Virginia Tech is whiffing on ticket sales

[nelsonmuntz]

There has been this mythology that Virginia Tech has this great traveling fan base, which is overstated if not outright false. Cincinnati outsold VTech in the Orange Bowl a few years ago, and the last couple of BCS bowls VTech has played in have had stubhub tickets at steep discounts to face, indicating weak demand.

VTech will be lucky to get to 12k tickets sold.

http://www.freep.com/article/20111212/SPORTS06/111212035/1054

 

[whaler11]

WVU's sales are WAY worse. I saw today they were only at 5,700.

 

[BHusky]

Not a lot of demand for this game which is not surprising since WVU is not great and VTech got blasted in the ACC championship game. These are the only BCS teams that have not sold out or come close to selling out their allotment already. VTech is up 45% though compared to last year at this time and they were playing a better opponent then.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

How do they still hold on to that myth that VT travels to bowl games? 3300 and 6500 to the last 2 BCS bowls. And they get an at-large because of their huge following?

Is the bowl still running the same scam they did last year at the BCS National Championship site and flooding the secondary market with cheap tix? I hope so.

 

[businesslawyer]

I preferred last year, when people were making fun of us for not having sold enough tickets to a BCS bowl. That we were playing in.

 

[B1GEast]

VT has never traveled well, ever.

 

[UConnRock]

Virginia Tech was selected for a BCS bowl for one reason and one reason only......it was the team that Michigan could most easily beat. The Sugar bowl was ga-ga over having Michigan in a BCS game for the first time is a while and did whatever to accomodate them. Getting embarassed by Boise just wasn't going to be allowed by Delaney and the B1G

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This game shows what a farce the entire BCS system is. The Big 5 and the BCS bowls have this annual circle jerk where they push these absurd matchups that were not earned and even their own fans don't want to see.

If, on the other hand, Michigan was hosting Virginia Tech in a first round matchup of a playoff, the place would be rocking.

 

[whaler11]

Virginia Tech was selected for a BCS bowl for one reason and one reason only......it was the team that Michigan could most easily beat. The Sugar bowl was ga-ga over having Michigan in a BCS game for the first time is a while and did whatever to accomodate them. Getting embarassed by Boise just wasn't going to be allowed by Delaney and the B1G

It's fairly insane, but this looks to be true.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

WVU has sold 5,700 tickets to the Orange. Clemson has not disclosed either way, which means sales are probably OK, not great.

There are about 15 programs in the country that can sell out their allotment to a BCS game year after year, and the rest of the schools depend on novelty, a very good team and a good matchup. If they don't have all 3 factors, they don't sell. That is why a mediocre team like Michigan gets a BCS bid they do not deserve. But if access to the post-season is dependent on the ability to sell tickets to a third party, what is the point of the season?

 

[mattp]

it's not a coincidence that the two teams having the hardest time selling tickets are the two teams that have probably been to more BCS bowls t han any other team. i think what this tells us is that if the BCS bowls plan on keeping things between 10 or so teams in the future they're going to have a tough time selling tickets. VTech has gone to the Orange Bowl enough times in the last decade that a BCS bowl isn't exciting unless it's against a good opponent. i would think this year they'd do alright since it's against a team they don't play and it's the Sugar instead of the Orange. If michigan makes a few straight BCS bowls they'll have trouble moving tickets too. it's too much to ask any college fanbase to travel to the same place every year around the holidays. especially if it's two weeks after you ask them to go to some godforsaken location for a championship game. how many people really want to plan their holiday season around a trip to Indianapolis?

 

[mattp]

But if access to the post-season is dependent on the ability to sell tickets to a third party, what is the point of the season?

very well said. it really is just boiling down to a popularity contest and they're not even trying to hide it.

 

[businesslawyer]

This also ties into the discussion elsewhere (maybe in the realignment section) as to whether university atheletic departments should be viewed as non-profits. Having a system geared to fairly give student-athletes throughout the country the same chance to compete on the field sounds far more like a traditional non-profit purpose than having a system that is designed far more to generate money for the participants.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The history of bowl games hasn't ever been to match up the best teams. It's always been to bring as many outsiders as possible to a nice location to make a little bit of money for the local community and a crap ton of money for a handful of people.

Even the BCS bowl games aren't designed to match up the best teams. Nothing in the BCS game contracts suggests they are trying to do it.

The BCS is designed to match the #1 and #2 teams as determined by a formula.

After that, it's a contract that the bowl games have agreed upon to supply them teams from select conferences regardless of rankings. So long as the teams meet the agreed upon minimum, they are all equal. The bowls then draft them. #3 and #14 are equals. Six conference champs get automatic bids and non-BCS AQ'ers have a chance too.

I don't understand why anyone thinks the BCS concept is to match up the teams with the best records. It isn't. And the history of bowl games hasn't ever been that either.

 

[mattp]

the ridiculous part is that the NCAA allows third party leaches to control the postseason of it's more popular sport. supposedly it's for the money, but i don't know too many people that don't think more revenue would be generated by a playoff

 

[Nostical]

These ticket sale figures are for the school allocations. Many more may be buying cheaper ones on the open market. For all the flak we got for the poor sales of our allotment last year, look at photos of the stadium during the game. There's a lot more Blue than the detractors would have you believe.

 

[lsuconnman]

the ridiculous part is that the NCAA allows third party leaches to control the postseason of it's more popular sport. supposedly it's for the money, but i don't know too many people that don't think more revenue would be generated by a playoff

More revenue would be generated, but the proceeds would funnel to a much more selective crowd each season. The athletic cathedrals that could be purchased by the SEC schools if semi finals and finals games paid 30-50 mil/team would be astounding...let the Boise state types try and catch up then.

 

[RS9999X]

When the bowl ratings come in this year we'll see the ACC powerhouse for what it is--the best of the rest.

>> Clemson has sold approximately half of its 17,500 ticket allotment for the Orange Bowl. Clemson has to purchase any remaining unsold tickets. Associate athletic director Katie Hill said since the game's kickoff is in the middle of the week and after the New Year's holiday, it might make tickets a tougher sell for some fans. <<

That's today's update meaning they won't sell more than 9,000.

Update: they've sold about 6,000 to the public and are nearing 8,000 with university staff comps

 

[kibblesnbits]

On a related note, Rutgers must not be packing them in for the Pinstripe Bowl as I got an email from Ticketmaster this morning offering a 40% discount.

 

[freescooter]

I think the bowls are going to have a bit of a setback this year as far as ratings go. I'm hearing little if any buzz about the National Championship game, because it is a rematch, because it is doesn't include any intersectional rivalry, and because the first game was almost unwatchable. Moving most of the BCS games to midweek interspersed with lesser bowls won't help either. The way it is set up, there is little to differentiate between the Orange bowl and the BVACompass Bowl in terms of pulling in viewers. I guess I still don't understand why lesser bowls have been programed for the holiday while supposed Big Bowls have been moved to Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The bowls agreeing not to infringe on the NFL's turf for Sunday January 1st is going to kill them for attendence. Now, instead of Sunday games, they're being played on Monday and Tuesday when many have to go back to work after the holidays.

Again, goes to show how little attendance matters for the bowls games as compared to TV viewership. I can't imagine fans of any team going to a New Year's day bowl game skipping out because it conflicts with NFL games. But, there isn't any way to put everything on the television. Television wins again.

 

[huskyjawz]

The bowls agreeing not to infringe on the NFL's turf for Sunday January 1st is going to kill them for attendence. Now, instead of Sunday games, they're being played on Monday and Tuesday when many have to go back to work after the holidays.

Again, goes to show how little attendance matters for the bowls games as compared to TV viewership. I can't imagine fans of any team going to a New Year's day bowl game skipping out because it conflicts with NFL games. But, there isn't any way to put everything on the television. Television wins again.

Back when all of the bowls were on New Year's Day, and it fell on a Sunday, were the bowl games and the NFL all on the same day?

 

[ddminct]

Back when all of the bowls were on New Year's Day, and it fell on a Sunday, were the bowl games and the NFL all on the same day?

As long as i remember the bowl games were played on Jan 2nd when the 1st was on a Sunday. And just looking back the 1967 Rose Bowl was played on Jan 2

 

[HomeKing93]

As I was curious, I looked up the last two times this happened - 2006 and 1995. Like this year, the last week of the NFL regular season was on 1/1/06 and there were no bowl games that day. On 1/1/95, there were two NFL wildcard games and two bowls. Looks like if the NFL season starts after Labor Day, you probably will have regular season games on New Year's.

 

[Chin Diesel]

As I was curious, I looked up the last two times this happened - 2006 and 1995. Like this year, the last week of the NFL regular season was on 1/1/06 and there were no bowl games that day. On 1/1/95, there were two NFL wildcard games and two bowls. Looks like if the NFL season starts after Labor Day, you probably will have regular season games on New Year's.

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm curious as to what the attendance and TV ratings were for the two bowl games in 1995 and how it compared historically to the average attendance and ratings for those games.

Also realizing that as recently as 1995 the money involved wasn't near what it is now. Just for a husband/wife to go to one of these games is over $1,000 right now- if they fly, buy tickets through the school, stay at an average hotel, have a couple of meals out in town and get some bowl game souveniers. Few schools have 15K plus fans willing to do that for a bowl game in today's economy.