Yellow Jackets,
It’s been a great fall here on The Flats! Coach Brent Key’s football team is off to its best start in a decade at 5-2, with a huge game against No. 11 Notre Dame coming up on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Coach Michelle Collier’s volleyball squad is in its usual position in the Top 25 with an 11-4 record and wins over nationally ranked BYU and Florida, as well as a victory over Georgia, heading into Wednesday’s home game against Clemson. And Coach Bruce Heppler’s golf team is also in its customary placement among the nation’s Top 25 teams going into its home tournament this weekend at Golf Club of Georgia.
I want to thank all of you, our fans – especially Georgia Tech students – for your support on football Saturdays this fall. With a sold-out student section leading the way, the atmosphere for our first three home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field has been absolutely incredible. The electric environment that we’ve had on The Flats this season has been a huge factor in those three wins. We need you to carry that same energy that you’ve brought to Bobby Dodd each game this season over to the Benz this Saturday against Notre Dame. We’re the Power 4 team in the Capital of College Football – Atlanta – and we need your help in defending our turf on Saturday. Wear your White and Gold; get downtown early for Helluva Block Party (featuring platinum recording artist Regard) and Yellow Jacket Alley at The Home Depot Backyard; be in your seats by 3:15 p.m. for the Georgia Tech Marching Band’s pregame show; enjoy one of the greatest entrances in college football when the Jackets take the field behind the Ramblin’ Wreck; and be LOUD throughout the game. Our team feeds off your energy and appreciates the environment you create.
Let me share with you a few updates…
House vs. NCAA
As many of you are aware, earlier this year, the NCAA and the Autonomy Conferences (including the ACC) reached a proposed settlement with plaintiffs in the class action federal antitrust lawsuits collectively known as House vs. NCAA. That settlement, which was preliminarily approved last week, is expected to receive final approval in the spring and go into effect for the 2025-26 academic year.
Most notably, the House settlement allows institutions to share external revenue directly with student-athletes (revenue acquired from media rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, NCAA and conference distributions, etc.) with a cap of $20-22 million per year, and requires NCAA members to contribute to nearly $3 billion in back damages to former student-athletes that were not able to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) in the past.
To compete for championships at the highest level in the post-House era, athletics programs will need to make an additional financial investment of at least $20-22 million annually to participate in student-athlete revenue sharing at the maximum level, which is essential to compete with our peers. While at the same time, we will receive about $1 million less in annual distributions from the ACC, which will go towards our share of the $3 billion in back damages.
What does this all mean? First and foremost, be assured that with the support and leadership of President Ángel Cabrera, Georgia Tech is fully committed to competing for championships at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.
Achieving that goal will require a mix of financial approaches, including a reduction of expenses, taking our fundraising to an even higher level and continuing to identify opportunities for new revenue.
Full Steam Ahead
When we talk about taking our fundraising to a higher level, that begins with the Full Steam Ahead initiative that was announced on October 4. Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve our goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics.
With nearly $300 million already raised towards the $500 million goal, the Full Steam Ahead initiative will fund a renovation of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, a revamp of the Zelnak Basketball Center, a modernization of O’Keefe Gym and additional projects and initiatives to further advance Tech athletics through program-wide operational support.
Full Steam Ahead will not only provide resources needed to navigate the ever-changing landscape of college sports but will also help deliver an enhanced gameday experience for fans who attend games at Bobby Dodd Stadium and O’Keefe Gym – two incredible, tradition-filled facilities.
If you haven’t done so already, please visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for more information – including renderings of the improvements at Bobby Dodd Stadium and the Zelnak Center – and to do you part today!
2025 Football Season Tickets
Later today, we will announce that 2025 Georgia Tech football season tickets will go on sale this week. Highlights of that announcement will include:
- Season ticket prices will remain unchanged from 2024;
- The six-game schedule at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field will include the return of ACC rivals Clemson (for the first time in five years) and Virginia Tech (for the first time in four years);
- Georgia will be our opponent for our annual game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
We know that some of you may be apprehensive that Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will be played off-campus for the first time since Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913. Please know that we understand that concern and know that this was not a decision that was made lightly.
As I noted earlier, embarking on the new era of college athletics requires exploring new revenue sources, as that is paramount to our goal of competing for championships at the highest level. In partnering with AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE) to move Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for 2025, we agreed to changes in the contract that calls for us to play one game annually at Mercedes-Benz Stadium through 2026. As part of the new agreement, AMBSE will provide us with a $10 million guarantee just to play the 2025 Georgia Tech-Georgia game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a transformative revenue lift for Tech Athletics. In addition to the $10 million guarantee, the reworked agreement with AMBSE will provide Tech season ticket members with seating priority opportunities that they haven’t had for our previous games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In short, while tickets for Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will not be a part of our 2025 football season tickets packages, seats for Georgia Tech season ticket members who purchase tickets for the GT-UGA game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be assigned after MBS suite and club seat holders only. This is a significant move up in seating priority for Tech season ticket members over our previous games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and will result in significantly more highly sought-after seats being available to Yellow Jackets fans first.
Playing Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be limited to 2025, while construction of the Fanning Center continues in and around Bobby Dodd Stadium and before the stadium renovation funded by Full Steam Ahead begins. The Georgia Tech-Georgia game will return to a renovated Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2027.
While the invaluable revenue lift and improved seating priority for Tech fans are the primary reasons why the decision was made to play Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2025, it will also move the Georgia Tech-Georgia rivalry onto one of the world’s biggest stages for the first time. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is one of the premier stadiums in the world – the home of Super Bowls, College Football Playoff Championship Games, the World Cup – and offers fan amenities not available at any other venue. Be on the lookout for additional details shortly.
Thank you, as always, for your support of Georgia Tech Athletics. We’ll see you on Wednesday night at O’Keefe Gym and Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Go Jackets!
Sting ‘Em!
J Batt
Director of Athletics
