No change for Georgia-Florida ticket prices; big change for Sanford Stadium video board
4:21 pm February 24, 2011, by Tim Tucker
(Updated 8 p.m.)
ATHENS — Ticket prices for the Georgia-Florida football game in Jacksonville will remain unchanged this year after UGA decided not to follow the Gators’ lead in raising them.
Florida’s athletics board voted in December to raise the prices by $10 per ticket, provided Georgia would go along. But Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity told the board of directors of the UGA Athletic Association at its winter meeting Thursday that he would not propose hiking prices for the 2011 game.
That means prices will remain the same as the past four years — $40 for regular seats and $70 for club seats.
“It takes two to tango, so to speak,” McGarity told the board, “and we’re not ready to make that move yet.”
McGarity said he would recommend, probably at the board’s May meeting, possible price increases for the game in 2012 and beyond.
“Sometimes it’s good timing for one school and bad timing for another school,” said McGarity, who worked at Florida for 18 years before becoming Georgia’s AD in August.
The timing for a price hike would be particularly bad for Georgia, coming off a 6-7 season and 18 losses in the past 21 games against the Gators. Georgia also won’t increase ticket prices for home games, McGarity said.
Several other matters were discussed and/or acted upon at Thursday’s meeting. Among them:
- The board of directors voted to spend about $1.4 million to improve the Sanford Stadium video board to “HD quality.” The structure will remain its current size — 52 feet high by 76 feet wide — but will be retrofitted so that the full screen can be used for video display when desired. Currently, video is limited to a 25 feet by 46 feet screen, with the rest of the board used for scores, statistics, animations, etc. The upgrade, McGarity said, “is something you probably need to do every five or six years” because of the “staggering” speed of improvement in video technology. He said the project will be completed by Georgia’s home opener against South Carolina on Sept. 10.
- The board approved issuing up to $69.5 million in bonds to restructure old debt and cover the $33 million cost of the recently completed expansion of Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, Georgia’s football and athletic association headquarters building. Construction costs were paid from the association’s reserve funds, which will be replenished with bond proceeds. Board members attended a dedication ceremony for the expanded building after their meeting.
- In response to last season’s noticeable number of empty seats in the student sections at Sanford Stadium, the board approved a new system of dealing with the 18,000 seats that go to students for each football game. If students with tickets don’t attend a game or designate their seats for use by another student or for sale to the general public, they’ll receive a “strike.” Three strikes in a season will make a student ineligible for tickets to a bowl game and the following season’s games. The plan was supported by student leaders.
- UGA President Michael Adams told the board the athletics department soon will get an outside review of NCAA compliance issues, as SEC schools do on a rotating basis. “We have right now too much non-compliance in the SEC, and we have too many rumors of non-compliance,” Adams said. “As much as I hate to get beat, I would rather get beat and be in compliance. . . . To have an outside group come in and make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure [compliance] is something this board ought to be thankful for.”
- Faculty athletics representative David Shipley reported the grade point average of UGA men’s and women’s student-athletes declined in the fall semester from the previous spring. The women averaged 3.06 and the men 2.74 in the fall, both down .08 from the spring. “We are not happy with that slippage,” Shipley said.
– Tim Tucker, AJC
82 comments Add your comment
west endzone
February 24th, 2011
4:30 pm
I guess there is still no help for those of us who sit in the west endzone.
UGA Alumnus
February 24th, 2011
4:34 pm
Go Dawgs!
TXDawg
February 24th, 2011
4:34 pm
Thanks GAWD!!
TXDawg
February 24th, 2011
4:36 pm
Bad enough that gas is going through the roof!
Florida | MrSEC.com
February 24th, 2011
4:45 pm
[...] here’s a surprise. The Georgia Athletic Association today decided to pass on an opportunity to raise ticket prices for this year’s Georgia-Florida football game.In December, Florida’s athletic board [...]
D A DoubleU G
February 24th, 2011
4:51 pm
191 Days til KICKOFF!!!!!
GO DAWGS!!!!!
mcdaris324
February 24th, 2011
4:53 pm
If your not a season ticket holder they cost alot more than that because people hike them up
Pago Pago Dawg
February 24th, 2011
4:58 pm
A bigger score board means bigger and louder commercials between each play and replays.
wreed
February 24th, 2011
5:08 pm
@mcdaris324 Season ticket holders pay a whole hell-of-a-lot more than face value
Tweets that mention Big change for Sanford Stadium video board; no change for Georgia-Florida ticket prices | UGA sports blog -- Topsy.com
February 24th, 2011
5:09 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ajc sports editor, Deedra Hemphill. Deedra Hemphill said: RT @ajcsportseditor: No increase in ticket prices for the Georgia-Florida game this year. http://bit.ly/fi0Vdr [...]
Beatdowns and Meltdowns Galore
February 24th, 2011
5:17 pm
Enter your comments here
Beatdowns and Meltdowns Galore
February 24th, 2011
5:18 pm
Fire Dave Perno !!!!
Bigger and Clearer
February 24th, 2011
5:21 pm
Score board will show on the new clear replays how stupid those third and long plays from BOO BOO will be.
Bigger and Clearer
February 24th, 2011
5:27 pm
maybe they will get rid of those stupid “Get Crunked” videos.
Musa Smith
February 24th, 2011
5:31 pm
Get crunked videos were cool back when i was playing.
Bigger and Clearer
February 24th, 2011
5:33 pm
Musa…. you mean get cracked dont you ?
EW
February 24th, 2011
5:39 pm
no reason we need to pay more to see our dawgs lose in JAX again.
RambleOn84
February 24th, 2011
5:42 pm
THUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EW
February 24th, 2011
6:00 pm
Go TECH!
RambleOn84
February 24th, 2011
6:02 pm
Speaking of THUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/former-tech-star-jarrett-847134.html
Worm
February 24th, 2011
6:05 pm
Just please stop those stupid burger switching UGA’s!
912 Dawg
February 24th, 2011
6:05 pm
Doesn’t the Ga-Fla basketball game start at 7? What network is gonna be on? Thanks
KeepDreaming
February 24th, 2011
6:14 pm
WestEndZone: You’re right, looks like my neck will still be hurting on Saturday’s in the fall!!!
Tweets that mention Big change for Sanford Stadium video board; no change for Georgia-Florida ticket prices | UGA sports blog -- Topsy.com
February 24th, 2011
6:20 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Georgia Sports Now, bulldogtweets.com. bulldogtweets.com said: #UGA Big change for Sanford Stadium video board; no change for Georgia-Florida ticket prices: ATHENS — The Unive… http://bit.ly/fJqNWs [...]
Vance Duly
February 24th, 2011
6:40 pm
Hmmm…. better replays of key plays would be nice. But, if the trade-off is having to listen to more and louder commercials & public service announcements, I’m not so sure of the benefits. Does this mean that the scores and game stats will be IMPROVED, or as poor as they’ve been….?
From my seats in the east end zone, the old Damon Evans “ya’ll don’t drink, now, ya hea-arh” PSA sounded like Charlie Brown’s schoolteacher, “Wamp wamp wamp WAMP….Go Dawwwwgs.”
dawgsbravosfalcons
February 24th, 2011
6:48 pm
912 dawg the game is on espn 2
Beast from the East
February 24th, 2011
6:51 pm
Schultz has a live blog about the UF-UGA game.
I Could Have Put Some Lame Name Here
February 24th, 2011
7:18 pm
ESPN2
Just Asking
February 24th, 2011
7:27 pm
Just wanted to let the UGA folks that the issues around Auburn, Bobby Lowder, and Colonial Bank just got really dark. Desiree Brown the CEO of a major mortgage company and the primary associated lender of Colonial Bank just plead guilty and will cooperate with the Feds to reduce her sentence.
The whole thing is coming down around Bobby Lowder and his Auburn Empire.
A Different Jim
February 24th, 2011
7:44 pm
They should drop prices for the Fla game if they want fans to continue to go to games which we lose.
LOL
February 24th, 2011
7:52 pm
What do you guys think they are gonna do, put a screen in front of the fans in other endzone. Get better tickets or shut up.
UGASlobberknocker
February 24th, 2011
8:02 pm
if in the west end zone , either turn around or get a mirror
JB
February 24th, 2011
8:58 pm
Tech Board met today and made a pledge to help attendance by offering 6 free cokes and 6 hot dogs from the current 4. Told that the food value now exceeds the tickets value. A motion from the back of the room by a guy in a baggy navy blue nylon jogging suit to add a fish sandwich. It was denied.
harold
February 24th, 2011
8:58 pm
COME TO BIG BEAUTIFUL NEYLAND STADIUM AND SEE WHAT THEIR QUARTER OF A BILLION DOLLAR RENNOVATION HAS DONE——WOW! AND THAT BIG HUGE JUMBOTRON MAKES GEORGIA’S SANFORD LOOK LIKE A MIDDLE SCHOOL. NOW ALL TENNESSEE NEEDS IS A HEAD COACH THAT CAN WIN!
jimbo
February 24th, 2011
10:00 pm
The reason students don’t attend the games at Sanford Stadium is: 1) it’s difficult to sit near your friends(assigned seats vs. general admission) without a huge amount of planning prior to the season starting. 2) if you want to take a date or a friend who is not a UGA student, they can’t go and sit with you. 3) since your ticket is on your student ID you can’t give it to or sell it to anyone else. UGA has just made it a hassle for the students so they’d rather watch it on TV. I won’t even mention no alcohol in the stadium.
Waste of Money!
February 24th, 2011
10:24 pm
as bad as Ga’s team is, they should cut prices to the fla game—those blowout losses almost every year are getting old.
Big D Dawg
February 24th, 2011
11:49 pm
My two tickets plus my donation cost me $205 per game. Avg ticket price $102.50. Don’t complain when a season ticket holder only asks $75 for a ticket. We pay for the privilege to get them. You’ll pay what it takes to get one. Some games you might get one for $50 another game you might get one for $150. You want tickets, donate to the Hartman Fund like the rest of us or STFU.
Atticus
February 25th, 2011
7:27 am
Or just spend a few hundred total for the season and not waste money on BS patsy games where I can always find free tickets from suckers who donate all that money. There are so many more important thing sin life than paying for football, honestly. People defend it as “contibuting to the school” and I understand, if you have more money than you can handle then go ahead. For the season, I spend $50 or so for the two big games, maybe $100 on the big games and you’re done. I even get much better seats than I would getting season tickets.
phil
February 25th, 2011
8:02 am
Even better yet, quit getting ripped off by the Hartman Heist each winter. Stop donating and stop buying tickets like I did. The sound system is so loud in the stadium that you can’t have a conversation, the product on the field isn’t very good, and don’t get me started on the school locking down all the buildings so that people have to use porta potties. This mainly effects older people who aren’t the most agile to begin with and are being asked to “use the facilities” frequently perched at angles on the sides of hills. It is absurd and flat wrong to treat people this way. So you guys blow your money on this “entertainment”/frustration. No thanks.
UGASlobberknocker
February 25th, 2011
8:02 am
the problem last year with students was that every game but tech was a noon or 1230 game. If we can get some later games this yr..it wont be a problem.
phil
February 25th, 2011
8:06 am
And as for the basketball team? The sooner the vastly overrated Thompkins takes his increasingly sorry game and gets the heck out of Athens, the sooner Fox might be able to put a team on the floor we can be proud of. Then again, if Thompkins deliberately disobeyed the coach on the inbounds play that was screwed up three straight times, why didn’t Fox bench his butt right that second? Enough with letting the overrated headcase star players run the train into the ground. Sit his ass down and watch us start winning more consistently or at least going down fighting instead of standing around whining and missing free throws.
UGASlobberknocker
February 25th, 2011
8:07 am
Anyone who is going to base their season ticket purchase on a cost analysis probably wont buy them. This isnt a cheap hobby nor is it meant to be.
When I have extra tickets, I do one of two things..give them to friends, or if I still have them Sat in Athens, I find somebody who is there with their kid and looking for tickets and just give them away to them.. Ive paid for them 9 months prior so it is painless..and it helps build future Dawg fans, And it allows me to choose who sits next to me since thats where the tix are.
phil ,take a chill pill ,dude
February 25th, 2011
8:10 am
with fans like you, who needs enemies…If you feel that way, go down to Tech.They could use some fans
Neyland Stadium beautiful???
February 25th, 2011
8:20 am
Neyland is situated in a great place by the river, and has an awesome atmosphere inside..maybe the best in the SEC or no worse than #2 to LSU..but beautiful it is not..it looks like an old war memorial stadium. And of the 10 SEC campuses I have visited, (ex MSU, Ark) I would rate Tenn near the bottom in beauty. Any Vol fan who has been to the 4 most beautiful campuses, (Ga, Fla, Ala, Ole Miss) cant honestly disagree…there is no comparison
Jborodawg
February 25th, 2011
8:22 am
As usual, didn’t take long to get off-topic.
Good move not to raise prices for GA-FL.
Jimbo…good info. That needs to be fixed. And…how are they gonna know if you attend the game or not?
DawginLex
February 25th, 2011
8:56 am
harold,
do they have a special section for people with teeth?
FBR
February 25th, 2011
9:03 am
The video is fine in the stadium, its the too loud and often times inappropriate AUDIO that is soooooo obnoxious in Sanford Stadium.
Pago Pago Dawg
February 25th, 2011
9:22 am
Do they let the Redcoats play anymore, or just the loud pa noise is allowed! Sad.
jimbo
February 25th, 2011
9:31 am
UGA knows which students attend because there is no longer a physical student ticket. Somehow they scan the students ID and it lets them know if you have paid for a ticket. I’m sure they can generate a report off this.
If anyone is interested, the students attending the game is discouraged by UGA. I listed the above points which discourage attendance. Add to it the fact that they ration tickets to students whith split ticket packages. What this means is that I might get tickets to games 1,3,5 and 6. My friend might have been assigned games 2,4 and 5. Another friend may have another set of randomly generated games. Makes it difficult for friends to say “let’s go to the game Saturday” because no one knows who has tickets and who doesn’t.
I honestly beleive the University has an economoic bias do discourage student. Students pay only $8 a game whereas alumni ticket sales generates much more money.
STEP 1 Make it difficult or unappealing for students to attend.
STEP 2 Threaten students about their bad attendance.
STEP 3 Reduce the number of student tickets available selling the extra tickets for big money to alumni.
Mark my word, that is what is happening. Money grubbing by the Athletic Dept. It’s hard for me to believe that they even ration student tickets in the first place. I THINK ANY STUDENT WHO WANTS TO ATTEND ANY GAME SHOULD BE ABLE TO. Instead students have to live with this crazy split ticket package program. While full price payers can go to any game they want.
MCDAVIDASTRO
February 25th, 2011
9:37 am
Won’t be back to the game until Richt is gone. It’s not worth the price for a Georgia fan if they were giving them away.
ATLSN
February 25th, 2011
9:47 am
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We have team forums for the Falcons, Bulldogs, Hawks, Braves, Yellow Jackets, Thrashers, etc. Please register and post! Be apart of a huge site in the early days of existence. See ya there! We’re looking for posters, moderators, bloggers/writers. Join up if interested.
studawg
February 25th, 2011
9:59 am
I thought the reason there are so many empty seats in the student section is because they are general admission tix and the students all pile in the lower deck instead of going up. Correct????
‘We made a mistake’ by benching Rocky, UGA’s McGarity says | UGA sports blog
February 25th, 2011
10:02 am
[...] now that that’s settled, click here for the rest of the news from Thursday’s Athletic Board [...]
FIRE RICHT
February 25th, 2011
10:24 am
“Georgia Saturdays…built Ford tough.” You know what ‘Ford’ stands for?
FIX-OR-REPAIR-DAILY..similar to UGA football. Still can’t believe 6 points were scored with A.J. Green on the field, & had a month to prepare for the bowl game. “Failing to prepare is preparing to FAIL.”-Jim Harrick
Bazooka Joe
February 25th, 2011
10:33 am
Slobberknocker – I hear ya about the early start times…. the problem is when we dont have a good record the prior year, we are given the noon/1pm time slots and the Bama’s, LSU’s/UF’s get the 3:30 and 7 games. Given our record last year I am afraid we are in for a lot of noon kickoffs again this year. Cant really blame them… the way to get off these early start times is to win.
AltamahaDawg
February 25th, 2011
10:38 am
Do freinds really need to discuss if they want to go to the game on Saturday? seriously? Any student that wants to be at the game, Is at the game. Period. Your point IS the very reason that they do ration the student tickets…….there are student that will always go, some that don’t. If you have to be asked by your pal to sit right next to him before deciding that, I’d say they have the allocation just about right.
AltamahaDawg
February 25th, 2011
10:41 am
BTW, I’ve done the math and posted it a couple of times, proving that the allocation is spot on for student tickets.
CHEAP.edu
February 25th, 2011
10:55 am
Red River Shootout: Face value is $110.
$40 or even $50 per seat is bargain basement.
Enjoy.
Brenda
February 25th, 2011
11:24 am
How about if we penalize those alumni/season ticket holders who don’t show up for games or who sell their tickets every week — sometimes to folks from the “enemy”!!!! I have seats in front of me in section 331, 4 of them, which are sold EVERY game, along with a parking pass. Big games fetch up to $1000 for the tickets/parking. Make a section just for those non-fans who use their tickets for giveaways and promos. Leave the prime seats to those of us who have paid lots of $ for lots of years!!
icedawg
February 25th, 2011
11:26 am
Harold from UT. “All UT needs now is a head coach that can win.” That’s a bit askew. Rather what UT really needs is a team that can win.
AltamahaDawg
February 25th, 2011
11:48 am
Brenda, didn’t the season ticket holders in front of you pay just as much as you did?
Keith
February 25th, 2011
11:51 am
Don’t they call in the Georgia-Florida game because G comes before F in the alphabet?
AltamahaDawg
February 25th, 2011
12:44 pm
I understand that the noon kickoffs were not entirely imposed by the TV networks. There even being a noon timeslot is due to the TV schedule, but UGA did have some say so and let it be known that they prefer the earlier games rather than later when it was an option. CBS obviously doesn’t call and ask if you want their 3:30 games.
Hey MCDAVIDASTRO
February 25th, 2011
12:50 pm
Looks like we wont be seeing you for a while..but dont worry, no one will notice you are gone and no one will care. In fact, please stay away we have enough fair weather fans as it is..
UGASlobberknocker
February 25th, 2011
12:52 pm
Anytime a season ticket holder sells his tickets to “the enemy” in my section..we let the season ticket holder know about lour displeasure it in full throat when they return.It usually doesn’t happen more than once.
Chuck
February 25th, 2011
2:59 pm
The student policy is still way too lenient. Two strikes and the student loses their tickets would be better. I have a son at UGA and the dirty little secret is that the foreign students buy the tickets with no intention of every going to the games. They just get caught up in buying whatever they are requested to buy. This is really a problem because most freshman only get half a season or 3 game tickets so the extra tickets should go to them.
Aaron
February 25th, 2011
3:59 pm
Jimbo is absolutely right. Even when you have a ticket, if you don’t have the proper new format ID, you can’t come in. They have made it work to have fun. It was a blast sitting with the students back in the 90’s when Georgia wans’t even very good; now all I hear about are the complaints, and UGA is better now.. you would think it would be more fun to go to a game.
They are just looking for excuses to limit the tickets from 18K to 15K to eventualy 10K, so they can get more revenue from alumni and non students. Makes you wonder what the 350 something athletic fee every semester was for, when you can’t even get a ticket. They forget, that these games used to be for the students at one point.. now, more than ever, it’s about revenue.
Back in the 90’s you got a booklet of all 6 home games for 12 bucks! $2 each, no hassle.. sit where you wanted.. general admission (within the student section), now you may have to sit next to a Frat boy (not bad, unless you are not in a frat) or the physics major (nothing wrong with that.. just not my idea of a good footabll time), etc. I suppose this new system could allow you to meet new people, and make neew contacts..
But hey.. you want to go to the game with your closest friends, and sit with them.. is there anything wrong with that? Why not just watch the game at the hotel.. better view of the game, and no restrictions on food and drinks or company. I don’t know why they go out of their way to limit students from having a good time… they earned it through tuition and putting up with all of the other senseless regulations of the University.
77DAWG
February 25th, 2011
4:04 pm
You got to be kidding, Nay Land stadium looks more like a big pile of steel and you call pretty?
Drink it Up
February 25th, 2011
6:51 pm
Our frat doesn’t get over to the game until late first quarter for most games—too much partying going on at the house with the young sorority ladies!!! Plus, most of the games are boring anyway and only get good in the second half.
UGAjrStudent
February 25th, 2011
7:20 pm
The new idea/measure for dealing with student tickets is even worse than before. While I would like and think that every student should be able and should go to every game, to punish students who may have bought tickets who are unable to attend is crazy. When I heard that there were to be changes to the student ticket policies, I was hoping that it would somehow be for the better–change of block locations, distribution policies, exchanges policies–but I guess I should have known better; after all, Michael “tradition-killer” Adams is still the president.
–Dr. Adams, creating more ways in which you can punish students in relation to football season and game days does nothing for the program or the University.
Alum&SeasonTixHolder
February 25th, 2011
11:23 pm
UGAjrStudent: what’s more important than going to a Dawgs game that you are worried about missing THREE games?!
AltamahaDawg
February 26th, 2011
8:31 am
Aw shoot, you mean a fellow has to present some sort of card to get into a major sporting event, for practically nothing? how outrageous!
This is the system that SC uses, and I have always thought it was smart. As has been pointed out, its the fans that use thier allocation with no intentions of going that is the problem. I mean really UGAjr? you but tickets and just happen to “be unable to go” to 3/6 of them, and restricting you in the future is just Adams way of punishing loyal students?……………good lordy. How about this….go to the game. And you have the chance to convert them to another student if you can’t go which doesn’t count against you does it?
I hear a few students whine in here, but it always seems to me they aren’t so concerned about lifting a finger to make sure thier unused tickets get used by thier poor fellow students “standing out on the bridge suffering the wrath of the big bad money grubbing alum”.
Any student that wants to be in the game is IN the game.
Jay Sulkowsky
February 26th, 2011
10:23 am
To the west endzone fans….bring a mirror. To the rest of us…..how about a petition or something to get the fill in mascot back on the field? So what if he has a little brown, still a great looking bulldog and looks the role a lot more than the first UGA who was thinner and taller and really didn’t look like this type of bulldog. Finally to the diehards let’s dye the dogs coat if need be!
Scott
February 26th, 2011
12:07 pm
Instead of spending 1.4 million on score boards Ga should focus first on putting a quality football team on the field .
AltamahaDawg
February 26th, 2011
12:53 pm
Can’t they do both, Scott?
AltamahaDawg
February 26th, 2011
1:10 pm
How does knowing which students did attend serve as a practice of discouraging students to attend Jimbo? That doesn’t even make sense. Were you trying to attend in secret or something?
Wouldn’t that seem to be the exact opposite, a policy to INCOURAGE student attendance?
I would think the students would be applauding this. Allocating more tickets to those who intend on using them. That would seem to be a great thing.
BO-BO witch hunt
February 26th, 2011
5:07 pm
There’s petition going around online, about firing Mike Bobo need 10,000 signature please help…..
AltamahaDawg
February 26th, 2011
9:49 pm
Firing the OC in March?
Down South Dawg
February 27th, 2011
11:41 am
McDavid; Fair enough!—You being somewhere else will make room for a UGA supporter who knows what a good program is all about and who dosen’t go around “badmouthing” one of the very best coaches that has ever led the Dawgs football team. I’m sure you can find some other venue on Saturday afternoons where you can display all of your wisdom and enthusiasm.
Jaxdawg10
February 27th, 2011
8:55 pm
Maybe some students have other obligations that keep them from attending all of the games. Such as a job! Since they can’t sell or give their tickets away due to the new ID system, how are they expected to handle this? Not get tickets to any of the games? Doesn’t seem reational.
nerds! nerds! nerds!
February 28th, 2011
2:05 pm
Here is how you fix the student ticket “problem.” Go to a physical ticket. I know alot of losers will get tix just to sell them, but a half full student section looks really sad. It worked when I was studying there.
Dealing with no-show students - HawkeyeNation Forum
March 1st, 2011
6:03 pm
[...] [...]