a struggle to completely sell out. In the past, we would have had some big donors buy up tickets in bulk right at the end to ensure the sellout streak continued, and the Athletic Department knew they were essentially guaranteed the sellout, so they didn't bother advertising. Now, those donors aren't buying the tickets up at the last minute, which is leading to the Athletic Dept having to get more proactive in advertising, and they're doing a pretty good job of it so far. And this is a give and take, I mean it sucks that we are now having to advertise, but this also means we're getting more butts in seats, which means more concession and merchandise sales during the games, which means more revenue for the Athletic Dept.
But that said, I still wouldn't be surprised if the corners are empty tonight even if we sell out the game. There's always a pretty decent chunk of the season ticket base that just can't make a Thursday night game because of work or school obligations and aren't able to get the tickets in the hands of someone willing to go.
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Does anyone know if VT sponsors a program where folks who can't make the game can purchase tickets for bburg-based veterans to attend? I thought there was something like this in previous seasons, but maybe not.
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they need to drop the "effect" monikers. been played out by now. There's #ALLMAROONEVERYTHING and, well... nothing else, unless it's specialty uniforms (Military appreciation etc). No #whiteouts and DEFINITELY stop with #ALLORANGEEVERYTHING
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I get what you're saying but I feel that the players get into the white outs/effects. I know I get pumped for a good black out and PSU clearly does for a white out. I get the whole branding thing, but if we wear something else for one game besides the traditional M&O and lose or identity then we have failed to brand ourselves long before whatever effect or out game.
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Comments
I might be in the minority on this one, but it kind of sucks that we have gotten to this point where we started advertising and promoting how many tickets are left until a "sell out", especially this game.
Normally I would agree with you on this, but attendance is down all throughout college football. It's a problem almost every school is facing. And I think Thursday night games are difficult to sell out, although we have done so since '95 which is a testament to Hokie Naton. It's a 2 day commitment for most, and if not, you're heading to work on almost zero sleep. Considering the way the Hokies have been the past 2 years and so far this season, I'm alright with it being close to a sell out, and more importantly the Athletic Dept. advertising to sell more tickets.
Yea I hear you, but like you said we have done it since '95 sucessfully without all the advertisement, but like you said, it is directly related to the product VT has produced on the field as of late.
Except we didn't really do it since '95. Sure, Weaver pulled all types of semantic phrases & forced purchases by VT academic depts & Hokie donors & advertisers in order to parse his words in pretending we had sellouts. Sure, some fans cling to that as though it were a badge of honor. But the truth of the matter, as anyone who has actually attended a home game in the last five seasons could attest, is that attendance has been down for years. Just as it has all across the nation.
Totally agree - it is getting harder and harder to sell out games. Universities are finding students aren't using up their allotment a lot of the times, and people are staying home in bigger numbers due to a number of factors - cost, taking the time to travel to the game, and the fact that their 50/60" HDTV shows them the action a lot better than they can get in the stands. On top of that, they have to deal with lousy cell phone signals on gameday. It all adds up to decreasing numbers going to games across the country - Hokie Nation is no exception.
Hopefully Whit can think of ways to counter these points.
I understand where you're coming from but I like that our athletic department is trying to be as successful as a business as possible (huzzah Whit!). If that means swallowing a little pride to advertise that tickets are still available, I'm ok with it.
It's also good marketing. Limited chance! Don't miss out on something special!
Across all sports, without active pushing from the top execs/ADs, there is no guarantee that tickets sell, especially with costs rising across all sports, college and professional.
Thursday night games are always a struggle to completely sell out. In the past, we would have had some big donors buy up tickets in bulk right at the end to ensure the sellout streak continued, and the Athletic Department knew they were essentially guaranteed the sellout, so they didn't bother advertising. Now, those donors aren't buying the tickets up at the last minute, which is leading to the Athletic Dept having to get more proactive in advertising, and they're doing a pretty good job of it so far. And this is a give and take, I mean it sucks that we are now having to advertise, but this also means we're getting more butts in seats, which means more concession and merchandise sales during the games, which means more revenue for the Athletic Dept.
But that said, I still wouldn't be surprised if the corners are empty tonight even if we sell out the game. There's always a pretty decent chunk of the season ticket base that just can't make a Thursday night game because of work or school obligations and aren't able to get the tickets in the hands of someone willing to go.
Yea I knew it was always a struggle, but it is what it is at this point for our program.
And I agree, there will most likely still be empty corners, since sell out only means all tickets were sold and not tickets used.
So you're telling me there is a chance?
EXIT LIGHT, ENTER NIGHT #ALLMAROONEVERYTHING
Only 132 tickets left at 9:48am You can tell Hokie Nation is ready for the game tonight
Might have been answered above but does this number count the (I'm assuming) thousands that Miami returned?
Yes. I want to say the students were picking up those ones.
Students eh?
Does anyone know if VT sponsors a program where folks who can't make the game can purchase tickets for bburg-based veterans to attend? I thought there was something like this in previous seasons, but maybe not.
We have it for basketball. If we have it for football, it's never been advertised.
We did it guys! SOLD OUT
I'm so proud, this totally justifies getting drunk tonight
words to live by!
Good job Hokie Nation!!!!
they need to drop the "effect" monikers. been played out by now. There's #ALLMAROONEVERYTHING and, well... nothing else, unless it's specialty uniforms (Military appreciation etc). No #whiteouts and DEFINITELY stop with #ALLORANGEEVERYTHING
I get what you're saying but I feel that the players get into the white outs/effects. I know I get pumped for a good black out and PSU clearly does for a white out. I get the whole branding thing, but if we wear something else for one game besides the traditional M&O and lose or identity then we have failed to brand ourselves long before whatever effect or out game.
OH Rece, those fans will get after ya!
All I can say for my first post is..
GOBBLE GOBBLE!
and turkey leg for you
...and that will be last sell out for a long time. Maybe OSU, but the way we look to finish the season think it won't happen.