Tech was obligated to pay the Tampa Bay Sports Commission for 10,000 tickets to the game but has only sold about 3,000 of them.
Virginia Tech assistant athletic director Sandy Smith said Tuesday that ticket sales have been slower than last year, when the game was held in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sales "are not as good as we would like," Smith said. "All the ticket people throughout the conference looked at it -- even the ones [at schools] in Florida -- as being, because of the economy, a tough sell."
Many Tech fans interviewed at last weekend's win over Virginia said they would not be attending the title game in Tampa and would instead save their money for the upcoming bowl game.
"The economy's too bad," Bob Rue of Richmond said. "Bowl games are more fun -- a lot more stuff to do."
Tech will likely take an even bigger financial bath on ticket sales to the game than it did last year. Tech sold most of its allotment of 10,000 tickets last year but still finished $203,000 in the red, according to school officials.
No, this isn't a "shame on you" post like the one Eagle in Atlanta wrote for BC fans last night. As someone who also can't afford to be in Tampa this weekend, it would hypocritical of me to complain about Hokie fans not making the trip to the game and implore them to do what they can to support the team this weekend.
But the idea of there being more BC fans than VT fans in Raymond James Stadium Saturday makes me cringe. We are a fan base that is proud of its willingness to travel. Hell, I've made four trips of over 2,000 miles round trip to see the Hokies play this year.
I think the blaming the economy is a cop out, though. It's the trendy thing to do these days, like blaming El Nino. The collapsing economy hasn't hurt me too bad, but then again I'm single and pay $300 a month in rent. No, I think you can blame this on a few other reasons:
1. We aren't that good.
2. It's friggin' BC. Again.
3. This offense is painful to watch.
4. OK, the economy a little bit.
This team is 8-4. It isn't 10-2 like it was last year with two losses to teams that at the time were ranked No. 2. We aren't playing Florida State like we were in 2005 and we aren't looking for revenge like we were last year. Yes, we lost to BC in the regular season, but it wasn't a last-second, soul-crushing defeat.
And we all know it isn't going to be exciting football. The over-under on this game should be in the 20s. The two teams are going to grind on each other until one of them breaks in the fourth quarter. It won't be a sexy game. It will be like watching two guys fish.
And on top of that is the economic scapegoat.
The fact is, I can't afford this trip on short notice and neither can a lot of fans. I'm one of many Hokie fans that is saving their money for a bowl trip to either Nashville (fairly cheap) or Miami (fairly expensive). I really hope more Hokies decide to make the trip to Tampa this weekend. But I can't blame you if you don't. I despise hypocrisy.
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10 comments:
if it were in Charlotte, VT would have a boat load of fans driving down for a down n back or staying over night.
too expensive to fly down to tampa or take days off to drive it.
I hate the whole ticket master garbage anyway. VT needs to lower their prices right away. I can get the tickets on stub hub for half of the price.
I'm not going b/c I am trying to make a statement to Jim Weaver and Frank Beamer that Bryan Stinespring is not acceptable as an OC. The only way they'll listen is if it hits their wallets.
i dont think not going to the acccg is as radical an act as you think it is.
The truth is no one wants to go watch impotent play calling.
The second factor, it's almost finals week so that is a thing to consider, this adds to the unwillingness to go to the ACCCG.
I'm looking forward to a good game in Tampa.
But I'm confused why you don't think we're a worthy enough opponent? We might not be Miami or FSU, but we're a small, Jesuit, Catholic, academic school. This is our second year in the title game, we were brothers with you in the Big East, and we've done pretty well in bowls. We've done pretty well in the ACC and we're a consistent top25 team. And for a team our size I think were doing all right.
And the economy effects BC fans the same way it effects VT fans. Hell we might even bring more than 100 fans to a stadium outside Boston for a change :D
Good luck this Saturday, may the best team win.
its not that you're not worthy. its that weve played bc four times in two years. its that youre the team from the atlantic that were going to play every year regardless.
I'm not blaming the economy as the reason I'm not going. Tampa is just too damn far away. My car won't make it that far and I don't have anyone who wants to fly. Oh well, I'll make it in a year where we're better than 8-4 in the regular season. Our team just isn't exciting enough to make the trip by myself...wait a year or two and it will be.
Love the blog, btw. Added it to my sidebar list.
Agreed on not making a valiant effort to make it to the game as a result of us playing BC... again.
I made the journey last year and the lack of BC fans amazing. It was just like Lane Stadium, BC took one section and the rest of the crowd was Maroon and Orange. I was hoping neutral territory would mean more opposition, and the game would get rowdy.
I'm not going this year so that BC fans can understand what its like to be the 12th man.
What does that mean Spain? We've got just as good fans as any other team in the ACC.
It's not our fault Boston is so far from Tampa.
Another poster had a good explanation. We're a small private school and we don't send out 10000 grads a year. We get kids from all over the US, we send alumni everywhere. So it's hard to have regions outside the northeast with tons of us. And most of our fans are alums. Kids grow up to be Heels fans or Duke fans just because they grew up in Carolina. There are Miami fans who never went to Miami, or maybe even never went to college.
It's a little harder for us because we're a small, Catholic school but hey we're still in the title game so whatever, you know?
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