Radakovich Q&A, part II
Greetings-
Hope you’re well. Forthwith, more questions that either were omitted or abridged from an interview I did with Georgia Tech AD Dan Radakovich a couple weeks ago, linked here. Most of these questions are about football ticket sales.
Q: For a family of four to buy single-game tickets to one of the ACC games, it would cost minimum $200. Does that seem like a reasonable cost?
A: I think we look at our peers and we’re not out of line with our peers. To run an athletic program where you’re a tub on your own bottom, that you need to generate the revenue to create everything here, those seven Satudays this year, or six in previous years, are really the main economic engines that we have to run the entire program.
We have other events that are free or nearly free – softball, volleyball, baseball, women’s basketball. We have a lot of really good team events that are here on campus that people can come and enjoy for a greatly reduced price. Football is the one that we need to be able to create the revenue to allow all of those other things to occur.
My two cents: I acknowledge the point – that the pricing is in line with the market – but I guess I’d say that the market’s prices are expensive, also. The other thing is that, while the prices may be competitive with the cost of Braves or Falcons tickets, the Braves and Falcons have large followings of fans who aren’t season-ticket holders, where Tech obviously hasn’t had that.
Obviously, it’s a balancing act. Tickets have to be expensive enough to create revenue, even if it means sales volume isn’t as high as you’d like. But, as Tech has found over the years, it will probably mean failing to sell out unless the team becomes consistently strong.
Q: Do you feel like you’ve reached a point within the alumni base that you can’t sell more season tickets?
A: Yes and no, because we continue to graduate more people than we ever have before and many of them, we hope, are settling in the Atlanta area. One of the reasons why it’s so important to continue to have great relationships with students is that very soon those students are going to be alumni. We want them to have a great time as students and then we want them to come back as part of the general fan base.
There’s a great deal of passion associated with Georgia Tech and we want to make sure that as our alumni base continues to grow, we increase that footprint like I talked about earlier. But we also want to make sure that our students that are here right now understand that athletics is a great differentiator in their collegiate experience. Without athletics, Georgia Tech would be a very different institution and maybe not one that those students would have wanted to attend.
My two cents: It’s a hopeful way of looking at the challenge and perhaps one that will in time bear itself out, particularly if the Paul Johnson era goes the way many anticipate. However, it doesn’t appear that the school’s increasing enrollment has made a noticeable impact on season ticket sales to this point, unless new alumni are replacing fans who are giving up their tickets.
Q: What’s your opinion on the proposals to pay scholarship athletes a “cost of attendance” stipend?
A: I think that scholarship student-athletes, certainly, they get a lot of benefits being scholarship student-athletes. Some of them, because of their economic circumstance, receive additional dollars through federal Pell grants. To just say all scholarship student-athletes should get paid is a very broad statement and doesn’t really get into individual circumstances.
There’s some scholarship student-athletes that come from backgrounds where they don’t need to get paid. So it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. I think it’s good to have the debate and good to talk about, but the idea of moving the scholarship calculation from the cost of tuition, feess, room, board and books to then include the cost of attendance at a particular school has some problems with it.
Because right now, the various costs of attendance figures at schools are very different. You could have one school that adds an additional $5,000 because of their location and another school might have $2,000 within that number.
If someone is looking at just, ‘Where am I going to make the maximum amount of money?’ they would be moving towards the school with the $5,000 cost of attendance.
I think each school very thoughtfully does that because there are other scholarhips that are given academically or whatever around college campuses that do include the cost of attendance. So by just willy-nilly increasing that (cost of attendance) number is going to have a lot of affect on other parts of campus who are giving scholarships to other individuals. So it’s really hard. It’s a nice soundbite, but I think there’s a lot more debate that has to go forward before we get to that point.
My two cents: I’m kind of with Radakovich on this one. There’s a lot to wade through. I also wonder about the rationale of the proposal. If the idea is to let student-athletes share in the wealth that they’re helping create, that makes some sense (although the truth is not many schools, Tech included, could handle the extra cost). However, if the people proposing the stipends think it’s going to make street agents or shady boosters go away, they’re bananas.
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82 comments Add your comment
WnE
June 23rd, 2011
12:06 am
How can GT have problem selling tickets when we so often read on these blogs that 1 out of every 5 GT Grads is a millionaire?
GT’s PROBLEM is that DRad and every other AD has “tailored” GT’s FB Program to the very narrow, socially inept subset of those that are GT Grads.
If GT wants to grow its fanbase they are going to have to create a FB Program that is the “pride of ATLANTA” and try to grow their fanbase from among the 5.5 Million folks in the Metro Atl. Area.
Making the game-day experience appeal to a middle-aged, white male that Graduated from GT when there were barely any females around, is NOT going to appeal to the “normal resident” that makes up the Metro Atlanta Area, and that is WHY GT cannot pick up any non-Alum fans to follow GT FB.
Up in Athens, mutt FB is tailor made for those that love SEC FB, not for the Khaki & Polo Shirt wearing crowd that lives in the Atlanta Suburbs that actually attended & graduated from ug@, they follow the team and go to the games because they win and they grew up loving CFB, not because the game-day experience up in Athens is intended for their enjoyment.
A great self-description from WnE @12:06
June 23rd, 2011
7:18 am
During his diatribes against CPJ, WnE has stated that he is a GT grad (IM 90 or so). Now he has started complaining about D-Rad.
In his 12:06 post he makes it obvious what his real problem is,
He tells us that GT grads over a certain age are socially inept, middle-aged, white males.
With all that obvious self-loathing it is no wonder WnE is on here complaining about GT, its fans, football coach and AD.
juvenal
June 23rd, 2011
9:06 am
shots at free cokes/hotdogs aside, mlb attendance up every year..exciting product(yawn)? no parking/concessions hassles(yea, right)?…….costs, what, $2 to stand at turner?…….#1 priority is to admit ncaa does NOT control beer sales(not at wisconsin or bowl games) & let marta do the driving home(lots of hotels nearby, it’s the ATL)…..don’t drink but don’t mind those who can CIVILLY(UW comes to mind)…..& put folks in the upper & north stands for whatever you can, the big $ come from TV….
Tech Student
June 23rd, 2011
10:27 am
Supersize- No it’s not exciting and stadium attendance can attest to that. Running the triple option, while sometimes effective, is boring. Let me guess the first offensive play of next season: Tevon Washington runs to the right fakes a hand off and pitches the ball for a 3 yard gain(if that). Break out plays rarely happen when the defense knows what your going to do(which is why our passing plays are so effective when Steven Hill can catch a ball but we did have 7 interceptions last season which is amazing considering the mutts had 8 and threw the ball twice as much as we did). So our passing game is relatively ineffective and our star running back has been drafted. I give it one more season before more people start calling for change. Now onto students attending the game: ITS HOT. No home night games last year made it miserable to stay for the entire game. Especially when the tradition is for all of the fraternity guys dress in long sleeve button downs and khaki’s.We wouldn’t have torn down the goal posts two years ago if everyone was sweating in the Atlanta sun for 3 hours while upsetting the number 4 team in the nation. No one wants to stand up and cheer at 3 P.M. in early September when they can watch it on their big screen tv at home for free. So if CPJ doesn’t pull something out this year Dan should grow some balls and get a new head coach. It only took him 5 years to get rid of Paul Hewitt who hadn’t had a winning record in the ACC since the 04 season(If only Bosh had stayed one more season. *sigh*).
juvenal
June 23rd, 2011
10:56 am
so, supersize, you must take into account the wimpifying of America since we were students-most dedicated fans now are too stoned to notice minor discomforts, which leaves out most of our fanbase…….(wish-bone exciting enough when we upset notre dame)
Buzzed
June 23rd, 2011
11:14 am
supersize: The UGA students not filling up their section on that one game you cite probably speaks more to the competition that day than any other factor.
Tech Student
June 23rd, 2011
11:35 am
Also you keep on bringing up that wishbone offense. Well back then passing was not as prolific as it is now. Fans love great catches, something that I haven’t seen at grant field since Bay Bay left.
juvenal
June 23rd, 2011
11:42 am
always something….used to get cold here…several late nov. games, was below freezing back in the in the 70’s…nothing more exciting than winning, so last year not fun-have often asked why we can’t do some shotgun; & will ask CPJ that media day……
Paul in RDU
June 23rd, 2011
12:02 pm
Tech Student hasn’t seen a great catch in Grant Field since Bay Bay left? Didn’t Bay Bay play in 2009? Talk about short memories. One bad season and the world is coming to an end.
It obviously must get hotter in Atlanta than in Raleigh, Chapel Hill or Greenville, NC – all places where I saw a football game in September 2010. The State, UNC and ECU students were all at their games
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
1:00 pm
Tech Student, you just confirmed what I said. Since when is it hotter in Atlanta than in any other city in the south? It’s hot in Athens, and they almost never play night games there. Apparently Tech students today are just spoiled wimps. Regarding our star running back; our star running back from 2009 left early and was replaced by another star running back in 2010. Who’s to say there won’t be yet another star running back this year? And name me one team Tech has faced, other than Iowa, who knew what we were going to do on offense and stopped it on any kind of consistent basis. No offense gains yards on every single play that is run, but when Tech (or any team running the TO) runs up 400+ yards a game, that sure doesn’t sound like the opposing defenses have figured anything out. True, the passing game needs to be more effective, but it’s Tech’s lack of defense that has caused more problems than its (according to you) boring offense and inability to pass effectively. When the offense has not produced in a given game, again other than the Iowa game, its been for other reasons than the opposing teams’ defenses. As far as passing being more prolific now in college football than it was in the 70s, what rock have you been hiding under? Passing was every bit as prolific back then as it is now; do you remember Theissman, Montana, Doug Flutie, Namath, Stabler……the list goes on and on. You obviously know nothing at all about football.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
1:02 pm
Buzzed, since Tech won that game handily, I guess it does say something about the competition. The mutt students didn’t want to see them lose.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
1:03 pm
Also, Tech students, why have so many running backs won the Heisman? You think fans don’t like great running plays too? Again, you are just showing your ignorance.
Tech Student
June 23rd, 2011
1:16 pm
Look at the heisman torphy winners back in the 70’s compared to the winners today. I think you will see a trend of more quarterbacks winning.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
1:21 pm
Tech Student, if you look at those QB’s who have won it, most of them were multi-purpose QB’s, not exclusively passing QB’s.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
1:34 pm
Tech Student, I guess the bottom line is this….a TRUE fan (no matter what school or team) supports his team no matter what the weather and no matter what the game plan or results. I have suffered through 1-win seasons and enjoyed the hell out of 10 or 11 win seasons, and I have sat in unbearable heat, freezing cold, pouring down rain, and even sleet to watch the Jackets. If you are a TRUE fan, you would do the same and quit making whiny excuses for not doing so.
juvenal
June 23rd, 2011
1:58 pm
still, supersize, at least he goes some-must be IM-remember many students i asked when i was there in the 70’s if they were going to the game looking quizzical & replying, “what game?”……
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
2:00 pm
juvenal, when I was there in the early 60s, EVERYBODY went to the games and usually got there early. I guess times have changed
Tech Student
June 23rd, 2011
2:41 pm
Times have changed indeed. Next fall look at the north end zone its pathetically empty. Students just don’t care enough about tech sports. Our baseball team played in the regionals at home and the ratio of away to home fans was still pathetic.
Ugaclassof2004
June 23rd, 2011
2:42 pm
In the regards to Tech: I think this season will go a long way in terms of determining what kind of coach Paul Johnson truly is. His team overachieved a bit in 2008 going to the Chick-fil-A and upsetting a UGA team that quite frankly mailed it in during the second half of that 45-42 loss. Many UGA fans will call that win a fluke but I won’t. Tech wanted it more that day and deserved to win.
In 2009, Tech had a pretty good team, but lost games due to a lack of talent on defense( except for Derrick Morgan). They were looking past the Dawgs to the ACC Championship, and got what they deserved with that 30-24 loss.
In 2010, Tech lost their playmakers from the year before on offense, while the defense was still bad and talentless. Losing Nesbitt was the nail in the coffin for ya’ll last season. So it will be interesting to see if Tech can rebound this year. Johnson’s offense CAN work IF it has the right parts( in 2008 and 2009 it did, in 2010 it didn’t). I also think Paul Johnson is a guy who is hungry and wants to win. He has the X’s and O’s but does he have the Jimmy’s and Joe’s? Chan Gailey was a lousy head coach that squandered NFL talent. Johnson is a better head coach than Gailey: but if he isn’t able to recruit better talent, it could lead to his undoing at Tech.
juvenal
June 23rd, 2011
3:20 pm
sell the north stand tix for $10 each……..
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
Ugaclassof2004, very well said. Damn, I actually complemented a mutt. LOL
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
3:34 pm
Tech Student, I’m not sure anything has really changed as far as baseball goes; I never went to a single Tech baseball game the entire time I was at Tech, and I frankly don’t remember anybody else who did either. But the student sections for both football and basketball games were always full.
GT93
June 23rd, 2011
3:38 pm
For the Record … there are many factors to consider when trying to understand why GT struggles to sell-out their home games. But, here are baseline statistics worth considering:
GT stadium capacity = 55,000
GT student body = 13,600 (Undergrad in 2010)
Ratio = 4.04
… and only for the sake of comparison:
UGA stadium capacity = 92,700
UGA student body = 34,800
Ratio = 2.66
So +/- 13,000 students pumped out every year for GT, versus +/- 34,000 students pumped out every year for UGA (and assuming, for sake of this comparison, that each school has a 100% graduation rate). Considering also that FAR more UGA grads stay in-state after graduation than GT grads do … that’s a lot of barking dogs.
Is GT’s stadium too big for a school of its size? Maybe, maybe not … but those are the numbers.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
juvenal, as much as I hate reading the snide remarks by some of the mutt fans on here about the free cokes and hotdogs, it actually WAS a good incentive for many families who otherwise couldn’t afford to go to the games. I have family here in Augusta who would go to at least one game a year taking advantage of that deal; they haven’t been since DRad stopped it; they just can’t afford to go. I don’t see anything wrong with offering breaks like that, at least until (and if) Tech can consistently sell enough season tickets to fill the place up every game. I do believe a consistently winning program will increase the season ticket sales, but to be honest, with Bud Carson, Bill Curry, Bill Lewis, and Chan Gailey didn’t produce that consistency; And those coaches who did produce it, or were on their way to doing so, didn’t stay long enough. You can’t have a merry-go-round of coaches, some good, some bad, and achieve any kind of consistency.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
3:46 pm
GT93, I can’t argue with what you said, but until they enlarged Legion Field in B’ham, which is where Bama played most of their home games till the mid 70s, Grant Field was the largest stadium in the SEC, outside of New Orleans, and it was always sold out, even though there were less than 10K students at Tech then. Bobby Dodd once said that if the capacity of Grant Field had been 75K, it would still have been sold out. Of course, part of that was, as it still is, the allure of an SEC schedule. If Tech had remained in, or been allowed back into, the SEC, things would probably be a lot different, not only in Atlanta, but in the entire state of Georgia.
GT93
June 23rd, 2011
3:55 pm
… some more factors to consider:
- downtown Atlanta has slowly been evacuated over the past 30+ years. Just about everything related to sustained economic vitality and growth has moved north. People are scared to go there, and I’d say that this unfortunately includes GT’s location on the north fringe of downtown. Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter wrote a book called “Collage City” … buy it and read it. It describes EXACTLY the urban growth patterns that Atlanta has witnessed.
- there just aren’t that many GT grads who stay in-town, or even in-state, after graduation. GT grads get hired all over the world, and of course that’s a good thing, but bad when trying to sustain regular attendance at a football stadium with a capacity that is 4-times the size of the typical student body.
Paul in RDU
June 23rd, 2011
5:21 pm
Some other things to consider:
Since GT’s heyday, when they were in the SEC, there have been a number of pro teams come to town – 1 NFL, 1 MLB, 1 NBA, 2 NHL (and don’t forget the NASL – LOL). Name a college team in a city which has pro teams in all of the major sports that draws “sidewalk alumni”.
BC, Northwestern, Miami, TCU sure as heck don’t.
WnE
June 23rd, 2011
5:43 pm
Weak excuses “Paul in RDU”!
BC, Northwestern, and Miami are not in places that are considered rabid CFB Hotbeds like the Metro Atl. Area is.
The CF-A Kickoff classic. SEC-CG, and the CF-A Bowl Game prove how much Atlanta is passionate for CFB.
TCU is in Fort Worth, and Texas is unlike the State of Ga. in that Texas has about 6-7 D1-A CFB Programs to split loyalties along with Texas being the biggest and on par with a Bama/UF/UGA.
The State of Ga. has only 2 major Programs in-state, AND the Metro Atl Area is 5.5 million people, in Summary, GT HAS NO EXCUSE FOR THE PALTRY STATE OF FAN SUPPORT for their FB program.
supersize that order, mutt
June 23rd, 2011
5:45 pm
Paul, I think Los Angeles would probably be the only one, that is assuming that USC and/or UCLA draw sidewalk fans. I don’t know whether they do or not, but I would think they probably do. Certainly no other city though.
Paul in RDU
June 23rd, 2011
7:36 pm
supersize – What is the name of the NFL team in LA?
Paul in RDU
June 23rd, 2011
7:50 pm
<<>>
Who is this “Atlanta” of whom you speak? Are you telling me that when ALA played Clemson in the Kickoff Classic the tickets were snapped up by local CFB fans? That UGA fans filled the Dome for Auburn-SC?
People in Atlanta may be passionate about college football, but they pay money to watch their own teams play. If you want to see a crowd that truly represents the Atlanta metro area, you need to go to an NFL or NBA game – not to any college football game.
Dear Paul
June 24th, 2011
11:18 am
The SEC champ game receives a ton of revenue from metro Atlanta SEC fans who do not have their teams represented. If you have ever attended the fanfare prior to the game then you would realize that.