July 20, 2006
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Georgia Tech Athletics
FROM: Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech Director of Athletics
We had some great news to report earlier this week with the announcement that we are sold out of season ticket packages for the football season. Our total of 29,061 season tickets is clearly our highest figure in decades and represents nearly 2,500 more than we sold all of last season. It is crucial to the future of the program that we continue to grow that base.
If you’re wondering how 29,000 seats constitutes a sellout in a 55,000-seat stadium, let me clarify. We allocate 7,500 tickets for our students, and per contract, our allocation to Notre Dame is 5,000. We sold nearly 12,000 of the three-game flex packs. The remaining tickets are held for the families of our players, bringing the total to 55,000.
We do have single-game tickets remaining for all home games except Notre Dame and Miami, including the Thursday night game against Virginia, which we have dubbed “Throwback Thursday.” Our team will turn back the clock, so to speak, and wear 1970s-era uniforms, including gold jerseys, white helmets and white pants. We think this will add a unique twist to our popular Thursday night experience at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field. I will be interested to hear your feedback.
In answer to your questions which have been recently received . . .
To Dennis: Great idea on adding the name Georgia Tech somewhere inside Bobby Dodd Stadium. How many of you, besides Dennis, ever noticed that?! We are moving forward on that idea.
To Kyle: More financial information to come as we get more detailed figures that are comparable and reliable. We have had to contact many of the ACC schools by phone and email to get accurate information for our comparisons. Also, we are reconfiguring our financial statements and when complete, I will share them with you.
To Brian: I have several challenges this year but manufacturing passion and interest in the program is not one of them. We have a great fan base! One of our biggest challenges is to hold onto the ones we have and grow many more.
To Mike: I would love to add soccer but it is problematic on two fronts. First is sustainable funding for the program, but equally difficult is finding a place on campus for the team to practice and play. Hopefully down the road we can attack and answer those two issues.
To Casey: We have adjusted the price point for club seats and have now sold more than 90 percent of the gold seats in the lower East stands. My thanks to those who purchased the seats. I am sure we will see a marked difference in the enthusiasm and attendance in that area.
To All: Thanks for the questions. From your emails, it is clear (88 percent) that night games are preferred when possible. We will continue to gather feedback in hopes of creating a policy for future non-televised game times.
Again, thank you for your positive response to “The Good Word.” We welcome your feedback at goodword@athletics.gatech.edu While I cannot guarantee a personal response to every email that we receive, please know that they will all be read, so I do encourage your continued participation in this process. Some of your questions could become topics for future issues of The Good Word.
I also encourage you to share this letter with any Tech fan who may not have access to the Internet. Our goal is to inform and engage as many Yellow Jacket supporters as we possibly can.
I want to personally thank you for your continued support of Georgia Tech Athletics as we move forward with our vision for excellence.
Go Jackets!
