The Chattanooga Times Free Press lays out the Tennessee ticket numbers that tell one sad story:
Year // Sold // Available for sale // Percent Sold // Season Attendance
2004 // 75,865 // 79,297 // 95.6 // 106,644
2005 // 75,753 // 79,297 // 95.5 // 107,593
2006 // 74,907 // 76,833 // 97.5 // 105,789
2007 // 74,380 // 76,833 // 96.8 // 103,918
2008 // 73,367 // 76,833 // 95.4 // 101,448
2009 // 70,194 // 76,833 // 91.4 // 99,220
2010 // 67,172 // 74,444 // 90.2 // 99,781
2011 // 61,665 // 74,444 // 82.8 // 94,462
2012 // 59,617 // 74,444 // 80.1 // 89,965
Yikes. That ain’t pretty.
You want to hear a bigger yikes? Sales aren’t getting better, despite the latest coaching staff change.
With individual game tickets and two- and three-game packages now on sale, UT expects to fall short of the number of season tickets it sold last season, though the athletic department has had better funding than it anticipated.
That last point is kind of interesting. Chris Fuller, UT’s associate athletic director for external operations, chalks that up to fans becoming more choosy about their scheduling options.
“… We’re still a little bit behind on the ticket sales side. You haven’t seen it there, but I think that’s less of a reflection on our coaching staff and more of a reflection of the change in the landscape. We don’t have a wildly attractive home schedule this year.
“What’s been interesting is I think what we’ve seen people do is they’ve made their donation, they’ve invested [and] they might not have bought as many tickets on a season basis, because I think what’s happening, too, is, ‘Hey, I can pick and choose a little bit in terms of what games I go to.’
“There’s been a little bit of change in the landscape of ticket sales — not just here but everywhere in terms of that regard. I tend to look at the number on the annual fund donation as more of an indicator of the enthusiasm that Coach Jones has created. I think where we’re at on ticket sales right now is probably a little bit more of a reflection on our schedule and access in general.”
Just makes you wonder how long the SEC can hold out against that nine-game conference schedule. I guess a little bit longer…
Get The Picture 
Fuller’s probably got a point because from what I can tell, Jones has the hillbillies worked up into a lather and they are all ready to “go Butch.”
LikeLike
I don’t know if the hillbillies should throw the name Butch around too much. There was the 75 grand spent on Sex week where a class was provide so gay women could explore more opportunities to mingle on campus. Alrighty I’m ok with it but that is a lot of money. And then the BUTch ugging incidence. Won’t be long until some one connects those letters and makes up a Homer Simpson “Butt funnel… get your butt funnel.” Gif. With a little substitution.
In spite of low ticket sales Hart managed a 35 thousand dollar raise plus he has the 50 grand a year retention bonus. No wonder they are broke. There has too be a way to raise money in Neyland.
LikeLike
You drink booze the way you want to, so let them drink booze the way they want to.
Does anyone keep count of how many sentences we can end with prepositions of ? Guess you and me are the only ones in the contest, Bluto.
LikeLike
That would be Petah Griffin of Family Guy, Not Homer Simpson
LikeLike
I know it’s been mentioned here before, but UFK needs to take a hard look in the mirror. They have not put a quality product on the field in a number of years and they have one of the biggest stadiums in America. And as mentioned in the article, they have a pretty bad home skedy. Yet, if one were to interested in buying season tickets, they would see that most of the available seats require a ridiculous donation on top of a pretty high face value.
Go ahead click around for yourself and see what all is STILL available here at the end of July one month before kickoff.
http://seatselection.seats3d.com/ncaa/university_tennessee/football/seat_selection/#/level_2/cart/
For example, a number of those seats in the upper endzone require a $500 donation PER SEAT. And those are absolutely awful seats due to the steepness of the upper deck at Neyland. This is $100 more than what UGA donors pay to sit BETWEEN THE 20s on the south side IN THE SHADE and $250 more per seat for comparable seats in Sanford (upper East–which are better seats too since we did not over-expand our stadium nor did we “expand” by moving seats closer together).
And look at how many lower level seats are available, period. That tells you all you need to know about their pricing/donation structure. Along the same lines, there are plenty of seats on the 50 YL right behind the visiting bench for $2500/seat donation. How the hell can you not sell out the lower sideline? Why make it such a tough sell Vahls?
They may have had no problems getting these prices back when Fulmer was waddling the sidelines. And I know their AD budget is in the toilet (h/t Mike Hamilton) so they want to soak every nickel they can from people. But you must be realistic when pricing or else there will be a sea of orange (empty seats) in Neyland every Saturday.
Somebody in Knoxville has their head firmly in the sand. I could fix these problems immediately. You drop the donation on the lowers to $250-500 per. Then make the uppers no donation at all. Once they finally sell out, you gradually start increasing donation levels again, but nowhere near the absurdity that it is now ($500 for crap uppers, $2500 for lower primos).
This ain’t rocket surgery. But then again, it is the Vahls were talking about. They seem to have that midas touch where everything they touch turns to shit these days.
LikeLike
Those Hill-folk are fickle and will turn on ya like a copperhead. It will take this Jones fella at least a pair of years to turn the battleship so the Urnge Army best settle in and focus hard on Vandy.
LikeLike
“Wanna go to Pidgeon Forge again?”
…Junior asks Lulu.
LikeLike
Yeah, but there is soooo much to do in Knoxville in the fall. You know, uh, there is the Sunsphere and….um…. Wal-mart and all kinds of fun things to do
LikeLike
But…but…won’t 9 SEC games increase injury potential and possibly more concussions? And a D that gets more tired than in a cupcake game? Lordy, me. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
LikeLike
Oops! again. This comment belongs with “The Hunt for a Compelling Schedule” post. There. Now it looks only a little stupid.
LikeLike
That’s what UT gets for getting greedy and cramming people in like sardines.
LikeLike