Gator Country

LoyalGatorFan · 11-15-2012, 12:07 AM

I think one thing that no one has mentioned yet is the simple fact that its hard for people to get off work at 5 or 6 and make it down for a 7 or even 8pm tipoff..Im talking about out of towners of course (Jax, Orlando, Tampa, Ocala, area)...and even if they can make it down there in time they probably don't wanna be getting back home at midnight and then having to go to work the next morning on 4-5 hours of sleep....now the ones who live in Gainesville and don't go to games I can't really defend...if I lived there I would buy season tix to all 3 major sports...

drcoldblood · 11-15-2012, 12:17 AM

Disappointing for the level of program that Billy D has built. When UF began drastically raising season tix prices a few years back, it resulted in a lot of long distance ticket holders that do not come to many games, particularly midweek.That said, it is sad that more local fans don't show up for these types of match ups when tickets are available.

akaGatorhoops · 11-15-2012, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoyalGatorFan

I think one thing that no one has mentioned yet is the simple fact that its hard for people to get off work at 5 or 6 and make it down for a 7 or even 8pm tipoff..Im talking about out of towners of course (Jax, Orlando, Tampa, Ocala, area)...and even if they can make it down there in time they probably don't wanna be getting back home at midnight and then having to go to work the next morning on 4-5 hours of sleep....now the ones who live in Gainesville and don't go to games I can't really defend...if I lived there I would buy season tix to all 3 major sports...

Good points, but the issues for me has always been our inability to capture a larger student fan base. It is maddening.

InstiGATOR1 · 11-15-2012, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonpierre

The crowd tonight is pitiful, and frankly embarrassing. A match-up of two top 25 teams, national tv, with the gators ranked in top 10, and we can't even put butts in the upper tier? I'd be shocked if there were more than 8,000 people there. What gives?

It is the rare season ticket holder who can drive from Miami or Pensacola or Key West etc for a midweek game. So if it turns out paid attendance was 9,614. Do you want to yank season tickets from big contributors who have jobs or businesses such that they can not attend every midweek game in November?

malscott · 11-15-2012, 01:54 AM

Times have changed. I barley go to the movies any more. Who wants to piss away the money? I went to a stupid kids movie the other day...40 smackers for a 3D flick with popcorn and drinks. Are you kidding me? I wated to grab the chick by the neck but I couldn't fit my arm through the glass hole! Watch them on video on my home theater. Saturday 12 o'clock games? Who wants to drive 5-6 hours and travel for a lowly game? There is a lag factor going on with the economy too. People just now are going under that had held on forever. Others have finally decided to re-prioritize their spending habits. I know I did. Myriad of change and confluence of issues currently affect attendance. Plus, people probably rather sit at home, pop a tall one and support their team that way. I hope they don't increase the capacity if Ben Hill for a long, long time. It'll look even worse on Saturdays. And, it IS still football season. No SEC games for a while. Allow drinking and fighting at games and attendance will swell. And finally,...Basketball... all ya need to watch is the last five minutes! HA!

PSGator66 · 11-15-2012, 07:59 AM

I was thinking the same thing while watching it. It was Wednesday so out of towners wouldn't be there but you would thik that the students would be all over this.

**arob2827** · 11-15-2012, 08:02 AM

How are working people from Jax, Orlando or Tampa supposed to attend a 7pm tip on a Wednesday night? Just sayin.

PCBeach · 11-15-2012, 08:27 AM

TV is part of the problem. Nearly every UF football and basketball game is on cable or you can find a stream on the internet. Add this to a single game ticket costing $50 for football and $25 for bball (both for seats way up) and you start to evaluate how bad you want to be there.

The other part is season ticket holders that block seats but don't go. We were in town for homecoming and went to Alabama State. Bought our tickets online weeks before the game. The best seats available for 2 people was one row below the upper deck. Yet when we are at the game, there are hundreds of empty seats below us. Don't know what the solution is to that.

Go Gators!

**mmhiero** · 11-15-2012, 08:38 AM

Students do not have to pay to go to games anymore. However because of this you basically have two places you can sit. The RR section or 3rd level seats if there's no room left in the pit. So what student is going to stay and watch a game if they can't sit with the Rowdy Reptiles? You're going to get a much better view just watching the game at home

jcp · 11-15-2012, 08:53 AM

The problem is not the students. The rowdy reptile section is always full. Not always rocking 100%, but always full.

Now, on a personal note... When I could go as a student I went to as many games as I could. I was usually standing on the first or second row of the rowdy reptile section with my face painted

. Now that I can't go as a student I would have to go sit with the alumni. I did that once for an SEC game and I was bored. Not bored with the game, the game was awesome. But I want to cheer, I want to stand, I want to jump, I want to scream. If I do any of that in the alumni section they look at me weird. At that point it is better for me to watch from home and scream at my TV.

kygator · 11-15-2012, 09:23 AM

Looking at past attendance numbers, we get pretty close to 12,000 in the stands on weekend games (against SEC or quality OOC opponents) but are terrible during the week. Knowing that, you'd think we would find a way to have at least a couple weekend OOC games at home. Alabama State is the only one this season.

trufloridagator · 11-15-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmhiero

Students do not have to pay to go to games anymore. However because of this you basically have two places you can sit. The RR section or 3rd level seats if there's no room left in the pit. So what student is going to stay and watch a game if they can't sit with the Rowdy Reptiles? You're going to get a much better view just watching the game at home

Yup

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HayGator · 11-15-2012, 12:04 PM

Students are on campus. The O-Dome is on campus. More students should be at the O-Dome.

Jaggator · 11-15-2012, 12:24 PM

Personally, I like what "the crowd" did here...

LoyalGatorFan · 11-15-2012, 02:15 PM

Who's the girl Jag?

Brewski · 11-15-2012, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoyalGatorFan

Who's the girl Jag?

She is not impressed!

swampgas44 · 11-15-2012, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoyalGatorFan

Who's the girl Jag?

McKayley Maroney. USA Olympic gymnastic team 2012. Best vaulter in the world !!
She blew her second vault in the finals to lose gold medal and got the silver. This was the look on her face after missing 2nd vault.

akaGatorhoops · 11-15-2012, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arob2827

How are working people from Jax, Orlando or Tampa supposed to attend a 7pm tip on a Wednesday night? Just sayin.

People from Jax, Orlando or Tampa do not have to attend for us to surpass the feeble showing Wed. night.
There are nearly 50k students at uf, and a largely gator population of 125k in Gainesville.
We need not import fans from distant cities to have a decent showing at a good hoops game.

akaGatorhoops · 11-15-2012, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

It is the rare season ticket holder who can drive from Miami or Pensacola or Key West etc for a midweek game. So if it turns out paid attendance was 9,614. Do you want to yank season tickets from big contributors who have jobs or businesses such that they can not attend every midweek game in November?

There is an ticket donation program that the UAA has instituted. If a ticket is not going to be used... give it to someone who will use it or donate it back to the university.

tupacbiff · 11-15-2012, 03:56 PM

The Usa made a crucial error in judgment making student tickets free. It was supposed to attract more students but had the inverse effect.

Try this mental exercise:
Are you more likely to attend a ticketed event if
A) the ticket was given to you for free
B) you paid a significant amount for the ticket

By making tickets free they extinguished the inherent value of the event.