Recent Comments
I do for a tailgating spot and guaranteed seats and I've given for 14 years, since before I graduated. I don't want to lose those points. I've thought of stopping, but also see all the money I've given and see it as lost if I give it up.
I'd say not a chance, unfortunately.
Yes. My wife and I donate primarily so we can get season tickets each year as its a requirement. I also like supporting VT, it was a big factor in my development as an adult.
We've dropped our Hokie Club donation back in recent years for a few reasons:
1. We wanted to support VT more broadly, so we started making some donations to the Foundation (nothing major but overall its about the same all in when you put it with the Hokie Club)
2. I feel like the Athletic Dept. didn't really care about the smaller donors so I wasn't going to stretch to donate at a higher Hokie Club level since the administration looked at it all the same way until you actually wrote a much bigger check.
Point number 2 merits a little more explanation. Weaver did a lot of things right but I felt like the smaller/younger/ less wealthy/whatever donors were discounted. Don't get me wrong, its a donation based organization so of course the bigger donors get better treatment. That's how it should be. But that doesn't mean you completely discount the smaller ones. I feel like a lot of things done at the athletic department in re: fan relations are set according to what the biggest donors want. Let's take game time for example. When we have the ability to set the time, its 1:30. Weaver has said in the past that's the best time for the fans as it allows for travel before and after the game. What fans though? Yes, some prefer that. But my hunch is that's the folks just there for the day... most likely older donors who don't tailgate or folks who live relatively close. A lot of us come from 3+ hours away and make a weekend out of it. A lot of us would prefer a later start for a tailgate. But I always got the impression Weaver just listened to those closest to his ear and proximity was determined by check size. That works in the moment but it discounts the fact that today's small donors are possibly tomorrow's big guys.
On a related note, I think VT used to have a first time season ticket buyer program for young alumni but then did away with that somewhere around 2005/2006 when demand was spiking. Maybe they brought it back recently? But again, my point is that it was short sighted. VT blocked out folks when they couldn't buy in to season tickets at a $1000/yr Silver Hokie donation. So they lost that loyalty longer term and those folks would likely be giving something now to stay in the club but why bother when you can pick up tickets pretty easily these days.
I think VT is seeing the effect of some of that now... younger, smaller donors felt disconnected and now that they have real earning power VT is missing out on their donations.
Finally, I had been donating for the better part of a decade and not once was I ever contacted by the Hokie Club other than the standard mailings. However, at one point, a member of the VT Foundation development team reached out to me directly just to check in and see how things were going. I felt honored and appreciated, even though my donations (athletic or general purpose) were quite small compared to other alumni. But the fact that she took a few minutes to talk with me meant a lot, so I decided to support the university more generally beyond just athletics. If the athletic department ever reached out and thanked me in a more personal way and/or asked me how satisfied I was as a Hokie Club member, I'd probably consider donating a bit more. It wouldn't be substantial (at least in VT's eyes) but had they done a better job at engaging me all along I'd probably be pretty receptive if they called and said "Hey, we know our football team has been down a bit, but we need folks like you to help us continue to be competitive across the board." But they didn't and now the flagship revenue stream is struggling a bit and they are feeling the effects of riding that wave up without planning for the long term.
All that said, my wife and I are committed to making some sort of donation every year and retaining our season tickets (unless something unforeseen made it financially irresponsible to do so.) We like having season tickets and we like supporting VT. But the level at which we do so is subject to the value we're getting back and the value we perceive that VT places on our donation.
Any commits going to flip from FSU to VT?
850k.
Unreal.
If this is the future of Big-Time college football, I'm not so sure VT has the resources to consistently compete at a high level. Takes an awful lot of luck to find quality coaches that will stick to a program paying significantly less than what they can get elsewhere.
Luck was not with us the past decade. We got only one-half of the equation, and the last two years is its legacy.
This is the lesson to be learned through all of this.
If the ACC wants to be taken seriously football-wise, it's going to have to start handing out the dough that could poach SEC coordinators from their positions to coach the same position, not just as head coach.
Til' then, all we're ever going to hear is about #SECDOMINANCE
The SEC = the New York Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers
The ACC = the other teams
I don't. Right now is the closest I've lived to Blacksburg since I graduated and I'm 5 hours away in Virginia Beach. Due to distance, and with a young child, I only make it to one game a year and it makes more sense for me to just pick up the tickets from a friend or Stub Hub.
It might be a misconception but I've always viewed the Hokie Club as a necessary evil if you wanted season tickets. I think that they need to find a way to give something else to donors whether that be the respect/ability to claim "I Pay Thirty a Year" ala Clemson, some sort of exclusive swag or something.
For those that say I should just donate money and not worry about anything in return... I guess I'm not that good a person or whatever! I donate the the Surfrider Foundation and I get a couple of nice magazine newsletters a year, volunteer opportunities in the area and beyond etc. Somehow it means more to mean because I get something tangible out of it in return.
Maybe the Hokie Club has all that stuff, but they don't do a good job of advertising what they are all about.
I do like to take the temperature of the fan base. And this is a great site for it. Somewhat less Chicken Little-ish than TSL. Somewhat.
Only problem I have with this logic is that there will surely be other marquee DC jobs open next year or the year after, or the year after that. Taking a $1M salary vs. Bud's about $600K salary, it takes 2 years for the other position to break even when you add the $800K to his current salary. He'll stay for a year at least, hopefully two, and maybe then he'll get a raise. Hopefully.
I hope that made sense...
I thought I saw on the news a person was spotted running naked through FSU's campus , wearing notihng but a championship ring and chantting like a maniac.
"ooooohhhooooohhooooooooohh...ooooohh..ooohh..oooh"
while I agree that that'll definitely help keep him around, UGA just offered the FSU DC $850,000 PER YEAR!
CLASS WAR VETERAN
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12 years 6 months
# | Regarding LSU Interviewing Grimes and VT Assistant Salaries 
I agree that we need bigger home OOC games. Nebraska was great. I imagine OSU will be as well. Games like that sell out. They also put more season ticket holders in seats because they want to make sure they have a spot for that game. But while playing multiple marquee games will make for bigger hype and some increase in revenue, the program's goal is to win a national championship. Losing a game makes that goal incredibly difficult. Revenue will increase with more ticket sales, but donations will increase if we win the crystal football and that makes a greater difference.
With regards to our ACC schedule, we can only hope that Swofford gets somewhere with his hope that the NCAA will remove restrictions regarding teams to play every team in their division. That would allow for a greater possibility of playing teams like Louisville, Clemson, and FSU more often.
GET SOME!
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12 years 6 months
# | FSU Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt taking over DC duties at Georgia Don't forget that Bud gets and $800,000 check in the form of a retention bonus if he's still the Hokies' DC come January 1, 2015. I think he stays.
Funny you bring up IPTAY. It was originally I Pay Ten a Year. However, they have significantly increased it over the years (incresed to $20 in 1969, $30 in 1976, $100 in 1989 and $140 in 2003). Also they established a "Priority Point System" for seating and parking spaces.
I used to think this was a great/revolutionary plan. However, it's basically the same as our Hokie Club ($100 minimum, priority points system). The difference is buy-in. They have A LOT more members than us. Our new AD needs to find a way to get new alumni (and disconnected older ones) into the fold.
I believe this is closer to the case. In any profession, it doesn't hurt to look. If someone is willing to offer you a raise in your pay, you at least listen to what they have to say. This is true of CEO or a pizza man. If his resume was on LinkedIn asking around for any and all open positions, that would be different.
it's a scary new world :)
Interesting move for him. Coming off a title and having the stable of players at FSU. He has to compete with much better offenses in the SEC and if his stats slip he could be in for rude awakening. Makes me think with Jimbo not going anywhere and Reicht on the hot-seat every single year; that he just wants to ride shotgun with a guy who is always coaching for his job and hoping that he leaves.
FINALLY!!!
I do think you interview him. But I just can't see Bud leaving for another DC job when he's already turned down at least UGA.
I am currently not a Hokie Club member. I guess I mainly felt like I didn't need to donate since I only get to one or two games a year, or that my $100 wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. After doing some thinking today though, I will be joining soon.
I agree the ACC scheduling is out of our hands, but Tech does control 4 non conference games a year. More marque home-and-homes could offset a crappy ACC schedule.
Alternatively IPTAY = "It's Prison Time Again Y'all"