A bunch of my old Tech friends and I entered the Battle at Bristol lottery for 4 tickets each to try and get enough tickets for us all to go, but unfortunately nobody won. Asking around, nobody has actually heard of anyone winning the lottery. To dispel the conspiracy theorist inside of me, can anyone who actually won the lottery speak up?
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Same story here. I entered for 4 tickets and a buddy of mine did the same. We both heard on Friday that we lost out on the lottery.
I didn't win and I am still thoroughly confused by this process.
I feel like I've seen reports that UT had sold out their allotment already - and we haven't even started selling tickets yet?
I was pretty excited about this game but I feel like they're making it exceptionally difficult to buy tickets...
Tech has been selling tickets to Hokie Club members to start.
Have we sold actual tickets? I'm a HC member and a season ticket holder and I feel like the only option I saw was to put down money for the rights to get tickets later on or something like that.
But now I'm seeing this message when I log in to HokieTickets.com:
So maybe I'm just an idiot and missed it.
If this helps, I am a HC member too and put down money like you did as soon as we were able to over a year ago. Still pretty confused, but the way I read it is that there's still nothing else we can do except wait until we hear further notice in 2016. But maybe I'm just an idiot too and missed it. Looking forward to hearing other HC member's thoughts.
I am pretty sure that I did this, it was ~$25 if I remember correctly...and I had thought it meant we got rights to purchasing tickets?
Yeah, they will send something out Spring 2016 for those of us who pre-ordered to pay the balance and send us our tickets.
I pre-ordered 10 myself.
Awesome, thanks.
The wording I saw was deposit on tickets when I bought my four. If tech doesn't come through I will be very disappointed. I bought mine well ahead of the deadline and I am a golden hokie.
We sold out our entire allotment as well. Or at least the ones initially available for public sale. They were on sale at the beginning of October. Bought 6 myself.
Ah damn. Well I missed the boat.
I live in Bristol and I've heard several people around here complaining about the process as well. I know a bunch of people that went and spent the night on Battle Friday back in October and were successful in getting 4 tickets, but that's been the only thing... I would suggest reaching out through the Battle at Bristol and BMS Facebook pages. We got our 10 tickets in the Allison's back last year through us having season tickets.
You have actually paid for tickets or you put down a deposit on the Allisons?
Put down a deposit. It was $25 I believe.
OK that is the same offer they had about a month ago. I could put down a deposit on tickets in a specific section, but there is no guarantee that I get them if enough other HC members want that section. I put in for 12 and I know only 10 were guaranteed HC priority.
I was going to go try and get tickets on Battle Friday at lunch, but they sold out way before that. I was too optimistic. :(
Does everyone that put down on the deposit realize that the deposit does not guarantee you a ticket? It will be done by HC priority and some of us low on the HC totem pole (such as myself) may miss out on tickets and lose the deposit as well.
Where do you see that? It's not in here as far as I can tell http://www.hokiesports.com/football/battleatbristol/ticketinfo.pdf
Confirmed from the ticket office. The crux of it is they said in the ticket info that it would be based off of priority. They didn't specifically say that you could wind up not getting tickets, but they left it ambiguous enough that their ass is covered.
I guess it's possible, but with sales to HC members starting a full year before the general public, I'd say it's highly unlikely to be an issue
It's unlikely, but you get enough people ordering multiple tickets and it could become a reality. I'm just trying to make people aware of the situation.
I don't think the VT Ticket Office would have opened pre-sales to the public (and closed them as sold-out within a week) if they ran out of tickets during the Hokie Club pre-sale.
THIS! If their are hokie club members that don't get seats after preordering but public tickets are sold there were will be a LOT of ANGRY alumni.
Correct. Hokie Club pre-sale closed before public sale opened which means they knew exactly how many tickets they had available for public sale. If you've given your deposit, you have a ticket. Priority will only determine where you sit.
Everything you are saying makes sense and is the way I thought process worked as well, but that was not what I was told by the ticket office today.
Interesting. I feel like if you called them back, you'd get a different answer because that in no way makes any sense.
They always have a disclaimer like that, but it makes no sense at all to sell tickets to the public if they didn't have them left over after the lottery.
Well that and the fact that you open tickets to people who give your program money and allow them to put down a deposit. If you fail to give those people the tickets they ordered, that doesn't say good things about how you feel about their donation. I do really think there was some miscommunication going on. The disclaimer was probably in the event that all 10,000 or so Hokie Club members ordered 10 tickets, then well that couldn't be supported. But to sell general public tickets after taking pre-orders assumes there are still tickets available.
I agree it makes no sense. I'm only relaying the message I received.
They've told me this on 2 separate occasions.
Oh my goodness, I will be so mad if we end up not getting the tickets we put a deposit on. Watch this end up being my karma for bragging to a friend that I didn't have to go stand in line on Battle Friday...
2 sets of friends and I all registered, and didn't win tickets. One of the friend's parents won a set of four. That's the only person I heard who won. My guess is we were looking at 5 to 1 odds or worse on getting tickets through the lotto due to supply and demand.
Additionally, I think the tickets were sold in a way heavily favoring club members of both schools and Bristol's ticket holders. Understandable but I'm still bummed. Either i'm buying at the stadium or tailgating with someone who has a TV.
And the race fans that likely do not give a crap about either team are already selling those tickets on ebay and are really jacking up the prices. Ridiculous.
Boom. This.
The race track tried to use this football game to sell race tickets that they practically can't give away. It was a shitty way of going about it that's going to have some adverse effects. However, the rubes with tickets on ebay are going to be eating some dough because to get to 160,000 they (the racetrack) are going to have to reduce the ticket prices which will edge out Joe Nascarfan trying to dump their tickets on eBay or StubHub.
The process IS confusing, but people are getting riled up about nothing at this point.
The way I understand it is that VT closed out the Hokie Club applications BEFORE offering tickets to the public.
Because they offered tickets to the public, I take this to imply that everyone who applied by the october deadline will get tickets. They'll contact you next year as to your seat assignments, and bill you for the balance.
It's a bit of an obscure method of doing it, but I did the same lottery earlier this year for Georgia Tech tickets, and did get my tickets.
I wouldn't worry too much about it, as they're trying to sell 160,000 tickets to that game, and the pre-orders were only for 20,000 of those for each school. It would be kind of stupid to open up sales of those tickets to the public if athletic club members applied for them.
Good thing i pre-ordered mine on 9/30 through HC. Full 4 hours to spare!
Check your email. Seat allocation emails went out today.
Is this for people who pre-ordered? I put in for tickets and have not received anything.
I haven't received any news.
Got an email today saying "our records show you placed a deposit" with no seating assignments.
UT fans who placed their orders at the same time got their seating assignments on Feb1.
The way these things roll out is controlled by the individual schools. C'mon hokie club!
Woman I work with won four tickets in a lottery. I don't know if its the same one or not. I assume it is.
That seems remarkably vague.
What more do you want a physical address?
/s
She won them in a lottery draw and I'm not sure if it's the same one that is being talked about here or not.
Just got an email from VT today saying the following:
Battle at Bristol Invoice & Other Information
You are receiving this email because our records show that you placed a deposit on tickets for the Battle at Bristol game between Virginia Tech and Tennessee to take place on September 10, 2016.
The Bristol Motor Speedway will be handling the invoice process for the balance due on tickets as well as shipping the tickets in mid-summer.
All patrons who made a deposit for Battle at Bristol will receive a paper invoice the week of Feb. 22 as well as an emailed version if your ticket account had a registered email at the time of your order deposit. The invoice will include instructions on how to access your invoice online through the Bristol Motor Speedway website.
Please note the following:
Per state statutes, Tennessee sales tax (9.25%) must be collected on the tickets since the game is being played in the state of Tennessee. The ticket price reflected on the invoice you will receive from the Speedway will include this Tennessee sales tax.
The invoice payment deadline is March 11, 2016 and is to be paid directly to the Bristol Motor Speedway.
As stated during the deposit period, all deposits are non-refundable. The deposit money on tickets that you might opt not to purchase may not be transferred to the tickets you are purchasing. Only one deposit may be applied per one ticket.
Parking information will be available on the invoice you receive from the Speedway.
Any shipping change of address must be made prior to May 1, 2016 with the Bristol Motor Speedway Ticket Office by calling 866-415-4158.
As you are making your travel arrangements, please allow 2-3 times the normal driving time to the Speedway especially the day of the game but also the few days prior. We want all of our fans to make it there safely and on time for the game.
So what I am waiting to see is: if you don't win as many tickets as you put a deposit down on, what happens to that deposit money?
From what I've gathered is that for HC members if you put in a deposit, you're getting tickets. Nothing has been released to call-out any other situations.
Fingers crossed!
I put in for two more than what was guaranteed to HC members, but from what I am gathering is that they aren't sold out yet.
I would like to clear something up that I previously posted. I had previously said that the ticket office said that if you put down the deposit you were not guaranteed a ticket. That is what was passed along to me, not once, but twice.
I have since been told that what they should have said was that the seats you put in for are not guaranteed. Such as if you put in for the Allison section, but are down on HC/season ticket holder priority you may not get those as all seats will be allocated on priority basis. Your ticket is guaranteed if you put down the deposit, your seats are not.
I apologize for passing along false information, but I would not have had I not been told on two separate occasions that was the case.
Just got my Battle At Bristol receipt today and I can confirm the system DOES allocate you lower price point tickets. FYI, I put in for 6 $140 THE ALLISONS tickets, but was allocated 6 $120 DAVID PEARSON tickets.
Got section DD row 8... I have NO idea what type of view that will give me, but I'll be there nonetheless!!! :)
Go Hokies!
http://aviewfrommyseat.com/venue/Bristol+Motor+Speedway/sections/
Similar for me. Requested 10 Allisons got 10 Pearson section D.
Can I ask what general level of the Hokie club y'all are? Because I'm getting the early sense that like most neutral site games the actual fans are getting the shaft.
Well my wife and I have two Hokies club accounts. Hers is a silver and we got Pierson. I have just regular hokieclub and mine are Allison terrace. So ya I'm going to have to agree with you on this and say that hokie club status didn't mean crap. But that's just from what I gather!
Really wow.. I'm silver and got 6 Pearson. When you say "regular hokie club "... what do you mean?
Just the $100 a year level
It does seem a bit odd, as if the Pearson section was rated higher than the Allison Terrace, even though the Allison Terrace seems like it might actually be closer to most of the football field.
I haven't been there, so I don't know what the real deal is.
I'm in no way a Hokie Club higher up. Ranked in the 6,000's
Same boat, requested Allisons and got Pearson. Doesn't much matter, most people will be watching on the giant video screen anyway.
Also, does this mean I'm not an actual fan?
Because I donate $250 annually?
No I meant it seems that BMS is selling tickets to NASCAR fans and corporate givers not the fans of the two schools.
Right on, after I typed it, I assumed thats what you meant.
I did request the Allisons, which would support your argument.
Look at it this way. If your friend is hosting a party, don't they have the right to invite their friends? I mean, even if it's your birthday party, if it's a big damn party and they are giving up their place to throw down, it's only fair that they are also allowed to have their friends there too.
yeah sure, but if the party is intended for your birthday, and this host has parties for their other friends all the time, then why should the people who are there for your birthday party have to stand in the yard?
Because the house is actually a mansion and whether you're in the living room, the pool, or the back yard, it's still a damn party.
EDIT: Oh and you don't have to pay an increased cover charge (NASCAR season tickets or be a major BMS donor) to get the better area.
But shouldn't the birthday guest of honor (VT and UT) get to be near the party food and entertainment? Yet the party throwers friends get half the tickets and then it's given out on who has given the friend the most money for the longest amount of time.
Everybody gets to enjoy the party, but the folks who keep the lights on get priority. It's always better to be friends with the host if you want to get a better deal at the party. If you're just invited by the person who it is in honor of, you have no power with the host. Personally, I've never found that my seat affected my enjoyment of the game, but that's just me and my desire to make sure I book a block with a bunch of friends.
Tickets bought through the universities give sideline seats while tickets bought through BMS give endzone seats. There is some leeway in there but that was the general gist I got.
I look at it this way: BMS wants a spectacle. The fact that it's a college football game is almost a backdrop. It's like having a house party and having a live band. You don't put the band's followers first on the guest list, you invite your friends and then let the people with the band tag along. BMS wants to make money. This isn't your typical college football game and BMS isn't looking at this through the lens of "help students and fans of the teams first."
Exactly! This is about "the biggest college football game in history" and the media associated with having a football game at a raceway. It's not about Virginia Tech versus Tennessee. That's why they are doing a 2.0 a week later with Western Carolina and ETSU. I wouldn't be surprised if they offered a discounted ticket for attendees of our game to go to that game since it won't come anywhere near to the attendance due to the appeal of the teams and it being a rehash of a bigger game the week before.
I thought he figured you were getting shafted, ergo, you would be an "actual fan"
I got 2 Pearson section E tickets. The email just came through today.
10 in Allison Terrace - C
I am lowest level in the Hokie Club
For those who have heard about their Battle at Bristol tickets, was it from VT, or directly from Bristol Motor Speedway?
Edit: nevermind, just found an email from Bristol Motor Speedway. Four tickets in Pearson.
From BMs
Thanks.
10 in Allison Terrace E and also pretty low in the club, two people I was buying for put in for one section below the rest of us (would have been Allison Terrace) and got kicked out to the Waltrips. Either they sold all of the Allison Terrace seats or filled my block of ten and then all the other whole blocks before my other two.
Has anyone not gotten their invoice yet? I got the email from HokieSports a few days ago, but no invoice yet.
I got an email from Bristol Motor Speedway with a PDF invoice attached. I'm guessing they're mailing it as well.
My invoice from BMS arrived yesterday, a couple of days after the notification from HokieSports. You may want to check your spam folder just in case.
Thanks for the info! I called them this morning and they said it had sent, but I never got it.
They resent the email and gave me the info to pay for it on their website. They were really nice too.
Nope
My invoice arrived. Here's where I'll be for the battle (6 together) - Allison N Row 31 Seats 11 - 16.
For those trying to determine if Hokie Club priority points helped, I'm a Golden Hokie.
Now I just need to convince the Mrs that taking the week off and camping is the best option.
I have my four tickets paid for.
Are only lottery and Hokie Club members finding out their seats? Anyone who went through the public sale back in October find out their seats?
Got my four seats through the lottery drawing. Can't wait to be jumping with 70,000 Hokies.
Does anyone know is Bristol has Uber/Lyft/Cabs or will buying a parking pass be the best option?
Get a parking pass or pay for parking in someone's yard and catch a shuttle or walk. There are some residential secondary roads around the racetrack where people charge $10-25 to park and walk. It's not a bad walk really. No further than say the Prices Fork lot to Lane.
Looks like those of us who ordered during the public sale in October through VT just got notifications. Or at least I did, so a heads up to everyone else in that same boat.
How did you lottery winners fair in seat selection?
This wasn't a lottery entry. I bought through VT and paid for them in October. The tickets are in Kulwicki Terrace.
I can tell you that 80% of Hokies got screwed and will have not so great seats.
I can tell you that I 100% got very shitty seats. Not happy, but it is what it is.
Mine are in Darrell Waltrip corner. At least Section J, row 7 doesn't sound that horrible unless the tickets are so low you can't see the far side of the field.
I think you have to keep in mind the number of people higher then you in the Hokie Club and how high the demand is for good seats. A person that might normally only get 2-4 season tickets might have ordered 10 for this game.
With 160,000 tickets up for grabs I don't think this will be as scalper-friendly an event that some of these raceway ticket holders think that it will be. The key thing here is to have patience...there WILL be plenty of tickets around at the end of the day, IMO.
Agree. I think you'll see decent tickets going for as little as $40 on the day of. I think a lot of the race ticket holders that used that leverage to obtain tickets in order to make a buck will be trying to minimize their losses.
There are even some tickets whose list price is $40, but I wouldn't underestimate the number of people who want to go to this game.
That said, there is going to be a lot of variation in price, for the reason mentioned.