aubie123 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Some of you brought this topic up on another thread. I think this deserves a thread of its own. I'm sure it's been talked about before, but it needs to be disscussed so often that something is done about it. I'm talking about filling the seats. I was watching the Florida game yesterday and the announcer said that FL has sold out well over 100 consecutive games. I"m sure Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU have a similiar streak. They may not, I haven't researched this yet. Why can't Auburn fill the seats?? It makes me wonder if our fan base is as strong as LSU's, Tennessee's, Florida's and Georgia's. I don't think it is. I feel like, even after going 13-0, we're still not on the same level as the big four. If we were we could sell out all games all the time. Our team is worthy of a sold out stadium no matter who they play! I don't care if it's a high school team. They have earned our support. I would like everyones opinion on this. Exept for the ppl who say that playing weak opponents has anything to do with it. Florida would sell out a Ball State game, why can't we!!??!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PChamp119 96 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 This is why I've stated that I don't want to see Jordan Hare expand. We don't have the fanbase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubie123 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Author Share Posted October 9, 2005 You have a great point PChamp. JH shouldn't be expanded any further. JH is perfect at 87,000. We don't have the fan base to fill it. I'm not sure why our fan base isn't stronger. Coach Tuberville is doing a great job. Our players are great preformers on and off the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG-91 1,486 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 The one thing I wonder about with the sellouts is if the SEC counts actual bodies in the stadium or the number of tickets that were sold. If they're using tickets sold, then that is a bogus sellout. I seriously doubt that Florida had every single seat filled for Louisiana Tech. Another factor is ticket prices...using Florida as an example, their 6-game season ticket is $168, or $28/game. I don't know if they have more donation $$$ coming in that allows them to sell tickets that cheaply or if they have a higher per seat donation, but that's about as good as it gets price-wise. I don't know what season ticket prices are, but I'm pretty sure that they're a good deal more expensive on a per game basis. Everybody doesn't have a ton of disposable income to toss around...speaking for myself only, I have a threshold as to what I will pay to see a sporting event. Once the prices exceed that mark, I'll give 'em up to someone else and start picking and choosing what games I go see. That said, 2006 will not see any issues with attendance...we have Florida, Georgia and LSU at home, along with Washington State to open the season. Opponent matters to a degree to a lot of people...undeniable fact. People don't like paying good money to see multiple pre-arranged slaughters. Others can speak to this more than I can because I'm out of state and out of the tailgating loop, but I have heard that there are far more restrictions on tailgating than there used to be. If that is the case, then a sizable portion of the weekend enjoyment is being affected...even if the game promises to be a dud, sitting around and shooting the breeze with friends can make up for it. If people are being inconvenienced in this, then they'll stay away for games like Ball State and WKU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChattanoogaTiger 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 simple demographics Tennessee, Florida and Georgia all have more students. More students require more seats. More students equal more alumni buying more tickets. Tennessee has the added benefit of no competition for football (apologies to Vandy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG-91 1,486 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 ^ | | | That, too...excellent point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 So to sum up: 1) Schedule...WKU, Ball State, the Citadel?...'nuff said. 2) Smaller student body 3) Location, location, location: Many other schools are closer to larger population bases--more fans to drive less distance on a casual Saturday excursion to watch the Ball State's & Citadel's on the schedule. I don't know enough about comparative ticket prices to venture an opinion on that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZ770 2 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Personally I would be driving from Mobile. I usually catch a couple of games this year, but with the Hurricane and gas prices ; people from this region are saying Hey lets catch it on TV. I love to come to back to campus but $3 a gallon makes it harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUwingsfan 1 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I think that SLAG-91 hit the nail on the head.....I think that we actually go by the number of people in the seats other than ticket numbers....and if we reach capacity and there are extra people in the stadium say standing on the ramps....we don't ever go over the official capacity for Jordan-Hare....at least that is what I've seen while going to games and my belief...I may be wrong and my reason probably isn't the only one as I'm sure student population is another huge aspect also....regardless it's still great to be an Auburn Tiger!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outoftowntiger 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Just something to ponder. Some schools like UT count the stalls in the bathroom as seats. What I mean is that anyone inside the stadium walls during the game is counted. Players, staff, concession workers, you name it. To my knowledge this is not the case at AU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle_57 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 We don't have near as many fans as LSU, UF, and UGA. Heck, we are out numbered by alabama fans more than 2-1 in the state. I'd say a much higher percentage of Auburn fans attend the games than any of the other fan bases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vatz22au 142 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Dont have the fanbase? A smaller student body? Pass the pipe Fanbase? How does that explain the thousands and thousands of people who are always waiting to get tickets, and never can because they are not on the same list that "donors" are on? Smaller student body? Try 23,000 students....we have one of the loudest student sections in the SEC. I heard quietfan say something about location...Give me a break, we have EXCELLENT location. Lets see: 1 1/2 hours away from Atlanta...one of the biggest cities in the south. An hour and 40 min drive from Birmingham, one of the biggest cities in Alabama. Three 1/2 hours from Huntsville. Point being, we have more of a location than Tuscaloosa being closer to Atlanta than they are. Sure, we dont have Dallas, Houston, etc close to us....but for being in Alabama, you cant blame location here. You all are looking at ALL the wrong points here. How about this: 1. Ticket prices.....your true auburn fans cant even afford to go to a game....You have to donate 300-600 dollars just for the RIGHT to buy season tickets. 2. Weak out of conference schedule. With these gas prices, who wants to spend about 120-140 on gas, just to see Auburn score 60 points on a scout team? 3. The fanbase has become kind of fair weathered. The true, bleeding orange and blue, fans sometimes cant even afford to get in the games these days Not a big enough fanbase? Give me a break....you'd be shocked to see how many people are actually auburn fans...And I can assure you its way over 87,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'82 Tiger 2 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 i think that most unsold tickets are the returns from the teams we play. isn't that where the mini books come from? i believe that we sell all the tickets available for AU fans & students. there just seems that a lot of season ticket folks don't show up for the ball states of the world. (me included) we could make some minor adustments to the stadium like filling the corners of the end zones on the bottom where the flower planters are and on the top where the regular endzone rows on the top taper down in front of the ramps to the upper deck. looking foward, i'm curious how the new TUF rates will go over? also consider how difficult it is to tailgate in the middle of campus these days. if the powers that be keep raising prices and pushing folks away from campus, i doubt there will ever be any major expansion to Jordan Hare. the folks i've gone in with to buy tickets for about 20 years now are talking about bailing out. hope that there aren't more people considering the same. god bless AU and make sausage out of ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I heard quietfan say something about location...Give me a break, we have EXCELLENT location. Lets see: 1 1/2 hours away from Atlanta...one of the biggest cities in the south. An hour and 40 min drive from Birmingham, one of the biggest cities in Alabama. Three 1/2 hours from Huntsville. Point being, we have more of a location than Tuscaloosa being closer to Atlanta than they are. Sure, we dont have Dallas, Houston, etc close to us....but for being in Alabama, you cant blame location here. 187518[/snapback] We're looking at a "glass half empty/glass half full" situation, I guess. What you see as positives--having to drive "only" one or two hours one-way--I see as negatives. UT (Knoxville), UF (Gainesville), LSU (Baton Rouge) have enough people in the immediate area to fill the stadiums without having to get in the car and make a three-hour round trip to see a game. I might take my kid to a "Ball State" game if it basically just means a drive across town, or to the next town over. But spending several hours driving (then fighting for parking & probably buying a meal or two on the road for the family) is a much bigger investment in time, money, and effort. Basically, a ballgame at some these other schools can be an afternoon excursion, while an Auburn game is a all-day endeavor for most. I think that makes a big difference to adult fans with children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajuntiger12000 0 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Concerning the perceived problem with Auburn filling the seats: I don't believe the fan base is a problem. I moved to Florida two months ago, and have already met 5 people who are Auburn fans. When I lived in Louisiana before that, I met several Auburn fans. My opinion is a combination of several factors 1) Our schedule this year is horrible. Just not a year to get excited about. Even our SEC conference schedule is weak with the exception of LSU, GEORGIA, ALABAMA. 2) I believe people may have a hangover from last year. I know I have not been that pumped up about this year. Very strange for me. I am an Auburn graduate, have family who played football for Auburn, and am an Auburn football fanatic. 3) Gas prices are obviously ridiculous. Enough said. 4) The tailgating at Auburn has gradually gone downhill. Can't park anywhere unless one is a huge donor. The average fan has a hard time enjoying the experience anymore. Ticket prices are expensive. Scalpers rip you off. Not worth spending $100 to see sub-par competition. 5) We don't have any superstar this year that people identify with. 6) The actual game experience at Auburn is kinda dull. The student section has to pull the weight for the entire stadium. We need some interactive cheers. Something innovative, original. Watching Tiger fly is spectacular and original. We need some originality to keep Tiger fans pumped throughout the game, instead of just for the pre game show. Man, if we could harness that energy for the entire game! 7) We have too many people bitching about sitting or standing. My take is get off you butt! This is a football game! Have fun, live a little! Many other fans at other schools cheer their heads off for the entire game. Why can't we? What is the problem with being immature for a few hours? You can go back to work on Monday. 8) I believe Auburn people worry too much about their image, rather than just going out and having fun together, and enjoying the experience. It is very hard to get outsiders to become Auburn fans, when they come to games and witness the same things I am talking about. I have had LSU fans and graduates join me for an Auburn game, and they also note that Auburn people are very stiff. 9) Auburn football is life!! Live it, Breathe it, Love it!!! Find that passion Auburn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM4AU 336 Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I went to 4 games last year and have gone to 2 this year. I plan on going to the Ole Miss game as well. Living in Birmingham and being married to a Bammer, I am not going to talk the little lady into going to WKU, Ball State and the likes. My wife is a cheerleading sponsor at a school about 30-40 miles from where we live so we "travel" every Friday night to a football game (much less when we have road games in Huntsville or Tuscaloosa). She's not real "fired up" about turning around and heading to Auburn on Saturday. Years ago, trying to be a good husband, I told her to let me know if she ever wanted to go to a UAT game and I would get tickets. She told me basically she doesn't care as much about going to games as me, so if we were going to spend money on tickets just get AU tickets. I am not going to test things with a Citadel or ULM. She also pulls for Auburn as long as they are not playing the "Tahd." I also think that the cost of tickets going up every year makes it hard for many people. It's gonna get worse now that the donations necessary to season tix going up will make it even harder. People are going to try to recoup part of the TU donation when they sell the individual tickets. All that being said, if the wife would go along and I could afford season tickets, I would go to every home game. I would surely consider it more if the OCC games were a bit better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChattanoogaTiger 0 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Dont have the fanbase? A smaller student body? Pass the pipe Fanbase? How does that explain the thousands and thousands of people who are always waiting to get tickets, and never can because they are not on the same list that "donors" are on? Smaller student body? Try 23,000 students....we have one of the loudest student sections in the SEC. I heard quietfan say something about location...Give me a break, we have EXCELLENT location. Lets see: 1 1/2 hours away from Atlanta...one of the biggest cities in the south. An hour and 40 min drive from Birmingham, one of the biggest cities in Alabama. Three 1/2 hours from Huntsville. Point being, we have more of a location than Tuscaloosa being closer to Atlanta than they are. Sure, we dont have Dallas, Houston, etc close to us....but for being in Alabama, you cant blame location here. You all are looking at ALL the wrong points here. How about this: 1. Ticket prices.....your true auburn fans cant even afford to go to a game....You have to donate 300-600 dollars just for the RIGHT to buy season tickets. 2. Weak out of conference schedule. With these gas prices, who wants to spend about 120-140 on gas, just to see Auburn score 60 points on a scout team? 3. The fanbase has become kind of fair weathered. The true, bleeding orange and blue, fans sometimes cant even afford to get in the games these days Not a big enough fanbase? Give me a break....you'd be shocked to see how many people are actually auburn fans...And I can assure you its way over 87,000. 187518[/snapback] no offense but the facts are facts aabout the number of students UGA 33000 plus students UF 42000 plus UTK 25000 plus I have great respect for the students. The best 4 years of my life was spent in Auburn and I have 2 daughters who are Almna I faithfully drive 500 hundred miles a weekend to see Auburn play and rarely miss games. I have been a donor since 1982 and will continue. However I will state that the ticket prices are becoming overpriced. As my marketing major daughter says " they will charge whatever the market will bear" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weagle98 119 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 For me tailgaiting isn't as fun as it used to be. We can't get to our spot any more by vehicle unless we get there before 9:00 am, so we have to carry the tent and coolers about 2 blocks before tailgaiting. Right before the game we carried all of those items from Carry Hall to past the ruby field to our vehicle (the only parking space we could find). I was sweating like a pig. We had reserved spots for our vehicles right next to the tailgaiting spot, but they sat empty because we were a little late to the game and the "Police" wouldn't let us go park in our spot, asinine. I'm not going to go through this trouble, paying 50 dollars plus 25 (TUF) per game. Not couning about 100 dollars in gas from pensacola. To watch a slaughter. I'll go to the big games if I can. And if I can't, I'll watch it in HiDef on my new 56" TV, in the air conditioning. I grew up going to games, and I love the atmosphere. I yell the whole game. But there is a breaking point to what I consider "worth it". And it is getting dangerously close to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tigrinum Major Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 To echo others and add my own spin to it, the drive time has been mentioned. I am a little over 2 hours away and the drive hasn't the factor over the past few years. My daughter's soccer games, my son's soccer games, and as he got older, fall baseball games interfered with going to more than about two games a year. This is the first fall they haven't played sports, so I have already been to three games and I plan on at leats one more, many both of the remaining home games. Some of us also have other commitments on weekends (Army Reserves, National Guard, weird shifts at work, etc.) that does not allow going to every game. Sorry to some of you, but as students, you have a limited prespective of things. Real life, kids and commitments get in the way of football games at times. I would love to be able to go to every game, but it just isn't possible. My own parents did not start buying season tickets until I was a freshman in college and they had much more free time. Ticket prices are also a factor, but they aren't a deal breaker for me...yet. If they keep going up, they one day will be. I remember $10 tickets to every game. Ahhh, the salad days... I agree with most of the factors already named, as reasons for each person are different or a combination of a variety of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan4Auburn 1,626 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Sorry to some of you, but as students, you have a limited prespective of things. . 187613[/snapback] I think this is a totally unfair statement. I know students that have obligations to things such as the National Guard. We also have families that have occasions (b-days, weddings, etc etc) that we attend. I know tommorow I have 2 labs due, a paper on Tues and Mon, along with a test on Mon and Tues. Had to work on that stuff all weekend. Who knows who is and who isn't every student on board. Auburn has made tailgating a pain, but ya know people were screwing up the campus landscaping, buildings and labs, and even students projects. Ticket prices are high, Auburn has picked up its share of bandwagon fans over the last 10 years. Also this is a Alabama at home year, which means you have rich Alabama alumni that buy Auburn season tickets for that one game and scalp the rest. As I said before, if the problem is with people outside of the student body (since the general complaint is filling the seats), then take away from the other sections and expand the student section. As I said in the other post Auburn has already been fined this year for overbooking and it isn't the first time that problems with ticket numbers and students has occured. http://www.theplainsman.com/vnews/display....f7?in_archive=1 The article even admits that they oversold in the past. I know in 94 incomming freshmen only got the scraps of games that alumni didn't want because there was not enough student tickets to meet the demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,072 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Fans., Why aren't we filling the seats??!!??!! 1) Schedule 2) Gas prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan4Auburn 1,626 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 http://www.theplainsman.com/vnews/display....15?in_archive=1 Actually found the article that refers to the code violation at the GT game. Lot of the problem is people leaving their actual seats and coming into the student section. Though the guy claims they didn't oversell this year, my advisor says that they did. Course if they did, they aren't going to admit it after a firecode violation now are they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,753 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Well, here's my 2 cents worth.......................... Fuel prices have an impact for those of us that have a 500 mile trip or more travel distance. Using the USuCk game as an example, I made the trip down to watch the dismantling of Steve O' Boy and the chickens. The game was well worth the trip, and the gas to me. Key thing............... It was ONLY myself. If I had brought the family, it would have been a BIG MONEY event. The Ole Miss game will be the FAMILY outing for the season. I have been to three games this year.... GT, Miss State, and USuCk. I will be at the Ole Miss and Bammer games to make it 5 out of 7 homers. The price tag will be well over 1000.00 for the games. That does not include the TUF and the Auburn Fund donations that I gladly give in respect and love for Auburn University. But I could not do this if I were to go to every home game, plus the hotel stay that you have to consider for night games. My wife goes with me to two or three games a year. I go to all but two a year. If we were to play a better out of conference schedule, then I might sacrifice a bit more to make it to those games as well. It's just hard to spend 100.00 in fuel, then another 150.00 in tickets for the family. Auburn has a great following. I see AU all over the Upstate of SC now. Auburn has a very wide spread ALUMNI. You have to look at that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tigrinum Major Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005  Sorry to some of you, but as students, you have a limited prespective of things. . 187613[/snapback] I think this is a totally unfair statement. I know students that have obligations to things such as the National Guard. We also have families that have occasions (b-days, weddings, etc etc) that we attend. I know tommorow I have 2 labs due, a paper on Tues and Mon, along with a test on Mon and Tues. Had to work on that stuff all weekend. 187628[/snapback] Sorry for the general statement (which always seems to get me in hot water), but this was mainly in response to a student that wrote how Auburn's location did not play into people traveling to the game. My point was that if travel was the only factor, he would be correct. But there are many other issues that impact whether I come to a game or not, distance being only one. Obviously, you have a very good prespective of real life, as do many students. But correct me if I'm wrong, you are a graduate student, correct? I know when I was an undergrad, I imagined myself coming back to every game every Staurday. Guess what, it didn't work out that way. Some people have that luxury, many do not. Sorry if I offended you, Texan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerwalkin 2 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 More importantly, why were fans leaving the USC game in the middle of the third quarter? I mean, what did they come to see?? Your team is playing great and 3/4 of the stadium is empty by the start of the 4th quarter. I'm sure that looked GREAT on national TV. What happend to the days when the WHOLE stadium celebrated with their team after a victory as they ran out the clock?? I don't want to hear, "well I don't want to sit in traffic after the game". Give me a break; or, give me your tickets! I'll put them to good use! Sorry, but this really bothers me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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