The renewed interest in Georgia Tech spurred by the hire of coach Geoff Collins translated into financial commitment Monday, the day that season tickets went on sale.
Season-ticket sales were 81 percent higher than last year’s first day of sales. Further, 20 percent of the sales were from purchasers who had not held season tickets in the 2018 season. In one day, the number of new season-ticket purchases was 37 percent of all new season-ticket sales for all of 2018. According to Mike Castle, Tech’s assistant athletic director for ticket sales sand operations, phones in the ticket office were “ringing nonstop” all day Monday.
“It just shows that people have had the pent-up excitement and were just waiting for sales to open and let us help them find seats,” Castle told the AJC.
Undoubtedly, a reduction in price also boosted sales. The least expensive sideline season ticket this season is $300, which is $50 less than last season and the lowest pricing since the 2014 season. The price was dropped despite the fact that Tech plays seven home games this season as opposed to six in 2018, and one is against archrival Georgia. The least expensive season ticket in Bobby Dodd Stadium, the “gold zone” seats in the upper North section, are $219, the same price as last year.
However, Collins’ hire and his efforts to engage the fan base seem to be the primary driver. Castle said that the ticket office took $100 deposits from about 600 fans before the opening of season-ticket sales even before the pricing was announced.
“It’s something different we haven’t done in a while, based on the excitement level that we were seeing,” Castle said. “People were calling in, asking how they could secure a spot in line.”
In part because of dissipating interest and perhaps also the string of noon-hour kickoffs, Tech’s average home attendance last year was 43,087, the lowest since 2001, which was before the expansion of Bobby Dodd Stadium.
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