Virginia Tech Bowl Apathy Showing Up In Chick-Fil-A Ticket Sales?
So apparently Virginia Tech has not sold out its allotment of 17,500 Chick-Fil-A Bowl tickets against Tennessee yet. Of course this could change at any moment and come December 31st there's no doubt the Georgia Dome will be filled to capacity anda lot of them will be Hokies. It just may take longer to fill up those seats than normal.
So the question is why, and does it say anything about the mood of the Virginia Tech Football fan base? Probably a little.I think taking the temperature of the Hokie fan base by seeing how many days it take 17,500 to sell out to a bowl game is probably over analyzing. But when you look at the circumstances of this Chick-fil-a bowl some of what's going on only make sense. Normally a New Year's Eve game against Tennessee in Atlanta would be epic. This one is a victim of how the season is played out.
Bowl games often are about destinations, and while Atlanta is usually a great one, too many Hokie fans have spent money going there once or twice already this year. They've already seen some of the Atlanta nightlife, restaurants, and in this case maybe even the stadium, so some of the novelty is gone. They also may have suffered through Atlanta's airport once or twice which enough for one year (incidentally, I do it about 100 times a year with my occupation). I think the destination is the biggest reason Hokies are having some pause heading to the Chick-fil-a.
I've read and discussed with some Hokies that there is a disappointment element to the season holding fans back. Virginia Tech is not in a BCS game, certainly one of the goals for the season which became elusive 2/3 of the way through. Personally, I think this is minimal. Hokie fans have filled up plenty of non-BCS bowl game stadiums before.
Are some staying home because of a fear of playing Tennessee? Are they not a premier enough of an opponent (not even ranked I think) at 7-5? Again I doubt it, they are a regional rival that we haven't played in 15 years that makes them a more desirable opponent than their record appears.
Are Hokie fans skeptical of Frank Beamer's ability to beat an SEC team? I'll tell you I have vivid memories of watching Georgia wallop Virginia Tech in the second half on New Year's Eve as my father and I watch from my basement 2 years ago. This could be a factor. On a side note, Virginia Tech very much needs to win this game.
Those Chick-Fil-A tickets will sell and Virginia Tech and Tennessee will play to a packed and raucous house in the Georgia Dome. Its 2 great programs with 2 big fan bases. Its just taking a while for Hokies to warm up to it.
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Comments
In my case it says something about the quality of the seating offered. I have bought the ‘preferred’ bowl tickets for year and they are ALWAYS in the endzone and/or the nose bleed section sofar up and out that you need use of a telescope to watch the game. WHO IN THE WORLD GETS THE TICKETS FOR THE SEATS BETWEEN THE 20′S???????? I have decided to buy them elsewhere and know what I am buying rather then the famous “best available”.
There was a lot of talk about this last year and I think with the rise of ticket sites like Stubhub.com, more fans are going to these sites and buying them then buying them through the VTTO. Also, figure in people selling tickets on Techsideline’s ticket board along with other sites like Ebay and you have a few thousand getting tickets through something other than VT’s allotment.
But in this case, I think the economy is still affecting sales some what and the fact that VT has been to Atlanta twice so far, isn’t helping sales either. Plenty of Tech fans will be there but this bowl game is a lot bigger for Tennessee than it is VT.