UMass football ticket sales going strong

[brasssbonanzaa]

....So strong that they're handing out free tickets to Saturday's home opener in downtown Boston today. Invite them to the Big East already!

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

And according to the Globe, they've sold a whopping 350 student bus tickets.

 

[freescooter]

I've been skeptical about how well this home field over 2 hours away is going to work...hope they figure it out though...

 

[RedSoloCup]

gotta start somewhere... we had an easier road with on-campus for a few years.. then our stadium.

Remember when GT came up, thier guys said without disrespect, it was the size of their HS stadiums.

I don't feel the need to slap them down, I want to promote them over Beacon Hill...

 

[Adios]

McGuirk is only going to be expanded to 25,000. They were saying they want to be New England's team? Because it seems that's going to be us.

 

[UCONN2004]

Talked to a UMASS supporter in and he is not happy about the stadium situation. He lives 15 minutes from Amherst and refuses to drive to Foxboro. They may have a hard time getting 10,000 fans.

 

[whaler11]

Skeptical? The premise is ridiculous. No one goes to see a 1-11 team in their backyard. Who would get in a car and pay to watch?

 

[weyuo]

They have room to build a stadium right there near Rte 116. The problem for that area will be trying to widen Rte 9 from I-91 to Rte 116 to accommodate the increased traffic a 40,000 seat stadium would demand. I've been up that way a few times in the last couple years for work and they have done some work to Rte 9 but it looks like the folks in Hadley will put up a real fight if they try widening it. Also the bridge crossing the Connecticut River and the intersection where the I-91 ramps come out onto Rte 9 will all have to be redone. Good luck trying to get cash for that from the MA state legislature.

 

[Jerry27]

In response to RedSoloCup;
Whats the state capital got to do with it?
It's Chestnut Hill. ;-)

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

They have room to build a stadium right there near Rte 116. The problem for that area will be trying to widen Rte 9 from I-91 to Rte 116 to accommodate the increased traffic a 40,000 seat stadium would demand. I've been up that way a few times in the last couple years for work and they have done some work to Rte 9 but it looks like the folks in Hadley will put up a real fight if they try widening it. Also the bridge crossing the Connecticut River and the intersection where the I-91 ramps come out onto Rte 9 will all have to be redone. Good luck trying to get cash for that from the MA state legislature.

Exactly, you think getting 40K to Storrs would be hard? That'd be a walk in the park compared to getting 40K into Amherst on the one lane roads that lead into Amherst.

 

[RedSoloCup]

In response to RedSoloCup;
Whats the state capital got to do with it?
It's Chestnut Hill. ;-)

you are a mean mean man.

LOL, I was talking about the blue bloods, man!

 

[uconNYC]

McGuirk is only going to be expanded to 25,000. They were saying they want to be New England's team? Because it seems that's going to be us.

That's more than enough for a team in the MAC. Why bother with Gillette?

 

[Jerry27]

Mom always said I was special!

see you saturday for the dogfight!

 

[huskypantz]

....So strong that they're handing out free tickets to Saturday's home opener in downtown Boston today. Invite them to the Big East already!

My employer was giving away tickets to BC-miami last week. And they still were shy of 40k.

 

[Adios]

That's more than enough for a team in the MAC. Why bother with Gillette?

Because McGuirk is being renovated. Who knows, if this Gillette venture doesn't draw sizable crowds, stadium management might let them out of the contract early.

 

[Waquoit]

Because McGuirk is being renovated. Who knows, if this Gillette venture doesn't draw sizable crowds, stadium management might let them out of the contract early.

You mean the contract that gives them free rent and parking? What a concession!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

That's more than enough for a team in the MAC. Why bother with Gillette?

Think they are doing it in phases. First phase is upgrading on campus facility and press box then it will be the stadium expansion. It used to be you needed 3ok permanent seats or get a waiver if you drew 17k. now its just avg 15k in attendance paid or actual every other year.

 

[Skiblets]

Balanced article in the Globe today about their upgrade and games at Gillette.
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleg...ncial-risks/6QxE869C33xr10SiKPKzIK/story.html

No buzz whatsoever in the Boston area though. I wish them well and don't want to sound like the BC rats when we upgraded but the difference was that we had a new stadium, a BCS conference and basketball rivalries we could leverage. They seem to be hedging their bets too much and I fear will end up in football purgatory...which I guess is what 1AA is anyway. Their new president doesn't necessarily provide a ringing endorsement.

I don't seen how they succeed, in the MAC, with no rivalries, no TV contract to speak of, in a stadium two hours away from campus. Again, wish them well but I don't see how this succeeds

 

[Dann]

i think temple to the big east hurt them a bit. just 1 less team thats close that they could develope a game with. i still think in the long run 1 or both of unh and maine will also upgrade and go mac. that would be great for new england and umass.

i also want them to do well. we are for ever above them in fball and bball so i'm not worried about recruits or other things. them developing into a ok mac team is a good thing for uconn. a game vs them is better for many reasons then any other mac team and maybe they get there bball to a ok level. i will never treat them like bc fans treat us.

 

[DSquiz]

Balanced article in the Globe today about their upgrade and games at Gillette.
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleg...ncial-risks/6QxE869C33xr10SiKPKzIK/story.html

No buzz whatsoever in the Boston area though. I wish them well and don't want to sound like the BC rats when we upgraded but the difference was that we had a new stadium, a BCS conference and basketball rivalries we could leverage. They seem to be hedging their bets too much and I fear will end up in football purgatory...which I guess is what 1AA is anyway. Their new president doesn't necessarily provide a ringing endorsement.

I don't seen how they succeed, in the MAC, with no rivalries, no TV contract to speak of, in a stadium two hours away from campus. Again, wish them well but I don't see how this succeeds

The article says UMass has sold less the 11,000 tickets for tomorrow’s game. If you need 17k average attendance to be 1A what happens if they don’t make it? Because honestly I really don’t see them averaging that.

 

[Rondogg]

I hope they do well. More football in New England means more scholarships for High School players which means better High School teams/players.

It's all good.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The article says UMass has sold less the 11,000 tickets for tomorrow’s game. If you need 17k average attendance to be 1A what happens if they don’t make it? Because honestly I really don’t see them averaging that.

That's a rule the NCAA cannot enforce. About six years ago they sent San Jose State U (then in the WAC) norification that they had fallen below the threshold and would lose 1A status at the end of the academic/athletic year. SJSU responded with the threat of a lawsuit as a handful of schools (including Duke & Wake) had recently failed to meet the requirements but received no threat of expulsion from D-1A. The NCAA backed off and altered (slightly) the requirements (I believe it is now every other year as opposed to a running average).

 

[IMind]

The article says UMass has sold less the 11,000 tickets for tomorrow’s game. If you need 17k average attendance to be 1A what happens if they don’t make it? Because honestly I really don’t see them averaging that.

They'll find a way to fudge it. Temple has never averaged that. Remember the game at Temple in 2008... played in the tropical storm... they claim attendance of 17k for that game. If there were 5000k fans there.. I'd be shocked. I bet Temple even with the one sell out they get from Penn State every other year rarely averages over 10k fans per game.

 

[SAMCRO]

That's a rule the NCAA cannot enforce. About six years ago they sent San Jose State U (then in the WAC) norification that they had fallen below the threshold and would lose 1A status at the end of the academic/athletic year. SJSU responded with the threat of a lawsuit as a handful of schools (including Duke & Wake) had recently failed to meet the requirements but received no threat of expulsion from D-1A. The NCAA backed off and altered (slightly) the requirements (I believe it is now every other year as opposed to a running average).

Yet another example of the ineptitude the NCAA displays in their Mr. Magoo style oversight of college athletics.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

To UMass' credit they did make a fairly large ad buy in the city and put ads on almost every MBTA bus over the last month or so. Doesn't seem like it's lead to much, but at least they did it.