Hokies have sold just under 5,000 Sugar Bowl tickets so far
As of Tuesday afternoon, Virginia Tech had sold just short of 5,000 tickets for the Sugar Bowl against Michigan. The school was given an allotment of 17,000, although only donors and season-ticket holders have been able to purchase them so far.
Sandy Smith, Tech’s Assistant Director of Athletics for Ticketing Services, said the short notice has had an effect on sales.
“We’ve usually given our donors several weeks to do it,” he said. “I think it’s most of them getting their ducks in a row before they even order tickets.”
Donors and season ticket holders have until Friday to submit their orders. Smith said he’ll have a more accurate count on sales then.
Student tickets go on sale today, and the public sale begins Monday.
Smith said after so many recent Orange Bowls in Miami, fans have inundated the ticket office with inquiries about going to New Orleans.
“I would think that we’ll have sales comparable to what we’ve done in some of the past Sugar Bowls,” he said.
Here’s the pricing information.
December 6, 2011 - 4:25 PM
Last year VT barely sold 9000 tix to the orange bowl and it was one of the lowest rating the orange bowl has had in decades. This probably won’t be any different. Tech didn’t deserve this BCS birth
Tech had almost 30,000 fans at the Orange bowl last year. Everybody but you knows that the tickets sold through the Tech ticket office suck. You can get better seats elsewhere and even cheaper in some cases.
VaTech’s antiquated views towards ticket sales will artificially skew the ‘official’ numbers down, as always. The 5K number does not reflect people who bypass the official VT ticket office to buy tickets from Stub Hub, ebay, or even the Sugar Bowl themself.
Tickets will be sold, lots of them. VaTech will take more than 20K fans to the game. They’ll even sell all of their official allotment. And people will remain bitter that it was VaTech who finally profited from the bowl tradition that has occurred for over seven decades now. As I said before, all the haters deliberately ignore the question of whether Michigan ‘deserves’ to be in the game just so they can whine about VaTech benefitting from losing the ACC championship game.
Just as a reminder – Folks, VaTech lost the ACC championship game, and received a better bowl berth because of it. THAT is what grinds at you so much, you’re just afraid to admit it. VT will get the better trip, the big paycheck regardless of how they play, and that just eats at you.
Too funny! I love it…
GO HOKIES – YOUR A WINNER – NOW GO AND REPRESENT OUR GREAT UNIVERSITY WITH A WIN
Josh,
You do realize that there are more options to purchasing tickets than from the school itself?
VT had plenty of people in the stands for the 2011 OB. But they didn’t all buy their tickets from the school. As is noted, and as Jim Weaver has pouted about often, the bowl dictates to the school the selling price of the tickets and in the internet age, it is too easy for anyone to find a less expensive alternative.
And sometimes even the seats are better too.
Careful with those rocks you are throwing. The seeds of discontent may be affecting your posts.
Hey, Josh. You still don’t get it. It’s not about what VT deserves, or any of the other teams. It’s about what the Sugar Bowl committee wanted. And they wanted Tech. They are the ones who put up millions and have essentially the bought the right to choose who they want (within the BCS rules). This Sugar invite is not about one game or one season. It’s about what Frank has built over the years and he has a good product to sell. It’s about the Benjamins, Josh. Always has been and always will be…until such time the BCS changes.
The reason only 9000 tickets were sold through VT is because many people who bought tickets early or had corporate tickets sold them cheaper on the internet than fans could buy them through the university. Most of the corporate tickets were better seats as well. Can’t blame people for getting a bargain.
Hold on a minute there Josh. I can tell you are a VT hater just by the tone of your comment. Before you start mouthing off, lets get some facts straight. When it is reported how many tickets are sold this is only the ones sold thru the Tech allotment at the VT ticket office. This doesn’t include the ones fans are buying on stubhub/craigslist, etc. In this day and time, most folks purchase their tickets at a discount price through these other ticket agencies/sites as opposed to paying face value through the VT ticket office. So for you to say VT only sold X number of tickets and this means they don’t deserve to be there is not true. Hokie nation will be represented in ‘Nawlins. As far as saying they didn’t deserve this, the arguement can be made for and against many teams each and every year. If you don’t think the entire BCS system isn’t about money and is about who deserves to be there you are kidding yourself, regardless if VT is it in or not!
After my total loss of faith in the head coach and his aging staff, it will be all I can do to watch it on TV.
I’m not sure if it’s still the case… but I know that back when the Hokies were in the Sugar Bowl in 2004, if you bought your tickets directly from the Sugar Bowl, you had to buy 3 years worth of tickets at once. I bought my tickets from an LSU fan who had bought the three year deal the year before to see LSU play Oklahoma… and got front row seats this way!
Also, contacting season ticket holders in the Superdome is a great way to get seats. Some of the Superdome season ticket packages include tickets to multiple events, not just events attached to one particular team or sport, so sometimes these folks will sell bowl game tickets at good prices.
But yeah, you can definitely get better and cheaper seats by not going through the participating schools’ ticket offices… which is a shame.
Josh – You are exactly right. VT is so undeserving of this invitation, it doesn’t matter if they bring a million people to the game. It is just another indictment on our culture and society, give it to people that don’t earn it. After the way they played against Clemson, they don’t deserve any bowl game. Wouldn’t it be great if they only sold 5,000 tickets and have a 3.0 TV rating for the Sugar Bowl.
Tech didn’t deserve the game, bottom line if based on merit… However, college football isn’t based on merit… The zombies that follow VT football will buy these tickets regardless.
11-2 and there wasn’t a quality win in the bunch..,. Beamer can say all he wants about 10 win seasons, but VT is like 2-42 historically against top 10 teams, and most of those games were w/ Beamer as HC.
Michigan doesn’t deserve it either, but both teams will travel well and sell out the stadium. That’s what the Sugar bowl committee and the business community of New Orleans want.
This won’t look like the OB last year that had 20,000 empties. But neither of these two teams is worthy.
Undeserving?
The BCS rules state that to be eligible for a BCS bowl game, a team must have at least 9 wins, and be ranked #14 or higher in the BCS.
Which of those did VT not meet?
Either you understand that bowl games other than the BCS title game have been and always will be completely about putting butts in the seats… or you don’t.
I’m not a tech fan, but hold no animosity about their bowl situation. The bowls are about fun and money, not rankings, unless you are in the championship. Just glad it’s a watchable game; VT vs WVU would not have been worth watching, but this contest will be worth seeing.
Plenty of envy. But it doesn’t matter. The Hokies and Wolverines will get a prime-time audience and the ACC will get two BCS checks.
As Andy said, it is time to move on; we could argue all day and night and one one is going to change their mind. I see Michigan having the edge in this game, specifically because of their defense. Logan Thomas does not do well under pressure and this will force VT to rely on their running game. It may not get off the ground against Michigan. The Wolverine offense will fare better than VT because of the QB’s mobility and speed. Tech has a great deal of trouble with a QB like this, witness their complete falling apart against Clemson. I see it Michigan 21 – Tech 10.
The Sugar Bowl will garner much attention because of the BCS controversy, which actually is very good for ratings. The viewership will increase probably 35% for this game just because fans will want to see Virginia Tech get taken to the woodshed for their sneaky entry into the backdoor of the Sugar Bowl. It will probably be one of the more entertaining games of the Bowl season. I remember around 3 years ago Virginia Tech from the ACC and Cincinnati from the Big East played in the Orange Bowl and everyone said that was the game that no one wanted to watch. This Sugar Bowl will be interesting, even though both of these teams are about a number 22 – 25 team in the rankings.
I agree with VTBass Fishing, I don’t get into these games a great deal but these players need to have fun; they are not getting paid for playing football. If a team can get in a big bowl game and make a ton of money and the players and coaches can get out there and party and drink all night long before the game, then you can’t blame them for wanting to have some fun. The bottom line is that New Orleans is perfect for a team like the Hokies, they thrive on this kind of atmosphere and their fans travel well to support them. There are always teams that get left out or think that something isn’t fair about the selection process but it all comes around. I don’t think for one minute that the Hokies belong in that Sugar Bowl, but you can’t feel badly for them; they didn’t do the choosing, they are just recipients of others wanting to make the entire situation profitable.
You are right about that, Virginia Tech is definitely in a class by themselves.
Forget ticket sales at this point. The game will sell out no doubt. Both teams are eager for a BCS bowl and have committed followings, so that will not be a problem. On the other hand, VT is going to get smoked in this game. Despite their “10 win” season, they didn’t beat anyone worth mentioning and Michigan had several good wins, in an improved Big 10. Michigan’s defense is much, much better, and their offense will run all over the field. This one will be a blowout. MI-42, VT-10
It is what it is, but I really hate that the winningest QB in football history cannot show his skills again. Kevin Moore and his team deserve more. Don’t tell about the reasons why. (Schedule, etc.) Their schedules are no weaker than some that get to go bowling. It is ashame that it has gotten this way, But———. Go Tigers!!!