Georgia Bulldogs Still Have Tickets Available for Football Opener Against Boise State Broncos
by T Kyle King on May 10, 2011 12:45 PM EDT
in Georgia Bulldogs Football
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PrintI was pleased, then dismayed, to learn that I, along with all my fellow Hartman Fund donors, will be receiving all the tickets I ordered for the Georgia Bulldogs’ season opener against the Boise St. Broncos in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in the Georgia Dome.
The Bulldogs’ second series meeting with Boise State is a very big deal. It was one thing for the Liberty Bowl to be half-empty for a game against the Central Florida Knights that no one, not even the Bulldogs themselves, wanted Georgia to play, but, for a game taking place at a neutral site in downtown Atlanta against a prominent opponent on Labor Day weekend, season ticket holders shouldn’t be getting e-mails like this one, which I received this morning:
William C. Hartman Jr. Fund contributors - request your tickets to see UGA take on Boise State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday, September 3, 2011 (Kickoff at 8 PM)!
Requests will be assigned based upon Hartman Fund cumulative score. Remaining tickets are upper level, and are $55 per person.
A limited number of remaining tickets are available! Log in to your account and submit your request today!
Please note: All previous requests for Boise State tickets made via your 2011 ticket application will be fulfilled.
I’m glad I’m getting the tickets I ordered, but I’m not happy about the reason, and I’m particularly concerned that we seem to have trouble moving our share of the tickets. If fans are turning down the chance to eat a Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich while watching the ‘Dawgs face the Broncos in the Georgia Dome, either the economy is worse even than I’d thought or fan discontent is greater even than I’d feared.
What happens on the field in Atlanta will say a lot about the progress of the football team, but what happens in the stands likewise represents a referendum in which boosters will vote with their butts, or the lack thereof. Every empty seat that ought to have been occupied by a fan clad in red and black provides Greg McGarity with 55 reasons for concern about his constituency’s take on the state of the program.
Whatever lessons about patience, vel non, McGarity learned during his years in Gainesville---and the fact that Jay Clark still has a job suggests strongly that our athletic director is not as quick on the trigger as his old boss, Jeremy Foley---he surely is conscious of the bottom line, and he knows that his other old boss, Vince Dooley, made no moves during the disappointing football seasons of 1993 and 1994, but he set forth a mandate for "significant improvement" when fan disappointment yielded fewer dollars in the athletic association coffers in 1995.
I, for one, will be in the Georgia Dome on September 3, cheering for my team and for the head coach who leads them. However, if the ticket office is having to send out e-mails in May urging contributors to attend a season opener as important as this one, there surely are administrators in higher offices in Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall who are looking at numbers other than those that show up on scoreboards, and frowning.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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It looks like all of Georgia's allotment for the game in Knoxville wasn't sold, either...
… since, like you, I also received a similar e-mail for Tennessee tickets.
I don’t think we’ll have a problem getting a sellout for the Boise State game… and it sure won’t be Boise State fans buying all of those tickets. I just think a lot of “one off” ticket buyers who would only want to attend the Boise game but not order season tickets might not have thought about ordering tickets through the season ticket-ordering process (that basically requires you also to make a donation).
Now that this announcement has been made and the ordering process is open to anyone who just wants tickets to a Georgia game, I think the remaining tickets (which are all upper-deck tickets, implying that demand was already strong) will sell quickly.
I'm thrilled
Despite graduating 8 years ago, this is only my second year contributing to the Hartman Fund. I don’t think I’m quite going to get in for season tickets this year since demand seems to be in-line with last year, but I’m absolutely elated about getting Boise tickets.
I would imagine...
This has a lot to do with bronco fans not buying their allotted seats…since technically this is a neutral seat, and they were offered the same amount of seats as UGA…
by bwgjr on May 10, 2011 3:01 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Actually, that was not the case.
I’m too lazy at the moment to look up the previous references, but the contract we signed did not stipulate even ticket distribution. Boise State was only given something like 8,000 tickets and literally all the rest went to UGA.
by vineyarddawg on May 10, 2011 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Boise State season ticket holder here.
We haven’t even been given an opportunity to buy our tickets for this game yet. Most of us won’t be able to buy them until early next month.
there is no 'Z' in 'Boise'
there is no 'O' in 'Petersen'
there is no edit button on SBNation
by Boise State of Mind on May 10, 2011 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Interesting.
What’s the process for Boise State season ticket holders to purchase tickets to games like this one?
For us, our donations to the scholarship fund are due in mid-February, and our season ticket order forms (with single-game ticket requests for road and neutral site games) are due in late March. Typically, the donation cutoff scores for receiving single-game tickets are not announced until later, but, since we haven’t yet sold our allotment of tickets to the Boise State and Tennessee games, season ticket holders are getting e-mails like the ones we received today letting us know that all orders to those games have been filled and encouraging us to buy more.
How does Boise State’s season ticket order system work?
Go 'Dawgs!
Works the same but we're about 3 months behind you
The deadline to pay for my season tickets was May 6th. I will have an opportunity to go to the stadium to pick a new location in the stadium if I want to on June 23. At that time I can purchase additional individual game tickets and away game tickets. Ticket office emails won’t come until July and throughout August.
there is no 'Z' in 'Boise'
there is no 'O' in 'Petersen'
there is no edit button on SBNation
by Boise State of Mind on May 10, 2011 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks.
I had no idea how other schools did it, having only been acquainted with the Georgia way. That’s good to know.
Am I to infer from your comments that, when the opportunity becomes available to you, you plan to avail yourself of the chance to buy tickets to the game in Atlanta?
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 10, 2011 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Well
not sure at this point. That’s a long haul, but I did go to the opener last year in DC. I’d sure like to; gotta wait on some job issues to get squared away tho.
there is no 'Z' in 'Boise'
there is no 'O' in 'Petersen'
there is no edit button on SBNation
by Boise State of Mind on May 10, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Fair enough.
If you wind up going, let us know. Either way, though, thanks for taking part in the conversation.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 10, 2011 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions
I blame the NFL lockout.
I am proud to be a Kennesaw State Fighting Owl. -- Vince Dooley
by Jason Kirk on May 10, 2011 3:34 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I would love the opportunity to buy 2 or 4 of them...
but I’m not a hartman fund donor… I’m a lowly graduate of 3 years just trying to stay afloat in a cruel world. Why don’t they just make them available for purchase? If the donors don’t want them, I sure do.
I suspect that this will be similar to the situation that Stanford and VTech faced with the Orange Bowl
and at other bowl games, where folks, partially due to the economy, don’t want to pay excessive prices. It relates to rise of Stub Hub and sites like it, or Craigslist, and the ease in finding a ticket.
The person who wants the 50 yard line, front row, VIP experience, if they have the money, go for that. Many of the other seats are not comparable. Yes, they may be decent, but they aren’t worth it, unless you are flush or something, to do all the other requirements.
Unfortunate but true. I suspect you will be able to get two or four tickets, close to August or so, for a good price.
I'd rather be surfing.
by Pac 10 Alum on May 10, 2011 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions
It's the economy
It stinks.
I’ll be at the Dome, and it will eventually be sold out, but it’s hard for some to spend a lot of cash on football games right now…
Heck, by the time the game rolls around gas may be at $5 a gallon…
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
It's all of it -
It a touch early for most folks to be thinking about tickets, and it seems the good seats are sold. Economy is tough and when you factor in airfare and hotels in the ATL, it can really add up. Some people maybe holding out due to fear of watching UGA get embarrassed, but in the end, the fever will hit them and they will want to go. And Kyle is just looking for reasons to be worried (which is how I voted) like any good UGA fan.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
by tankertoad on May 10, 2011 7:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
The last time we played Boise
I was on the top row of the 600 level in the blazing sun. This year I’ll be on the lower level of a climate controlled dome.. What a difference 6 years can make.
"If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." ~ Emma Stone
by RedCrake on May 11, 2011 1:09 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Miricles can happen
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/11/husband-celebrates-miracle-brain-dead-wife-wakes-hospital/?test=latestnews
But I betting that woman had a better chance then the dawgs do!
it's not that you are stupid, it's just that you don't suspect!
Nothing is good nor bad until compared to something else.
by Darth Prophet on May 11, 2011 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't know which is more questionable, . . .
. . . the gridiron analysis of the remoteness of Georgia’s chances of victory or the taste of using that example to make the point.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 11, 2011 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm glad
to see you have a sense of humor
it's not that you are stupid, it's just that you don't suspect!
Nothing is good nor bad until compared to something else.
by Darth Prophet on May 11, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Dude.
That comparison was about as inappropriate as Groupon’s Super Bowl ads from this past January.
by vineyarddawg on May 11, 2011 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Just how is that inappropriate?
or are you just trying to use big words?
it's not that you are stupid, it's just that you don't suspect!
Nothing is good nor bad until compared to something else.
by Darth Prophet on May 11, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah... I'm going to decline to engage you further in conversation.
Your actions to this point are a little too echidna-like for me to continue.
by vineyarddawg on May 11, 2011 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Awe come on Im really not a bad guy
Just a homer for my team.
Whats for lunch and I’m starving.
it's not that you are stupid, it's just that you don't suspect!
Nothing is good nor bad until compared to something else.
by Darth Prophet on May 11, 2011 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions
I have a sense of humor. I just didn't find that funny.
Building up a track record and/or indicating when you’re kidding are good ways to ensure that your comments are taken in the spirit in which they’re intended. We’re pretty easygoing and good-natured around here, but, when it looks like trash talk and sounds like trash talk and offers no indicia of being anything other than trash talk, don’t be surprised when folks take it as trash talk.
I regret any misunderstanding.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 11, 2011 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
there was that whole nazi web site thing too..........
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
For the record...
… “inappropriate” is only a big word in the same way that “communication” is – it has a bunch of letters.
When dudes like Kyle want to use big words, you will realize that the man who said “words can never hurt me” has never been hit in head in rapid succession with the 30+ volumes of the Second Edition Oxford English Dictionary and never played Balderdash with T. Kyle King.
by first and thom on May 11, 2011 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions
sold out
that didn’t take long to fix:
http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/when-hot-seat-met-pocketbook/
Ah ha! My brilliant plan to light a fire under the fan base has succeeded magnificently!
I did it deliberately, just like David Justice ticking off the fans before the final game of the 1995 World Series!
Well, that, or I’m an idiot . . . and, yes, I know better than to put up a poll on that question!
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 11, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps the comparison remains apt throughout the analysis.
Clever like David Justice versus being an idiot for letting Sharon Stone get away. No, not that one; this one.
Because I can watch it on TV.
Honestly, from my perspective, why pay the money for the tickets, then the drive to the dome, dealing with traffic and parking, the crowd in and out of the stadium, etc. when I can watch the game in HD on a big screen from the comfort of my own couch? I still try to make a game a year in Athens, but getting married and having a baby will change things for a person. I’m not saying that I’ve gone soft, but… I’ve gone soft.
Nothing replaces the experience of being there. I loved my time there as a student and going to the games were a large part of that. The last time I went to a game in person (2009 season, Arizona State), I said to myself, “Mark, you need to do this more often.” But more and more so, it becomes easier to just take it in on the tube and enjoy some chips and salsa and an ice cold beer at home.
I started to become a Hartman donor, and then quickly stopped when I realized how much money I’d be spending. Based on the cutoff from a few years ago (I think it was around $5,000), it would take me 8 years and 4 months if I donated $50 per month. And that would be for the opportunity to buy the tickets. The tickets themselves would cost money too. If I want to go to a game, I’ll buy them from someone on Craigslist, eBay, or a scalper outside the stadium. The Athletic Association is still getting their cut from the tickets, so they’re not losing that from me. As for being a donor, there’s a difference between the AA and the University at large. The AA is a revenue producing entity with money coming in from a myriad of places whereas the University is a true non-profit entity tasked with educating the citizens of Georgia. I’m always happy and proud to give money to the University of Georgia. The AA on the other hand won’t miss my $50 a month.
Thanks, marktheshark. Well said.
Meanwhile, I’m surprised to see (a) the poll is still getting votes, and (b) some of those votes are going somewhere other than “. . . utterly meaningless, and proof that Depressive Kyle is just looking to find a reason to disbelieve.” At this point, as noted by UGAdem, all the tickets have been sold, so the point is moot.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on May 11, 2011 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions
You raise some excellent points, marktheshark.
The advent of big-screen HDTV’s at home combined with the approximately 957 camera angles available at any game means that it’s more and more attractive to the average fan to simply remain at home and watch the game from “the best seat in the house.”
Personally, I prefer to attend the games because there’s an ambiance in the stadium that you simply can’t get from watching the game on TV. It also makes me feel more “connected” to the team by being in the stadium cheering them on. My family has also been tailgating with the same group of people for about 25 years now, too, so there’s also a strong social component to it for me.
Fortunately, technology hasn’t prevented the SEC from packing out its stadiums every week. Who knows if that will change in the future or not.
by vineyarddawg on May 11, 2011 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Good points, marktheshark
And lots of places where individual mileage may vary.
I won’t drive the the Dome. I’ll ride MARTA and/or walk. My car won’t budge all day from home.
Somewhat sadly (but perfectly naturally), I have no babies.
The Sanford seats I get through my Hartman donation are the same place I’ve been sitting since I was a toddler. If I stop, they’re gone forever. I got lucky to get those seats transferred to my name and have to pay only the minimum donation for that section (else my score would have me upper end zone corner or something).
Different choices can all be made on reasonable grounds.
By the way, yes, the AA is a revenue-producing entity, but I believe the largest source of revenue is booster contributions, which make up something like a quarter or more of total revenue.
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