Lack of attendance part 2
by chrisnole on Aug 28, 2010 1:41 PM EDT
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Hello all....
At the beginning of the month I posted a fanpost reguarding the lack of attendence for FSU football (compared to other elite school around the country). You all gave some good reasons/excuses for the lack of attendance. However, I am still annoyed at this problem with ticket sales.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, as of Friday afternoon (August 27th), there are 15,000 tickets remaining for the first football game. Yes, 15,000!! That means there are currently only about 68,000 tickets sold and we have a week until the game. That's embarrassing for an elite program like FSU.
This is Jimbo Fisher's first game as head coach at FSU, we have a potential heisman quarterback, and a program that seems to be on the rise. Now I know some of you will say "the game is at noon" "it's too far away" "it's Samford" "I have a family" "Too much money." "Game's on tv"
Well you know what, those are pretty bad excuses. UF is playing Miami, Ohio for their first game. So they aren't any better than Stamford. They also play at noon. Their game is on tv as well (espn). And their fans have family and money issues as well. The only thing that's different is location and that 2 hour difference between g-ville and tally shouldn't account for a 25,000 ticket differential.
I realize they have had better success lately, but if we have true fans, it shouldn't matter if we're ranked 20th or if we're ranked 1st. We have to pack the Doak! I'm tired of fans only attending the big games or when we're ranked high. Part of being a true seminole is supporting your team in person as often as possible.
Only 68,000 tickets sold to this point is pretty embarrassing for our program. I sure hope many people buy tickets this week. Go Noles!
P.S Before anyone takes offense to this post, I realize most of the readers on this site are die-hard fans and attend many games or watch the games from very far away. This post is inteded for FSU fans in general and is my reaction to the large amount of tickets that remain unsold.
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I expect a good turnout nonetheless
I got two tickets each for the first 3 home games, so I’m still excited
"theres two types of people in this world, those who CARRY a spear and those who FEAR the spear"-James Coley
by jfree on Aug 28, 2010 1:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Everyone was waiting
to see if the team was forced to cancel on Samford and play Miami first again.
We start winning
you wont have to worry about posting something like this. Remember if 68,000 actually show up (I’m guessing about 73) that is about 13K more than showed up to homecoming last year.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
15,000 tickets remaining bc Bobby ran our program into the ground
Bobby should buy the 15,000 tickets remaining and give them to people around the community. (peace treaty)
tickets
well once they can sell single game tickets where u can choose your location, id buy through the ticket office. i usually scalp bc i cant go to every game, i can find better scalping or using friends tickets.
So you haven't said anything different than last time?
This isn’t anything winning won’t solve.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
Eh...
it is what it is. I’m probably just too deterministic. But obviously the poor attendance isn’t because FSU fans are just inherently worse fans than, for example, UF fans. So when you contrast FSU’s situation to UF’s (substantially less people in a 150 mile radius, worse on the field performance for the last decade, smaller alumni base with less “old money”) it makes perfect sense that our attendance would be worse than UF’s. If UF had those three aforementioned characteristics they would be in the same boat as us.
I’ve argued with Miami fans before and thrown out the argument about how crappy their fan base is since they rarely fill up the stadium. But really I just say that to get under their skin. It’s perfectly logical that their attendance would be poor. They are a small private school.
There’s about 5.6 million people within 150 miles of Leon county. There’s about 10.9 million people within 150 miles of Alachua county. But the differences between the populations is more then just population. Most of the people within 150 miles of Leon county (this is lower alabama and lower georgia) are of lower socioeconomic status while the people within the 150 miles of Alachua are of higher socioeconomic status.
The quality of the population is probably more important then the size of the population.
And a lot of those AL/GA folk aren't really FSU supporters are they?
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
I think there are many legit reasons for poor attendance
and all in all, this university/program hasn’t treated the fans well enough to expect sell outs. Still this number is disappointing and surprising for Jimbo’s first game. I genuinely expected the interest to be greater, and I tend to be pretty negative about FSU in general.
If the 15,000 number assumes every student ticket is picked up, then the actual attendance could well be even worse than 68,000.
it does assume student tix are filled
because i subtracted the 15,000 away from 83,000 (which is the capacity including students).
There’s 40,000 students at our school each year latey, so idk why an 80,000+ seat stadium is hard to sellout. Espcially when it’s your coach’s first game ever and your team is ranked 20th.
There are also new ticket policies.
They are not playing around with Booster dues anymore. They will not send tickets unless your dues are cleared. I think they also upped some requirements. I don’t think that would have counted as unsold tho.
The more informed you are on the changes and new era. The more excited you are for the season. The average Nole is probably not clicking reload a thousand times a day on TN like we are. If you win, they will show. I just don’t understand what an FSU student is doing during a home game, even at noon. Even if you are really hungover, crawl out of bed, get down there, snag a ticket, powerade/redbull, hair of the dog, represent.
Sitting outside
Tailgating because no beer in the stadium
We’re playing Samford
And it’s on TV.
No fat chicks
Allow me to rearrange that into Haiku...
We’re playing Samford
No beer in the stadium
And it’s on TV
"The other day I... uh, no, that wasn't me." - Steven Wright
by O-Town Nole on Aug 29, 2010 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Noon Noles Game > Noon Beer Pong
mathebonically speaking…
Student tickets
Im a junior at FSU and in 2008 the entire student ticket system was changed, no more ticket coupons that can be redeemed at the ticket office leading up until kickoff. Students have to register for the ticket online the week before the game during a few day window (don’t know exactly how many days because I register the second it opens). Then they are notified if a lottery was needed…if not everyone who registered gets a ticket emailed to them (no more will call pick up) the monday before the game. So some idiots are clueless and forget to register and dont get a chance to get a ticket.
by unconquered2010 on Aug 29, 2010 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions
monday at 5- friday at 5 is the window
my sister was one of the idiots who forgot to register. i reminded most of my friends though.
They have a will call for students because the thing never sells out (Miami/Florida aside).
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
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"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
I wouldn't be too worried.
Bottom line: Give people a product worth watching, and they’ll come to watch. I think it’s a tough sell, because
(A) Nobody knows what to expect after a decade of being beaten down emotionally,
(2) We’re playing Samford, and
(D) It’s a tough economy, especially for a school in a pretty isolated part of a state that has ben hit harder than most by the housing bubble popping.
It’s not unreasonable for people to be a little hesitant to spend hundreds of dollars to come see a game that, in all likelihood, will be completely meaningless (unless we do very poorly) and not even a very good indicator of where our guys are at.
Have a little patients, amigo. We’ll get there.
"Words ought to be a little wild for they arethe assault of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
I'm still mad about how Bowden was fired, so F going to the game!
I kid, I kid. I’ll be there. I’d be willing to bet the crowd will be somewhere in the range of 75,000-78,000.
That would put the Noles in the top 20 in attendance and by far the youngest school with that many folks watching football.
Gripper
This is just another reason to not schedule 3 cupcakes every year like Florida.
They just cut the ticket prices from $50 to $25. So I imagine there will be around 75k there or so.
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
No
Schedule smart to win championships. Lower attendance than we’d like for one game is worth the win.
>>---l>
and you don't play less games
at home. you add a couple cupcakes and you play 8 games at home. You are still making money even with the lower attendance lame games.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Aug 29, 2010 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions
This.
Seriously you gotta play the game by its own rules if you wanna win. Why handicap yourself unnecessarily.
The Funk Phenomenon.
Mmm, I'm thinking if you're undefeated or only have one loss and in a championship hunt, attendance wouldn't suffer much because of a cupcake.
I mean a mid/late season game vs Western Kentucky when we are 7-0 or 8-1 or something like that would still draw 75K+ right? The reason cupcakes are severely hurting attendance recently is because we haven’t been winning very much so no one wants to watch us struggle with some joke team.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
Texas just scheduled home & home with USC, Miami did with Notre Dame & Nebraska
We are FSU! I do not want to play 3 crap teams to try and back in to a MNC like Florida. If we can’t beat those kinds of teams, then we don’t deserve to be in the MNC. FSU has always played traditional powers. Looking forward to OU next year & WVU coming up.
I thought it was up to the AD, not the HC. Every HC always says well I can’t help who we play, we just play who is on our schedule.
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
Trust me, Jimbo will have input
It’s just stupid to play OOC games like we currently do in the current college football climate. It isn’t smart at all. Strength of schedule doesn’t matter. I’ll take my championships and you can have your “traditional FSU schedule.”
>>---l>
man we gotta fix this mentality
were making it hard on ourselves by playing strong OOC games, there needs to be a link on the main page that explains why this is a bad idea so we can paste it everytime this comes up, cause it comes up a lot. i wouldnt worry about that WVU game, or USF, or whoever else is coming up in the next few years, Jimbo is about to cut that crap. I like the “Road Warrior” mentality and all but i’d rather win titles, like DK said
"Don't flinch, let's kill a fly with an Axe."
>>>──────►
You can see right now
UF has had some success with this method.
FSU
by DS_fear_the_spear on Sep 1, 2010 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions
People forget that we have perpetual home-n-home with UF
So Tex scheduled USC? We have UF.
Tex. isn’t scheduling USC, UF, and (Oregon, Clemson, WV, VaTech, Penn St. <— pick one) all in the same season.
Miami is just stupid and we would love them to play Tex, USC, Nebraska, OU, UF, Bama, Ohio St., LSU, Cinci, Boise (pick 3 or 4) all in the same season with no cupcakes.
by NoleLaw on Aug 31, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Texas has Texas A&M, Texas Tech & OU already every year. They play all their rivals every year too.
They did not have to schedule Ohio St/USC/UCLA etc but they do.
FSU has never been afraid to play the big boys & I love it! It one of the best things of being a Nole. I love these types of games! Like I said b4, if we can’t beat those teams, then we do not deserve to win the NC. No need to be b-made like Florida and play 3 High School teams every year. That is not FSU. They are the ones scared of Miami & that haven’t left the state in 20 years for OOC. They would’ve dropped us to if we didn’t have the bill drawn to embarrass them into playing us. Just because FSU has lost a few games the past decade is no reason to stoop to their level and change who we are.
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
A&M, Tech, and OU are all conference games for Texas
We play teams like Miami, VT, GT, Clemson, UNC, BC, etc. on a regular basis. AND we have Florida EVERY YEAR.
The point is we are talking about OOC games, right?
It’s not like the ACC is full of HS teams so that we can (or need to) go load up on top 20 teams for our OOC games. 5 teams or 25% of the pre-season top 20 teams are from the ACC. By comparison, only 3 are from the SEC.
Sounds like you want the Seminoles to be the only team in the country to have to play top 20 teams every week. From the perspective of a spectator, I love the idea. But for the good of the team, national recognition, bowl appearances, etc. it is a very bad idea. I will put the team first and not be so selfish.
I love the idea. But for the good of the team, national recognition, bowl appearances, etc. it is a very bad idea. I will put the team first and not be so selfish.
exactly! we all love the big games, but it needs to change for the better of the team. im sure there were a few nay-sayers when teh forward pass was introduced to the game, but that didnt stop teams from adapting it. the point of playing is to win, and we all play within the same rules, so if you can make it easier go for it. people remember titles, not season opening games
>>>──────►
by NorFla_Nole on Aug 31, 2010 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Plenty of SEC/ACC etc teams play OOC traditional powers in the regular season. Just not Florida. No need to play 3 cupcakes every year @ home to try and make it easier to win or back in to a NC game. That is not FSU, that is Florida.
I know I will not be driving to 8 hour trips to watch creampuffs on the regular. I will for ACC or traditional powers though. It does not get more die-hard than me either. 87-05 season ticket holder and 3 games a year since 05. Also a ton of the big road games through the years. Most Noles I know feel the same. FSU has better not start playing 3 HS teams every year @ home like the Turds.
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
whats it matter if we do?
like you said, youre not going to the cupcake games, youll only go to 3 games. so pick 3 good home match ups and be thankful for the cup cakes when we starting wining major bowls and getting back in the title hunt
>>>──────►
That is not FSU, that is Florida.
Refresh my memory, who has more titles as of late? Who is playing the modern game better?
>>---l>
FSU got shutout at home by WF. That is the ebb & flow of CFB. Noone is on top forever. We are getting back & no need to be scared & schedule trash to try and win games. I'm not scared of the comp. I have faith FSU will win.
Soon FSU will be good enough to cut through any of the powers like butter
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
This is not 1985.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Aug 31, 2010 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions
it doesnt really matter either way
Jimbo is putting an end to the crazy OOC games. If the Head Coach says it needs to be changed, well it needs to be changed. Thats reason enough for me. If Jimbo wants 3 cupcakes a year, give it to him. Same with mental training from IGN, an indoor field, a new S&C program etc etc etc. All of these steps are being put in place for a reason, and thats so the team is in a position to succeed. Just drink your koolaid and be a good Sabanite
>>>──────►
agree, but
please don’t label us Sabanites. I despise Saban for his lack of class in last years NC with the last minute unnecessary td.
Getting shutout at home by Wake Forest is not the ebb and flow of football...
- facepalm *
How many other schools has Wake done that to this decade?
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
I disagree about the "ebb and flow" point above
When’s the last time Vandy beat uf? Our ebb was mostly self-inflicted. Had Bowden made good hires over the past ten years, we wouldn’t have slipped nearly as far as we have. We may not have won 10 games every year, but we wouldn’t have lost 30-0 at home to Wake, and we wouldn’t have been 7-6 three of the last four years.
Not at all.
I got your point. Wake was an awful example of it and goes way beyond the “ebb and flow”/“cyclical nature” of football.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
Ridiculous
There is far more parity in college football today than there was in our dynasty years. It will never be like that again.
>>---l>
Yeah so ridiculous that Bama smashed on ooc VaTech and won the MNC last year,
That was so 1985 lol
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
What are you talking about?
As the others pointed out, they played 1 tough OOC game and 3 creampuffs, the exact scenario you’re arguing FSU should not seek.
>>---l>
THIS!!!
I don’t get it. Every other team schedules zero to one tough OOC game and three patsies. It’s like FSU fans REFUSE to acknowledge that Florida (who has won 2 BCS titles in the past 4 seasons) is an OOC game! We have a tough schedule with UF, Miami, and Clemson every year, plus rotating Georgia Tech, UNC, and VT (not including schools like BC, NC State, and Maryland that seem to have a good year every 5 years or so).
I wish we could "Neg Rec" posts and turn them red...
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
by tricknole on Sep 1, 2010 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
There are a lot out there.
A ton. I’m sure people have wanted to do it to me too. lol
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
"I have faith"
That statement sums up this viewpoint.
As George Bluth Sr. once said, “Faith is not a fact.”
by FLpanhandler on Sep 1, 2010 9:31 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The exception doesn't prove the rule
Look up the last 10 national champions’ OOC schedules. Better yet, look at the teams that play in BCS games each year and come to the conclusion that strength of schedule doesn’t matter in college football. We’d all love to see national showdowns played by the ’Noles, but most of us will gladly give those up to win championships.
>>---l>
Um, yeah
They also played FIU, N. Texas and Chattanooga OOC. We play uf as our high-profile OOC game.
Who else did Bama play OOC in 2009? Well lets let the Googletron 4000 do the talking...
FIU
North Texas
Tennessee Chattanooga
Soooo… Alabama went undefeated in a National Championship campaign by playing ONE respectable OOC opponent (Virginia Tech), THREE cupcakes/awful football teams, and winning their BCS Conference.
Did you ever even play the game? I guarantee I can coach my Little League team to beat yours 10 times out of 10.
by Caveman Mafia on Aug 31, 2010 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
dammit Invictus....You beat me to it while I was using that flim flam google machine
Did you ever even play the game? I guarantee I can coach my Little League team to beat yours 10 times out of 10.
by Caveman Mafia on Aug 31, 2010 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
LOL
I went straight to CNNSI’s Bama schedule page.
Seriously this is a complaint of yours for the Great Samford Bulldogs game at The Doak.
Geography combined with economy is the explanation. we are 2.5 hours away from the nearest big town(a decidedly gator town in J-ville)…4 hours away from the second and third nearest big town(one a gator town Orlando, and the other a seminole town Tampa).
UF is conveniently near all of these towns. 1.5 hours at most from J-ville, 2 hours from Orlando, 2.333 hours from Tampa.(Google Maps)
Don’t compare SoFla drives. 8 hrs to Tally vs 5 hours to g-ville from Ft. Lauderdale area.
So What can we conclude? That without considering records of two elite programs, People with mild interest would rather go to a game that they can go to and be back in the same bed within a day rather than a whole weekend trip.The added expenses of a hotel, gas, and if you have a family having to handle kids, Okay…this is a non issue.
This seriously is a non-issue for Samford. Now if we only draw 60k again for a team like Maryland, NC state, Clemson in the middle of the year then yes, be concerned.
the issue is not Stamford
I dont care who we play, we could be playing a high school jv team. This is Jimbo Fisher’s first game. This is history. I wish I was alive when Bowden became coach. I would be able to tell everyone I know that I was at his first and last game as a Seminole (I drove up from Tampa to Jax for the game since I was home from FSU or break). Anyone who wants to be a part of FSU history should be at this game. First game of the season, first game of the Jimbo era. I can careless who we play.
You should take a look at economic numbers before you realize that people going to go to one game this year would rather see the BYU game or the Clemson or some other relevant game rather than a scrimmage. Even in our heyday wouldn’t half the stadium be empty by the 4th quarter against a team like Samford?
Peoples family’s and pocketbooks would rather see a relevant game than a SCRIMMAGE.
My Father is an avid fan. Would like to see all the games for FSU. A huge Jimbo fan. Is coming to see either the Clemson game or BYU, because why waste the gas from to see a gimme game. Came to the Spring game, why come to see more of the same.
Not everyone lives in the fairy tale world of having enough money to shell out to travel to the games.
by PalmAireNole on Aug 29, 2010 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Personally
I’m disappointed with those numbers. If I had a ton of dough, I’d buy a batch of tickets and pass them out for free just to get people in the stands. I know winning (and a better economy) would get more people in the stadium, but I’d like to see the fan base more willing to head out to the game.
Too many factors involved to have a sell out
The student section is NOT sold out for the game so expect the number of empty seats to be higher then the 15,000 unsold tickets. I am a student and will be attending the game one way or another. I have not registered for a ticket yet because the system has some kind of error with my account. I am a student booster and should be guaranteed a ticket but the current system has some flaws in it. And yes I have used the system before, for every home game last year but for some reason this year it won’t work. Other students I talked to don’t know much about the current ticket system and don’t care to go to a hot noon game. A lot of students were turned off by the way the ticket process worked last year. If your not familiar you had to pay a convenience charge of $2 to print at home or stand in line at the ticket office and pick up a ticket. The $2 convenience charge is unjustified which is why it was taken away and for the first game last year people who chose to wait in line were passing out from the heat.
I also know a couple season ticket holders from tampa who will not be attending the game. FSU chose not to have a sell out when the decided to have a noon game that will be on tv instead of a night game that might have been picked up by tv. I also think the $50 price tag for a ticket is WAY TO HIGH.
As far as season ticket sales go, which would help in selling more games out. FSU has done a poor job of satisfying season ticket holders over the years. Last year was the attempt to not allow people to bring their own chairs with backs on them to the game. This was a ploy to try and get people to pay an extra 5 bucks per game to rent a seat. Then there is the ticket prices that continue to go up even though the product on the field has continued to go down. Once again I bring up that the STANFORD ticket costs $50!!!
In these tough economic times FSU should be helping fans out by picking more convenient kick off times and lowering ticket prices. I would say winning will help ticket sales tremendously but the cost right now is not justified. Most fans have payed the outrageous prices for tickets over the years and for the most part have had to drive 4+ hours home thinking about how the game was nothing more then embarrassing(see shutout against wake forest). Changing the ticket system for students every year doesn’t help either.
Just my $0.02
Take Doak Back!!!
Please know your facts...
schools DO NOT choose kickoff times. Television networks do.
We played SAMFORD, not Stanford.
just bought 3 tickets from seminoles.com
for me, my gf, and my buddy. i live 2 1/2 hrs away from Tally and will have to drive after work friday (after working all week) then come back sometime saturday after the game. i have friends in orlando that i begged to come with me but it was the same old thing…“its just samford”, “its a noon game it’ll be too hot”, and all the other BS so i agree with you chrisnole, our attendance is pathetic right now and not until people that truly love this school and this program find a way to stick it out in the heat for 3 1/2 hours will we fill Doak for games like this. as for me, i’ll be there screaming my head off and cheering for my beloved Noles!
Good points there.
$50/tkt x 4 tkts (family of 4) = $200.
Gas for SUV (round trip from O-town) = $100
Tolls for turnpike = $10
Parking: $40
Food at Game (for family of 4): $50
1 night at hotel = $125
Fri. night dinner and Sat. morning breakfast: $75
That’s about $600 for a family of 4 to drive to Tally Fri. night and leave right after the game. Even if the ticket prices are cut in half, you’re still talking about $500 (without alcohol). Note: most of the cost does not come from tickets.
If I can save a lot of money, time, and aggravation cooling in the A/C at home, why go? If it’s about giving money to the program, I can just donate w/o spending all the time and dragging the kids out in the heat. I don’t think I’d go if the game were at night or if the tickets were only $25/ea. I don’t even care whether it’s on TV or not, but I’m glad that it will be as hopefully that means some $$ for the school.
It also makes no difference to me whether the Noles were 7-6 last year or whether they were 14-0 and nat’l champs. The record means more to local bandwagon fans in the panhandle and S.Ga. as far as attendance goes than it does to alumni who live 4+ hrs. away (longer if you have kids and need to make multiple rest stops).
The reputation of Death Valley (either of them) being tough places to play was not built upon attendance at games against the likes of Samford. Thus, I don’t necessarily get the point of all of this. If it’s revenue, just tell people to donate. I would be more likely to GIVE you money than to buy a pile of crap that you want to dump in my front yard. (I don’t need or want the crap—even if you were trying to sell the crap to support the Noles.)
Still, I see some good in the discussion as it brings out complaints from season ticket holders, alumni, and even students. The school should try to work with the fans. One thing I always hated about UF was being treated like some nobody who was waiting in line at the unemployment office—uncaring government bureaucracy type crap. FSU always seemed to be more personable and friendly toward its students. That’s a big reason why I ended up in Tally instead of Hogtown.
by NoleLaw on Aug 30, 2010 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
rec'd
for the statement “One thing I always hated about UF was being treated like some nobody who was waiting in line at the unemployment office—uncaring government bureaucracy type crap. FSU always seemed to be more personable and friendly toward its students.”
I got in to both UF and FSU and ended up a Nole for that very reason. When I was accepted into FSU. A rep from FSU personally called me to congratulate me and wish me the best of luck and see if i needed any other help with anything at all. FSU also sent my family and a huge packet of information along with my acceptance letter which was very nicely worded. Whereas UF notified me online. Everything FSU related was much more tastefully done, they have the utmost class.
Then, while we were touring the campus, we got a little lost at some point and were looking at a map we had somewhere near the union and this girl stopped to give us directions and was extremely friendly about it too. Just a hands down better experience than UF. Best decision of my life.
Just to repeat
Can’t compare FSU with UF due to total number of fans. UF, Ohio State, Penn St., Alabama, etc have much larger fan bases. They can suffer a 30% drop in interest and still sell out. Our stadium is bigger than our fan base can guarantee to sell out. We could have a 60,000 seat stadium and sell out everything and wouldn’t have to hear about this. What other 80,000 seat football program has been playing high profile football for one generation? We need another generation of big-time football before selling out 80,000 is a piece of cake. We’ll get there.
That said, I’m coming to this one from Atlanta, and bought six through the ticket office. I got the $25 facebook tickets, but I was amazed they were trying to get $50 for this game.
Winning Cures Everything
If they win and keep winning the stadium will be full. I think UF would have empty seats too given a similar situation. They have about 50,000 more alumni and an easier campus to get to, but you would see empty seats if they had a mediocre team for several years and they opened with an FCS opponent. Ohio State, on the other hand, has about 120,000 more alumni, they are located in the middle of the state, in the middle of Ohio’s largest city. You have to be an alumni just to enter a lottery to get a small chance to get tickets to two games, not of your choosing. No problem with that type of population to grab from.
Exactly
And forget about alumni, think about the number of fans that an Ohio State has from playing football since the stone age. And they play in a stadium that is what, only 20% bigger than ours?
Compare that to FSU, where I would bet that about half our fans graduated after 1990. That’s half your fan base that not only hasn’t retired, with the flexibility and discretionary income that comes with that, but still has kids in sports and activities. The one game I’ll be able to do with the family this year is Samford, and even so to accomodate their activities we’ll be coming in and going home to Atlanta same day.
The difference between 60,000 and 80,000 is the bandwagon fans and locals that take an interest with a winning team, or fans that are more likely to bail when money’s tight. At UF, when bad performance or the economy hits, their demand might go from 110,000 to 90,000. Ohio State, it might go from 160,000 to 110,000.
Nobody else but us plays in a stadium so close to the total demand of their fan base.
I’m not saying we should pull out seats. I like the fact that we are pushing ourselves and expect more of our program than similar schools. But I don’t buy the argument that we are somehow more lacking than other fan bases. We just don’t have nearly as many fans as other schools, and our stadium is as big or nearly as big as their stadiums.
I'll be there
with my daughter. but $62 for the 2 of us to see FSU vs Samford (50 +12 for a youth ticket) is too much. I’ll pick up 2 tickets outside Doak for $30 or less.
HAHA.
Awesome name. I found you a profile pic. I think adult tickets are 25 for this game. Still can probably find one for cheaper at the game. Don’t be afraid to ask a booster set up. I have gotten from them free tickets and seen them give tickets away.
Oh, Dale..on the artsy side:
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Aug 30, 2010 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions
i think you're mistaken
thats a picture of Rusty Shackleford
Use promo code “mini mint” and it drops the ticket to $25. Also good for the wake forest game.
by jasonole59 on Aug 30, 2010 8:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Call up the ticket office.
I would think they’d give you the discount. Because it definitely exists (although it wouldn’t take that promo code when I just tried it either).
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
minimint
without the space in the middle.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Aug 31, 2010 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Just came across an article that blamed the remaining 15K tickets
on the effect of Bowden leaving the program. Don’t people know that you can’t prove/disprove a negative (e.g., the lack of Bowden)?
Accountabilty is back in Tallahassee....
My cousin
was a Booster for over 20 years and had four season tickets for that time. Due to his business/economy, he’s not coming this year and is no longer a Booster. It’s really tough on some people. I will be there for all home games as usual (from Tampa), but it won’t be quite the same without him and his family.
Encourage him to renew at the $60 booster level
Every little bit helps. I’d like to see more and more people give, even if it’s just a little bit.
According to the St. Pete Times over the weekend
There are still tickets available for UF’s home opener. They didn’t say how many. So its not just us.
Also, it is SAMford…not STAMford
It's Samford, We are a commuter fanbase, and we haven't won like an elite level program.
In all this is a pretty good turnout considering those factors and the economy.
Expect BYU to be better.
"Don't bite your friends" - DJ Lancerock
Uh oh, don't rile 'em up.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
Samford? Well they DO have that 12,000 yard rusher... a buck-50 in 1 AA is nothing to sneeze at...
aaaacheeeeew!
"Don't bite your friends" - DJ Lancerock
No I mean the people who think a sellout vs Samford is the be all end all.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
By the way I'll be there with my token Take Doak Back doing my part..."Where will you be?"
"Don't bite your friends" - DJ Lancerock
Everyone, this has A LOT to do with the noon kickoff. And I know that sucks, but the fanbase (and student population) is what it is.
FSU should have begun spending extra energy promoting this game the minute the kickoff was announced. There’s a reason the school used to always schedule September games at night, before TV took over, and there’s a reason you still hear how FSU fans love Doak at night or whatever. If you’ve never been to a noon game in September, please be warned that it’s a completely miserable experience if the sun is shining. If you watched the Gates open at noon or 12:30 on TV last year you noticed that even the diehards at the Swamp were clearing out in the 3rd quarter. It’s really hot if it’s not overcast. Wear sunscreen and prepare to keep yourself hydrated – being serious. And be warned also that the water at Doak tastes like it was dredged straight from the sewers. The tap water? No, I’m talking about Dasani. I’ll see you there.
by TRMNole on Aug 31, 2010 4:07 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Commuter fanbase?
Does anyone have reputable statistics regarding the number of season tickets sold now, in 2000, 1995, and 1990? Also any stats regarding the percentage of season ticket holders and game attendees from outside would be beneficial. I from Tallahassee so I did not know much about the commute required, and my perception regarding out-of-town fans is certainly different than the majority of you. I’m not questioning the assumptions, but would rather know some solid statistics rather than perceptions. It always “seemed” that the majority of fans, including students, came from less than a 25 mile radius of the stadium. It’s hard for me to believe otherwise without facts. Thanks in advance. I always enjoy a good discussion regarding entertainment attendance.
by FLpanhandler on Sep 1, 2010 10:26 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Errors
“game attendees from outside” = from outside Leon county
“I from Tallahassee” = I’m from Tallahassee
by FLpanhandler on Sep 1, 2010 10:30 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't have links or hard numbers
but I know that, according to Seminole Boosters and representatives from the Seminole Ticket Office, FSU sold “around” 48,000 season tickets in 2003 before the decline began. Every year after 2003-2004, season ticket sales have declined and they bottomed out last year at 34,000.
It’s hard reference season tickets to Doak because of the seeminly constant expansion over the last two decades. There were far less season tickets sold in the early 90’s because capacity was only 75,000 or so, then 77,000, then 80,000 and now 82,300.
However, FSU is expected to sell right at 35,000 season tickets this year (just a few hundred more than last year). Also, according to Seminole Boosters, more than 50% of season ticket holders are from outside of Leon County, which basically means that over half of the 35,000 season tickets sold are from people living 3+ hours from Doak (Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and everywhere in between).
Thanks
That helps to better grasp the situation. The early 90s capacity was closer to 70,000 but attendance reports from nolefan.org show at least 60000 for even the weakest opponents. So I didn’t know if season ticket sales were comparable to what we have now.
Regardless of what percentage of Seminole boosters buy season tickets, it is reasonable to think the likelihood of a local booster purchasing and attending season tickets is much higher. I suppose the local population is most responsible for filling up the south endzone which tends to reflect on field success and opponent status.
by FLpanhandler on Sep 2, 2010 8:28 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I was there 90-93
And tickets were always pretty easy to come by outside of Miami and UF. And that was like you said a smaller stadium.
Also, I know Tallahassee isn't a huge business town
But I have to imagine that a certain amount of season tickets were purchased by companies as perks or incentives to give to clients or employees or people visiting, or to entertain clients. That was a valuable commodity when we were good, because going to see one of the premier teams in the country is a great experience and big event even for people that aren’t FSU fans.
Think about it, if you were visiting a business partner in Columbus, and they gave you tickets to the Horseshoe for a game, that would be a pretty exciting thing to do, whether you give a damn about Ohio State or not, or even if you were barely more than a casual fan of college football. But if you were visiting Chicago and they gave you tickets to the Illinois-Northwestern game, that’s probably not going to do much for you unless you’re a hard core college football junkie and just want to collect another stadium.
When we suck, if you don’t have any personal connection to FSU, you probably don’t buy season tickets for your business the same way. I bet FSU lost a fair amount of season tickets that way, and those won’t come back quickly.
It sure seemed like it on tv.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
It sure seemed like it on tv.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
"Correct, Sir Trick."
Students
They sit in Sections 40-41 and 1-7 in the North endzone. They filled it, but came late and like everyone else, left early – it was sweltering.
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