hoyatables
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,603
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Post by hoyatables on Feb 19, 2010 9:09:40 GMT -5
What's even more pathetic is that some of the seats filled with Orange were seats we KNOW the Athletic Department controls and sells on a game-by-game basis. In the immortal words of G.O.B. Bluth, COME ON! Now THIS is right on. Several of the seats to my left are controlled by GU and they were taken by Cuse scum. There is absolutely no excuse for the university giving tickets to fans of the other team, especially since they won't give them to me when I have GU friends coming in who would like to sit next to my seats. Here, potentially, is GU's big problem: I love the team, but the game experience is horrible when I have to constantly put up with being surrounded by enemy fans. If I have to keep suffering like that I'll just not renew my season tickets. I simply can't justify shelling out good money to have an extremely unpleasant experience. I would imagine there are many other good season-ticket holders who feel the same way. Glad to know I am not the only one having trouble getting the seats next to me for home games!
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rccoleon
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 448
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Post by rccoleon on Feb 19, 2010 9:22:52 GMT -5
Simple solution to the upper deck problem. Only sell those seats to season ticket holders until about a month before. We saw that this clearly worked for Duke. Do it for the Nova game and other big ones as well.
As far as the AD giving charity tickets to Cuse fans and selling AD controlled seats to Cuse fans, this is despicable. This would never happen at other top 10 schools.
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skyhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,496
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Post by skyhoya on Feb 19, 2010 9:38:31 GMT -5
Giving charity tickets to opposing fans and controlled seats is due to an understaffed department and lack of follow through with what is happening. Someone should be at the only door charity tickets get entry, supervising it. It is only an hour that they have to be there. Some of the charity slips end up with the scalpers on the streets who resell them. Those charities that give them to scalpers should be removed from the list. I asked to buy the two sets of four season tickers around me and was told that they were being used for promotional reasons. Most of the time they were obnoxious fans. One time they were for a potential recruit with his family. Sometimes they went to facility. That's $6000 in HHC fees that we didn't get.
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,617
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 19, 2010 10:41:21 GMT -5
MOD NOTE: I need to correct some misinformation in some of the posts above.
Sources confirm that there were no complimentary ticket vouchers issued for last night's game (these are referred to as "charity" tickets above). Last night's game was sold out and all entrances (including the entrance usually used for coupon redemption) were used for any and all non-student ticket holders.
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lurkerhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,182
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Post by lurkerhoya on Feb 19, 2010 10:44:21 GMT -5
I won the seat upgrade, which was 3 seats in sec. 112, and had the entire rest of the row next to me (prob 8-9 seats) empty. I doubt that the owners of those seats, if they have them, would simply just not show up.
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Post by digiHoya on Feb 19, 2010 11:00:41 GMT -5
I've only had my season tickets for 3 years. Has there ever been a successful attempt to have the athletics department remove or push to the back those season ticket holders that simply sell every game (thus, usually stocked with opposing fans)?
It seems like the data would be pretty easy to come by and if the AD cooperated it would be a way to solidify the fan base.
Another somewhat unrelated note on the comments made about how we have generally lackluster fans. Yes, there is certainly something to that comment. To that end, I am not a big soccer fan but last year went to a DC United game in the Barra Brava tailgate + fan club section. Those are some truly rabid supporters. Smoke bombs, flags, drums, horns, chants, etc.... I cannot find the link at the moment, but there was a post article about Barra's cameo appearance at a Capitals game in 2007 or so. They carved out a 400-level section, bought the whole thing and showed up to a typically lackluster arena. They began chants, flag waving, all kinds of generally positive fan-based mayhem. I think our fanbase could certainly draw on their antics.
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Post by KeysPlaceHoya on Feb 19, 2010 11:48:04 GMT -5
Unfortunate as it is, so long as the team not only allows their tickets to be sold on Stubhub but counts Stubhub as an active sponsor there will be no ramifications to season ticket holders selling their tickets. I'm sorry, but you can't actively encourage fans to use stubhub and then complain when their seats are sold to the highest bidder (which in this case were syracuse fans who were out in force last night because they have a great team this year and therefore high interest in seeing them play).
However, SHAME is a great tool. In my five years as a season ticket holder I sold tickets to a Big East game on Stubhub ONCE, and they wound up in the hands of the enemy, and the few other long time ticket holders around me have NEVER let hear the end of it. And this was 3 or 4 years ago!Of course that only works when you have people who go to games on a regular basis in order to actually know who is the real owner of those seats. I've noticed that many of the people who once sat around me are no longer there.
I haven't sold another Big East game on Stubhub since. Now if I can't make a game or find another Hoyas fan to take my tickets, they go un-used, and judging by the stories I've heard I'm glad I haven't donated them back to the school b/c that's no guarantee they'll go to a Hoyas fan.
The sad thing is that Georgetown fans (and the ticket department) feel that Duke is a bigger, more important game than Syracuse. We jumped the shark at the Duke game. I couldn't make the Nova game because of the stupid blizzard, but the South Florida game was almost as bad as the Syracuse game...I was surrounded by people who didn't care about the Hoyas but were just happy to pick up a cheap ticket on Stubhub, but they sure did cheer for South Florida to pull the upset.
There is a massive of contingent of Syracuse fans that ALWAYS go to our games at the Verizon Center. It should be policy to not put those games on sale to the general public until season ticket holders and hoop club members have bought as many as they want. Yeah, these "loyal" fans will still be selling some of their tickets to Syracuse fans on stubhub, but it might mitigate the misery a bit. I still don't understand how we can get the Verizon Center filled with 95% Hoyas fans for a Duke game but are less than 50% against Syracuse. It's a disgrace and I blame 1) our "fans" and 2) our ticket office for misplaced priorities when it comes to game promotion.
I'm seriously considering not going to either of the two remaining home games this year. I'd rather avoid the aggravation of being around people who don't care about the team.
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,791
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 19, 2010 12:02:55 GMT -5
Plenty of teams actively encourage stub hub then revoke season tickets for secondary fans exhibiting boorish behavior.
At minimum, we can start there.
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casualhoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 727
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Post by casualhoya on Feb 19, 2010 12:24:10 GMT -5
As part of our Casual Awards today, we're taking it a step further: www.casualhoya.com/2010/2/19/1316973/the-casual-awards-its-not-theRoll Call of the Dammed Award: - Section 109 Row B Seats 3-10; - Section 118, Row M Seats 9-10; - Section 100 Row G Seats 15-16; - Section 100 Row H Seats 15-16; - Section 108 Row F Seats 11-16. Row E, Seats 8-9. Row D Seats 8-14. Rows A-C, - Section 109, Row L Seats 12-15 (also Duke fans in those seats for the Duke Game) Let the word go forth from this time and place: WE ARE PUTTING YOU TRAITORS ON NOTICE. CasualHoya is now and forever soliciting from our loyal readers, the seats in season-ticket-holding areas that are occupied by fans of opposing teams. A special CasualHoya salute to beatcuse for coming up with this idea first. What will we do with this information? We do not know. We are not ruling out an ORGANIZED CAMPAIGN OF TERROR against the offending ticketholders and their families. Or perhaps we will just give them the evil eye at holiday parties. Or maybe they will be banned from the Irish Channel (something that is quickly not becoming the badge of honor it once was). But information is power. And we want your information. So be vigilant in your sections and let shame rain down upon offenders.
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GUJook97
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,445
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Post by GUJook97 on Feb 19, 2010 12:31:27 GMT -5
I am in Section 108, and sadly, there are always opposing fans there. It's enough to make me think twice about renewing the tickets. Sad, but true.
I guess my theory always was that there may not be season ticket holders there, because it is is the fringe of the lower bowl, but I suppose you guys know more than I. I never really thought about it.
Still, this is a problem not caused by random ticket holders, but by our arena construct. There are plenty of loyal season ticket holders - 1,000s, but it's just not enough for Verizon.
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mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
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Post by mapei on Feb 19, 2010 12:42:56 GMT -5
Here, potentially, is GU's big problem: I love the team, but the game experience is horrible when I have to constantly put up with being surrounded by enemy fans. If I have to keep suffering like that I'll just not renew my season tickets. I simply can't justify shelling out good money to have an extremely unpleasant experience. I would imagine there are many other good season-ticket holders who feel the same way. Exactly. I will *never* go to another WVU game at Verizon, for that reason. (I will, however, give my tickets away for free to a loyal Hoya fan who otherwise couldn't go.) How does one add to Casual's roll call of the damned? Section 110, row P, seats 18 & 19 *always* have opposing fans in them for big games. WTF?
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PhillyHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by PhillyHoya on Feb 19, 2010 13:03:28 GMT -5
118 Row B - entirely Duke fans for that game. And have been opposing fans more often than not for the last THREE seasons.
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3xhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by 3xhoya on Feb 19, 2010 13:13:32 GMT -5
This was a disgrace. Walking to the arena it was awful hearing the let's go orange chants for approximately 3 blocks of my walk. I fully agree that the athletic department jumped the shark with the promotion of the Duke game and there was none for the Syracuse game. I realize it was a weeknight, but it was a Thursday (better than a Monday-Wednesday night IMO). With some promotion they may have been able to pack the house more with Hoya fans. This is our biggest rival and it seemed like most people outside of this board do not realize this. I can't believe how many Hoya fans were more interested in going to see a mid-major Duke team than us play Cuse.
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Post by KeysPlaceHoya on Feb 19, 2010 13:19:16 GMT -5
I agree that teams have successfully gone after season ticket holders whose tickets are used by fans that become unruly/boorish, etc. However, that's NOT what people are saying here. DFW's editorial does not make that distinction (and is something I don't have a problem with; however, the Syracuse fans in my lower level section, while irritating to the point of making me wish I had stayed home, did nothing more offensive than cheering for their own team.) DFW flat out called for the mere presence of any opposing team's fans in season ticket holder seats to cause the seats to be revoked. Again, it won't happen so long as we're associated with a legalize scalping organization like Stubhub.
At the Duke game, there were (at most) a handful of Duke fans near me in the lower level, not the masses of Syracuse fans that we saw last night, and the upper level was night and day. My fear is that even if the school restricted sales of the Syracuse game like Duke, it would only help a little...the fact is there was a big game and more Syracuse fans wanted to go than Hoyas fans, and it showed.
Still, even if it meant only a handful fewer Syracuse fans, that would be an improvement (and it would make me feel better knowing that they paid a premium). The real problem is that our fan base didn't care enough about this game to show up. Syracuse's did.
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Dhall
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,679
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Post by Dhall on Feb 19, 2010 13:27:07 GMT -5
This whole conversation is a little silly. There aren't 20,000 Georgetown fans willing to buy tickets in advance to go to a game against Syracuse. If there were, then last night would have looked different. If the Athletic Department should do anything, it should simply be to get more Georgeotwn fans interested in buying tickets.
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DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,785
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Post by DFW HOYA on Feb 19, 2010 13:31:50 GMT -5
I've been giving this some research this morning and have come up with a solution that, if implemented, would be not only cost-effective to GU but fan-friendly (just not other fans). I'll post it this evening.
The issue to me is not the fans in the upper levels--that's supply and demand. The problem is that HHC donors or their proxies are indirectly creating an unpleasant environment for their fellow members and if GU doesn't do something about it, they will lose paying customers at that level.
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Dhall
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,679
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Post by Dhall on Feb 19, 2010 13:37:30 GMT -5
I've been giving this some research this morning and have come up with a solution that, if implemented, would be not only cost-effective to GU but fan-friendly (just not other fans). I'll post it this evening. That's great DFW. Your projects and analyses like these are always thoughtful and interesting. Thanks!
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PhillyHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,016
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Post by PhillyHoya on Feb 19, 2010 13:41:45 GMT -5
I still think we should implement the "special" game designations other BE schools do. For special games at WVU (like the PE Jr. block game), you had to 1. have been a previous buyer through the university and 2. buy tickets to at least one other home game. The prohibitive cost would scare off people.
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rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
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Post by rosslynhoya on Feb 19, 2010 13:42:27 GMT -5
Does it involve an inappropriate use of the t-shirt cannon? Perhaps we start hiding bricks in special orange-colored t-shirts....
Speaking of which, whose bright idea was it to develop and distribute the gray-and-orange shirts?? Every time you looked over at the student section, it was appalling to see so much orange -- and on Hoyas fans no less!! Possibly the most nausea-inducing student promotion since the old milk-chugging contests in Red Square...
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GUJook97
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,445
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Post by GUJook97 on Feb 19, 2010 13:45:21 GMT -5
I've been giving this some research this morning and have come up with a solution that, if implemented, would be not only cost-effective to GU but fan-friendly (just not other fans). I'll post it this evening. The issue to me is not the fans in the upper levels--that's supply and demand. The problem is that HHC donors or their proxies are indirectly creating an unpleasant environment for their fellow members and if GU doesn't do something about it, they will lose paying customers at that level. I agree. Not only do I buy season tickets, but I pay a donation. Why should I subject myself to this? Last night, there was a 40 year old Syracuse fan right next to us. She literally got up in our faces and taunted us. Because we are not 10 year olds, we just ignored her, but this is ridiculous.
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