Good Seats Are Still Available to the ACC Title Game (updated)

'08 Football General33

Heather Dinich of ESPN is reporting that Virginia Tech has sold 3,000 tickets and Boston College just under 2,000 tickets to this weekend’s ACC Title Game in Tampa.

This is probably due to two factors: first and foremost, the overall economy has either negatively affected people or if it hasn’t, a lot of folks are scared that the current recession will have an impact on them and they are therefore being very conservative in their spending, especially as we head towards the holidays.  Secondly, and with all due respect to fans of Boston College, you have at least one team that is not well known for their fans travelling in droves to away games.

Pictured is the crowd from last season’s Conference Championship game, and it looks like we will see another repeat of that in Raymond James Stadium this Saturday.  The bottom line (literally) is that this game can’t move to Charlotte fast enough.  If it doesn’t work there, the ACC may have to take a long and hard look at making the Title Tilt a home game for the team with a better record.

UPDATE #1: What a Bargain!  Buy One Get One Free!!!

Buy One Get One Free!!!

Buy One Get One Free!!!

What’s next?  That guy in Robocop selling Soda Pop Shootout tickets yelling “I’d buy that for a dollar!!!”?

Bixby Snyder Wouldn't Buy Title Game Tickets For a Dollar...

Frankly, this game has become an embarrassment to the ACC.

'08 Football General

33 Responses to Good Seats Are Still Available to the ACC Title Game (updated)

  1. Dogbreath 12/03/2008 at 6:12 PM #

    The solution is to have the ACC and SEC championship in Atlanta on the same weekend. Alternate each year with one game Friday night and the other game Saturday night. Weather would not be a factor with the dome setup. There are ample hotel options to support the ~120,000 fans who would travel in. Its perfectly situated for both conferences. It would be the ultimate “superfan” weekend extravaganza.

  2. wufpaxno1 12/03/2008 at 6:22 PM #

    Why not have the Championship game played at the home stadium of the Division Champion with the best overall record each year. This would give the better performing team a reward for being, well, the better performing team and guarantee a sellout for the conference and it’s participating institutions. Or at the very least, alternate year to year between divisions; the home of the Atlantic Champ on even years and the home of the Coastal Champ on odd numbered years.

    The conference keeps scheduling this in Florida assuming that a Florida team will be there. So far it has been Va. Tech – BC for the past two years, and Wake and Ga. Tech three years ago. None of these matchups have been able to draw anything resembling a decent crowd.

  3. swedish 12/03/2008 at 6:57 PM #

    have it in charlotte, since NCSU will be in the title game soon

  4. TOBtime 12/03/2008 at 7:02 PM #

    I’ll be very surprised if 10,000 people attend this game.

    The game needs to be in Charlotte.

  5. PacknSack 12/03/2008 at 7:07 PM #

    The problem with playing it at a home venue is financial. Say State hosts the ACC title game in 2012. Do the season-ticket holders get their regular seats? Do they hand over the seating to the league, so half of the stadium is alloted to the visitors? Imagine the miffed-ness. Not to mention commitments on suites and so on.

    This isn’t CUSA, or Div 1AA. The ACC has to find a way to fill the stadium at a neutral site for its championship game or it will never be considered a player in the big game.

  6. redfred2 12/03/2008 at 7:07 PM #

    Jimmy V’s ESPY speech just on. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve watched it, it is something special.

  7. john of sparta 12/03/2008 at 7:08 PM #

    the good news is the ACC usually
    makes the right decision only after…
    Trying Everything Else.

    Charlotte? ok. that’s the Easy button.
    ACC/SEC combo Atlanta weekend?
    YouTube won’t allow postings like
    that anymore. check their new TOS.
    besides that……it’s a Great Idea.
    BCS Gone Wild? click.

  8. redfred2 12/03/2008 at 7:15 PM #

    Though, I do have very mixed emotions EVERY time I see Jim Valvano nowdays.

  9. highstick 12/03/2008 at 7:16 PM #

    Tickets are still available for Saturday’s basketball game against Davidson also! Picked up one today through Bobcat.

  10. 61Packer 12/03/2008 at 7:40 PM #

    The answer to this problem of poorly-attended ACC title games is the NFL. Let the team with the better record have the home field advantage. Why not? Charlotte might look good now, but what if Florida State and Miami suddenly start winning again? The title game would be moved far away from the fan bases into a cold climate to boot.

    Besides, the way the Big Four have performed over the past decade, it isn’t likely that we’ll have any of them in Charlotte anytime soon.

  11. LRM 12/03/2008 at 7:43 PM #

    Dogbreath: in theory, your Atlanta idea sounds cool, but not only would that create a logistical nightmare, where’s the incentive for the SEC to alternate its showcase event every other season and take it out of the limelight? The SEC championship in Atlanta, much like when the ACC Tournament is in Greensboro, is a weekend extravaganza. Make no mistake, Atlanta is very much an SEC town.

    John Swofford force fed expansion down our throats, and he sold it on the allure of a championship game, but Jacksonville and Tampa were contrived locations at best, because the ACC simply doesn’t have the football culture to support this kind of event, especially — as Alpha so aptly pointed out — during this economy.

    The only reason it isn’t in Charlotte in 2008 & 2009 is that it conflicts with the Charlotte Convention. However, Charlotte only solves the problem with the right match up (say, State or Clemson vs. Carolina or VPI).

    The dirty truth is that BC fans wouldn’t travel to Foxboro and VPI fans are probably saving their money for Miami in a few weeks.

  12. gopack968 12/03/2008 at 8:15 PM #

    You can’t do it as a home game for the best team – unless you want to have the game in WF’s cute little stadium every once in a while (no real danger of a Duke home game anytime soon, no matter how good DC may be).

    The FL ACC championship game is clearly a loser. Not only is it far from the center of the conference, this concept also asks the best team in the ACC to travel to FL twice in a month. Bad idea in a strong economy… A good rotation would be FedEx Field in DC and Charlotte. LRM is right about Atlanta unfortunately. No chance the ACC will ever get this right. None.

  13. Alpha Wolf 12/03/2008 at 8:16 PM #

    redfred – I saw your comment and posted a video of Jimmy V’s last speech in Reynolds.

  14. RBCRowdy 12/03/2008 at 9:19 PM #

    Atlanta – middle of the SEC
    Kansas City – kinda middle of the Big 12 (little far from Texas)
    Tampa/Jacksonville – ????

    This game can’t get to BOA fast enough.

  15. Alpha Wolf 12/03/2008 at 9:22 PM #

    Thinking about the EagleBank Bowl made me wonder why the ACC doesn’t consider RFK in DC for the game. At 44K, it would probably sell out. It is in the geographical middle of ACC country. And if the stadium is too small, too bad. It SHOULD be a tough ticket.

  16. choppack1 12/03/2008 at 9:38 PM #

    If folks want to know why I’m so down on Swofford, this game is the perfect example. Dogbreath – the SEC sell out their championship game – it’s a big deal.

    OTOH, the attendance of this championship game perfectly demonstrates why he has such a hard time getting attractive bowls.

    You have to realize the dynamics of your conference. Unlike the Big 12 and SEC, the ACC has schools like Wake, GaTech and BC competing for championships that won’t always even fill their own stadium. To make matters worse, the conference spans the entire east coast. VaTech and FSU fans will make a quick trip in droves, but I have doubts about their ability to ever make long trips on short notice.

    Believing that this conference would sell out Jax or Tampa is absurd.

    I do think probably the smartest thing to do would be to hold the event at the team w/ best conference record or tie break advantage.

    I’ve also been a booster of having it in Charleston or Myrtle Beach. I think the South Carolina position on the confederate flag may have made that difficult, but you never know – I do think that the right set of circumstances could have generated tons of interest – and South Carolina is about as close to a midway point as you can get for this conference. But this would require courage and vision – so I wouldn’t expect from the ACC under its current leadership.

  17. Pack1998 12/03/2008 at 10:20 PM #

    Charlotte is hands down the best place. It is hard to imagine it has yet to be held in Charlotte, the success of the attendance of the game in 2009 will speak for itself, but in case you want more evidence . . .

    1. Charlotte is the shortest drive from all of the ACC schools compared to any other city that has a stadium the can hold 70k+.
    2. Charlotte has the most ACC alumni within a 5 hr driving distance of any other major city in the ACC area.

    And if we need more arguments:
    3. Charlotte has a higher number of bars within a 2 mile radius of the stadium, compared to Tampa and Jacksonville.
    4. Atlanta is an SEC town and already has the SEC championship game. Charlotte is an ACC town and would love to hang its hat on that championship especially since the Bball tourney will never be in Charlotte again.
    5. Charlotte does not host a bowl game that in any way would conflict with the championship participant schools.
    6. Washington D.C. is a Redskins town, evidenced by Maryland not even filling its home games, so having it there does not seem rational.
    7. The football stadium in Charlotte is within walking distance of thousands of uptown and local area residents, Tampa and Jacksonville can not compare, Atlanta would be equal. This gives you more discretionary fan attendance.
    8. The weather can not be argued, as Charlotte hosts a bowl at a later date.
    9. Miami and FSU will not be in the ACC Championship game against each other often so catering to them is not wise. The league is positioned for equilibrium going forward.

    So . . . just thinking about the greater good of all ACC schools, Charlotte is seems to be the best choice.

    And what if I told you I live in Atlanta . . .

  18. Dogbreath 12/04/2008 at 12:41 AM #

    I think Needham Broughton’s stadium would be a more appropriately sized venue given the recent turnstile counts.

  19. TampaPack 12/04/2008 at 6:04 AM #

    Even with FSU and Miami this is definately not, and probably will never be the place to hosr this game. I would be surprized if more than even a couple of hundred people showed up just for the “event” itself. This won’t be, at least not in Florda, an event similar to the ACC Basketball tournament, and I can only assume SEC championship, where folks attend just to see a great conference game, or even as a “walk-up” last minute idea.

    On top of that, with the exception of a few billboards, and a couple of radio ads, you would have no idea this was taking place here in a couple of days. So besides the inherent lack of interest from the majority of the population, those that might even be somewhat interested, unless they are true ACC fans, might not even know this is happening in their own backyard. While Florida is an attractive location to hold the game (weather, other attractions, great stadiums, etc.) I just don’t see this being successful anywhere but Charlotte, and unless the ACC becomes more of a national player, Charlotte may struggle unless the game becomes a NC State / UNC / Clemson / VT event. I doubt many other schools would even bring a large number of fans to Charlotte considering many don’t even sell out their own stadiums.

  20. Wolf74 12/04/2008 at 7:09 AM #

    I really don’t think it matters where you have the game until ACC football begins to generate excitement. That means being competitive on a national basis. Having the best teams in the hunt for a NC like VT, FSU, and Miami were before they joined the ACC.

    That may mean joining the SEC and Big 12 and other conferences by allowing the admission of non-qualifiers. Just follow the baseline NCAA rule – no more no less.

    When the game is again considered big time football people other than the fans of the teams playing in the game will have an interest and attend.

    I live in Charlotte and I would have no interest in seeing the current BC vs VT game or a FSU vs Miami or any matchup other than one that has State playing. However, if the teams were of the quality of a Florida and Alabama or a Oklahoma, I would change my opiniion.

  21. GAWolf 12/04/2008 at 8:46 AM #

    So is the ACC the conference where top-tier football programs go to die?

  22. Mike 12/04/2008 at 8:47 AM #

    You people are just not true fans. What’s wrong with you? I’m going to pony up $600 for a last minute flight to Tampa, $300 for a couple nights in a mid rate hotel, throw down another $100 for food, $100 for rental car, and take a couple days off work for this extravaganza. This game with the absolute most boring team in the history of college football (VT) wearing the absolute worst color combination in the history of college football (VT again), against the team with a hometown paper that might give a mention of the score on the last page of the sports section. Yeah right. The ACC office loves the game in Fla – they get an all expense paid trip to sunny FLA in December.

    EVEN if it were Miami and FSU, Miami does not even fill their own stadium. This game means nothing, except further embarrassment to the league. I have not even watched the games on TV – who cares? Charlotte will fare no better unless we, UNX, or Clempsun make it to the game.

    The best solution is give the top team home field and split the gate with the conference.

  23. LRM 12/04/2008 at 8:57 AM #

    The game will be in Charlotte in 2010 & 2011, and perhaps beyond that, depending on the financials. There was a scheduling conflict this year, and the ACC is rotating it over two-year deals.

    Interestingly enough, Charlotte’s city council so mismanaged the Bobcats Arena that they eliminated the QC from hosting the ACC Tournament in the future, because they didn’t build an arena with the minimum-required capacity.

    The ACC is and always will be a basketball culture (like the SEC for football). Expansion was solely a result of how college football (and the BCS) drives the financial landscape. The fact is, BC v. VPI in Charlotte probably doesn’t sell many more tickets than Tampa.

    Think of it this way, if State and Carolina were playing for the title in Charlotte, it would undoubtedly be a sellout. But what if it was FSU-MIA in Charlotte? Miami fans never even traveled to the own Orange Bowl. Or what if State and Carolina were playing this year in Tampa, with this economy (as Alpha pointed out), and the prospect of having to go back to Florida around Christmas for a bowl game?

    Everyone presumed that with expansion, ACC fans would embrace a college football championship like in the SEC or Big XII, but the fact is, it hasn’t come close to that, and likely never will.

  24. EverettBeez 12/04/2008 at 9:16 AM #

    Dogbreath – Sanderson is a nice stadium. Too bad they tore down Riddick.

    Wolf74 hits the nail on the head. This game still has no tradition or excitement associated with it. It needs to be nurtured, abd built into something. Right now, there is no interest beyond those immediately involved in the game. Even that is limited.

    Atlanta is a creative idea, but the SEC will never share, and thus have to split revenue with us. Maybe the C-USA would be interested in a double header with us.

    Charlotte and RFK are both great suggestions that make more sense. On-campus is great too. But imagine the embarrassment when we play it in Boston and it doesn’t sell out!

    No, were aren’t the C-USA or D-AA. BUT, the 25K App will have in Boone on saturday, standing room only, folks scrambling for tickets, will certainly be more electric and could be larger, then what we see in tampa.

    The basketball tourny started in Memorial Auditorium – no more then a couple thousand seats. But the tickets were scarce, the games were good, the word spread. When the tourny moved to Reynolds, the largest arena on the east coast at the time, folks filled it up fast.

    The whole thing demonstrates 1) what a bad call adding BC was 2) we sold our souls in the name of stupid bleep bleep bleepidy bleeping tv rights and expansion.

    Pack 1998 – why won’t the basketball tourny be going back to Charlotte? I miss something?

  25. EverettBeez 12/04/2008 at 9:22 AM #

    LRM – thanks for the word on the new Charlotte arena and our basketball tourny – incredibly stupid. Mind boggling. And then they tear down the perfectly good “old” Colosseum? Must be nice to have money to burn.

    More VTech fans would make an overnight trip to Charlotte then the trudge to Tampa. BC’s ticket sales would be the same. IMO attendance would be up in Charlotte this year, though not a sell out.

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