Foley's larger failure: Facilities or Butters?

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In terms of your smart observation of UF ticket sales being lower I had noticed the same thing before and looked at UT's stadium and how much they charge for tickets.

UT charges their fans more for the same premium location seats than UF charges. Plus UT has a bigger stadium and sells more tickets than UF in spite of UF and Bama consistently defeating them.

My first question was where do the UT hillbillies get the money? The point is they did get the fans to pay for expensive tickets and were very profitable recently.

UF may require a larger donations for premium seats but with tickets now being non deductible that may change.

There is less to do in Tennessee than Florida so maybe that is a factor.

UF has less games recently due to hurricanes so that could affect the numbers some.

UT is about to start a 340 million dollar remodel of their stadium. UT was almost out of reserves years ago. Instead of learning their lesson and building up reserves they are loading up on debt for a 340 million dollar renovation.

Where this could back fire on UT is if the business cycle hits them with a normal slow down. Tickets are a discretionary expense that can be cut when things slow down. Cheaper to watch the game on TV. Technology has made watching from home more enjoyable than in the past . That could hurt their ticket sales and wipe their reserves out again when they need more money to cover their much larger debt service.

Let's look at Auburn rather than Tennessee since the comps are closer.

It's not stadium size. Heck, we rarely even fill ours anymore. Jordan-Hare Stadium seats fewer fans than Ben Hill Griffin and yet Auburn outpaced us in ticket sales by 4.4M. It's not price. Auburn charges $0.25 less per ticket on average.

Is there less to do in Auburn than Gainesville? Perhaps but my guess is not by much. Gainesville isn't exactly a megalopolis and it's an hour/hour and a half's drive to the beach. There aren't that many kids laying on Crescent Beach who could be instead at Ben Hill Griffin.

The answer is the product on the field. Auburn over the past decade has consistently fielded top-flight teams. We haven't.
 

MJMGator

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Let's look at Auburn rather than Tennessee since the comps are closer.

It's not stadium size. Heck, we rarely even fill ours anymore. Jordan-Hare Stadium seats fewer fans than Ben Hill Griffin and yet Auburn outpaced us in ticket sales by 4.4M. It's not price. Auburn charges $0.25 less per ticket on average.

Is there less to do in Auburn than Gainesville? Perhaps but my guess is not by much. Gainesville isn't exactly a megalopolis and it's an hour/hour and a half's drive to the beach. There aren't that many kids laying on Crescent Beach who could be instead at Ben Hill Griffin.

The answer is the product on the field. Auburn over the past decade has consistently fielded top-flight teams. We haven't.
Bingo! It’s called apathy.
 

MADGator

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Let's look at Auburn rather than Tennessee since the comps are closer.

It's not stadium size. Heck, we rarely even fill ours anymore. Jordan-Hare Stadium seats fewer fans than Ben Hill Griffin and yet Auburn outpaced us in ticket sales by 4.4M. It's not price. Auburn charges $0.25 less per ticket on average.

Is there less to do in Auburn than Gainesville? Perhaps but my guess is not by much. Gainesville isn't exactly a megalopolis and it's an hour/hour and a half's drive to the beach. There aren't that many kids laying on Crescent Beach who could be instead at Ben Hill Griffin.

The answer is the product on the field. Auburn over the past decade has consistently fielded top-flight teams. We haven't.
Auburn was the best game day experience I've ever had; far superior to anything I've experienced in Gainesville. I'm sure the fact that they haven't trotted out a steaming pile of crap on game-day for the last eight years has a lot to do with it but also the stadium is easy to navigate and you're not wedged in like a bunch of F'ing sardines. Entertainment district is right across the street from campus, no open container law. I know this isn't the same topic you're discussing, but with UF mired in almost a decade of mediocrity fans aren't as willing to put forth the money or the effort for a mediocre game-day experience and I think that plays into the topic. Just win.
 

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Auburn was the best game day experience I've ever had; far superior to anything I've experienced in Gainesville. I'm sure the fact that they haven't trotted out a steaming pile of crap on game-day for the last eight years has a lot to do with it but also the stadium is easy to navigate and you're not wedged in like a bunch of F'ing sardines. Entertainment district is right across the street from campus, no open container law. I know this isn't the same topic you're discussing, but with UF mired in almost a decade of mediocrity fans aren't as willing to put forth the money or the effort for a mediocre game-day experience and I think that plays into the topic. Just win.
Your post is very relevant and it's spot on. The planning in and around Ben Hill Griffin leaves a lot to be desired.

Sardine can. That pretty much sums it up.
 

Blacklabgator

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Your post is very relevant and it's spot on. The planning in and around Ben Hill Griffin leaves a lot to be desired.

Sardine can. That pretty much sums it up.

That’s why I’m not completely opposed to the AD talking about reducing capacity some to let people have more room.
 

gatorkev85

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Agree that UGA is better now than in the past ,has better facilities now and will be tougher to beat. I can't blame that on Mullen as this is what he inherits.

In terms of Mullen pulling in talent keep in mind that he just pulled in one of the better UF coach transition recruiting classes in decades. So far he is above recruiting trend at UF considering it was a coach transition.

We can't blame Mullen for how long it will take to build the new football center. It will take 3 years to complete because we have to move the baseball stadium to expand the football footprint which is the best long term thing to do.

Remember Mullin got two national championship rings at UF so he knows what has worked at UF before.

UF 2019 commitments will be able to use the new football center when they are juniors. 2020 UF commitments will be able to use it when they are sophomores. So the recruiting trend should improve over the next few years.
Mullen can know what it takes to win at UF all he wants if he dont recruit on the same level as Urban did it won't matter. Based on facts he did bring in a better class than the last 3 coaches their transition year. However as it stands right now he's light years away in terms of how well 2/3 past 3 coaches did for their 2nd class. Urban finished with the #2 class and Muschamp finished #3. They both made major strides in their 1st full class. I'm not sure Mullen finishes in the top 12 which will be a huge disappointment for his 1st full class.
 

MADGator

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That’s why I’m not completely opposed to the AD talking about reducing capacity some to let people have more room.

I think Sticklin is on the right track. Shutting down University Ave on game-day is a huge opportunity and it needs to be taken advantage of with food and beverage tents and stuff to do. Let the Social and The Swamp expand right out into the street! The beer garden on the north lawn of the stadium is a great idea, but the fact that you can't leave with your beer is a hassle! I imagine the place will be too crowded to ever get in. Open container law is shyt. Make an "entertainment" area around the stadium excluded from open container law so you can buy a beverage and walk around with it. Tailgate Guys setting up on the north lawn is also a great idea. That's what I experienced at Auburn and tailgating 50 yards from the stadium was pretty damn amazing. And I'm all for reducing capacity in the stadium and other enhancements to make for a more comfortable in-game experience. I'm really interested in hearing Stricklin's plan for accomplishing that.
 

Blacklabgator

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I think Sticklin is on the right track. Shutting down University Ave on game-day is a huge opportunity and it needs to be taken advantage of with food and beverage tents and stuff to do. Let the Social and The Swamp expand right out into the street! The beer garden on the north lawn of the stadium is a great idea, but the fact that you can't leave with your beer is a hassle! I imagine the place will be too crowded to ever get in. Open container law is shyt. Make an "entertainment" area around the stadium excluded from open container law so you can buy a beverage and walk around with it. Tailgate Guys setting up on the north lawn is also a great idea. That's what I experienced at Auburn and tailgating 50 yards from the stadium was pretty damn amazing. And I'm all for reducing capacity in the stadium and other enhancements to make for a more comfortable in-game experience. I'm really interested in hearing Stricklin's plan for accomplishing that.

But where will GPD replace the open container violation revenue ?

I agree. An entertainment area around the stadium would be a great idea. People today want as much of the experience as they do the game.
And of course an offense and some wins.
 

SeabeeGator

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I remember tailgating on University before Machen killed it. It was a riot. That change plus the increase in TV opportunities and decrease in performance totally killed the game day experience. As awesome as that Meyer run was, many of the decisions made by leadership in that time frame have led to the current predicament.
 

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Bring the decadence back to UF football!!!

Dammit.
 

MADGator

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But where will GPD replace the open container violation revenue ?

I agree. An entertainment area around the stadium would be a great idea. People today want as much of the experience as they do the game.
And of course an offense and some wins.

:lol2: Too funny! I had the thought that if they did away with the open container law GPD would have to reduce the force.

As awesome as that Meyer run was, many of the decisions made by leadership in that time frame have led to the current predicament.

As SeabeeGator said, the decisions of leadership in years past have led us to this debacle, and that's where Stricklin has the chance to be a hero. He is very forward thinking and seems intent on an improved game day experience. Now if his coach will just be successful.
 

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2: Too funny! I had the thought that if they did away with the open container law GPD would have to reduce the force.



As SeabeeGator said, the decisions of leadership in years past have led us to this debacle, and that's where Stricklin has the chance to be a hero. He is very forward thinking and seems intent on an improved game day experience. Now if his coach will just be successful.
Keep the fans more lubed and that becomes less essential.
 

GatorJ

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Mullen can know what it takes to win at UF all he wants if he dont recruit on the same level as Urban did it won't matter. Based on facts he did bring in a better class than the last 3 coaches their transition year. However as it stands right now he's light years away in terms of how well 2/3 past 3 coaches did for their 2nd class. Urban finished with the #2 class and Muschamp finished #3. They both made major strides in their 1st full class. I'm not sure Mullen finishes in the top 12 which will be a huge disappointment for his 1st full class.

In all fairness muschap was a great recruiter and was following on the heels of two national championships.

I do not expect a number 3 ranked class. But I do expect us to be hitting our needs and reclaiming the state. What I don’t understand is why we are spending so much time in California and not pushing any of these leans to commit.

I also don’t understand why we brought on so many second tier prospects already in this class.
 

jhbyrd

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Uga managed a whole 176 yards a game in passing. That is about half what a good QB produces.

We averaged 179 yards w the Franks and Butters show.

There is nothing premium about their offense. They had two great backs and nothing else period. All you can say about their QBs is they didnt lose the games, which is something I guess, but they damn well hope they have an elite defense and lots of luck to win like that.

I also note that Smart and Co have gone Full Muschimp and declared themselves to be 12-1. I guess all Dwags have trouble counting.
Donkey
Liked your post. Normally teams work in a freshman QB slowly which is what UGA did last season. . Regarding the UGA QB, I say they have an advantage at QB versus the UF QB. UF is putting in a new system whereas the UGA QB will be in year two of the UGA system. The UGA QB appears to be very confident which I do not see in our QBs yet.

UGA will be different on offense as they lose their leading WR to the NFL. He was a big WR. They have a returning 5 star WR who is very fast but not big like the large WR they lost. UF's CBs are fast also so they likely can deal with the returning UGA WRs better than the large WR UGA lost. The UGA game last season UGA went after our walk on LB. UF has filled in the LB hole that we had last season versus UGA.
 
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jhbyrd

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In all fairness muschap was a great recruiter and was following on the heels of two national championships.

I do not expect a number 3 ranked class. But I do expect us to be hitting our needs and reclaiming the state. What I don’t understand is why we are spending so much time in California and not pushing any of these leans to commit.

I also don’t understand why we brought on so many second tier prospects already in this class.
Mullen is doing what we did during the Tebow class when we got out of state Harvin. He is hoping some of these top out of staters will choose UF but knows that most won't. Getting a few of them can make a difference.

To refine your fair statement further Muschamp was a great DEFENSIVE PLAYER recruiter. Offense not so much.
 

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