Darren Rovell: Amount of Bowl Tickets sold by school
Schools that sold out of its bowl tickets: Auburn, FSU, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Stanford, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Missouri, Texas
More schools that sold out of its bowl tickets: Alabama Oregon, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Bowling Green.
Schools by % of allotted tickets sold: Iowa 95%, Louisville 88%, Baylor 71% Maryland 70%, Utah State 67%, Kansas St 55%
Schools by allotted % of bowl tickets sold: Michigan 51% LSU 50%, Ohio State 44%, Wisconsin 32%
Minnesota has sold only 29% of their bowl ticket allotment.
BONUS: Sparty Inferiority complex sighting
@darrenrovell @Rational_Tigers how about MSU, Rovell? They're kind of in a bigger bowl than U of M, no?
December 27th, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
Auburn, FSU, Michigan St, Stanford, and Oklahoma are all conference champions playing in their conference champion's normal bowl (as is Alabama), so selling out those is kind of a no brainer.
Vandy = 2.5 hr drive
Rutgers = 0.75 hr drive
ND = 0.5 hr (it's ND in New York, they are already there, but some credit is due)
Mizzou = 9 hrs; so while they likely have most of their alums in St Louis or Dallas, this is still a really good showing
Texas = 1 hr (and in the state of TX)
Alabama = 4 hrs
Oregon = A long ways, good for them
Ole Miss = 4 hrs
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Basically, the point is that everyone outside of Oregon and ND that sold out is within a short 4 hr drive or in their conference champion's bowl. I'm not excusing terrible bowl sales for other schools outside of the fact that it costs a ton of money for fans to go to some of these destinations for pretty unspectacular games (and OSU fans probably already bought tickets to Cali), but there is a reason for these numbers, namely, the B1G teams are so damn far away.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
I understand the emotional impact of falling out of the NC game, but the Orange Bowl isn't chopped liver. Or at least it wasn't. And look, they get to play Clemson again...maybe Meyer can get his own shot in.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
these parts, most of my Buckeye friends are convinced Clemson is going to wipe the floor with them. Several season ticket holders (with plenty of $$$ to boot) basically said: "I'm not going to waste my time and money to see OSU get their a$$es kicked". (emphasis on the $$$ with OSU of course :) ).
December 27th, 2013 at 3:45 PM ^
refernces from the 1979 Gator Bowl punching Charlie Bauman.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
I dont think it's any big secret that our game has generated almost complete apathy across the fan base. From the location to the opponent to our own injury situation, it's like barely anybody seems to care about the game.
Look at the board itself. Almost no posts on KSU or the game all week and just now the front page has some content on the game and nothing yet from Brian. I truly am amazed we've sold 51% of our tickets to be honest if we collectively are any indication of the general public.
December 28th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
With the number of bowls and the spread of ESPN, FOX and ABC/CBS/NBC coverage it really eats into who will go to a bowl. For many fans who are just interested in watching the game the coverage on TV is hard to beat. That leaves:
1. Super die hard fans will go - they'll go anywhere and anyplace. But there are only a small finite number of these fans.
2. BUT for everyone else - it has to be a combination of an interesting game - interesting place to go AND at a reasonable price.
The bowl system in general gouges the fan bases. They mandate a certain number of tickets to be sold at a certain price. The UM probably could have sold the other 49% but only if they could lower the overall price. Sure, one can get top dollar for the Rose Bowl or the MNC game for everyone else, the notion that the fan base will jump and travel somewhere and then pay $100 for a not-that-thrilling game in a not-that-exciting place is ridiculous. (apologies to Arizona, and the cities of Scottsdale and Glendale)
These organizations are ostensibly non-profit but really are boosters of the local economy. They need to grasp that they might want to lower the ticket cost as a way of driving sales. Flogging the fan base has long been exhausted.
December 28th, 2013 at 11:14 AM ^
most of the UM ticket sales went to alums/fans living in California and Arizona. It's a quick and reasonable flight from California and they don't get to see their team very often.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
LOL at Ohio State
December 27th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^
I know! It's hilarious that they beat us and are playing in a BCS bowl!!!!!!!!
/s
December 27th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
Geeze, you're annoying.
December 27th, 2013 at 10:44 PM ^
Percentage is a crappy way to measure ticket sales. The schools should simply be listed by number of tickets sold, with an indication if they sold all available.
If School A is allotted 10k and School B 20k, and they both sell 9k, the percentage is deceptive. They performed equally.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:54 PM ^
That guy is a hack.
Also, interesting that you made time and space to include the "Sparty Inferiority Complex", no?
December 27th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
In their entire history, the Spartans have been to the Rose Bowl four times; this will be their fifth. No wonder they sold out their entire allotment. It's not like they have to worry about it happening again for 25 years or so.
December 27th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^
Meeeeechigan is in the Rose Bowl we will sell out our tickets in a nano-second. Alums of the conference winners snatch up tickets in a drunken second after thier win. Losers: not so much.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
Michigan was in a bigger bowl in 2011 compared to MSU even though they beat us that year. So, what's his point?
December 27th, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^
Very surprised at OSU.
They historically travel VERY well and this is even a BCS bowl. Depending on the fan you talk to, they are either very confident ("Boyd is overrated! Clemson is overrated! ACC is overrated!") or very worried ("Gardner did THAT to us with one foot?! Imagine what Boyd and Watkins are gonna do...").
December 27th, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
I'm somewhat willing to bet that it has to do with the location. Of all the places that seem to have high concentrations of Ohio fans (or just people from Ohio), southeast Florida is not one of those locations. It also isn't a primary vacation destination for Ohio people (they seem to flock to the west coast of Florida).
December 27th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^
Somewhat off topic, anyone know why edsbs hates Rovell so much?
December 27th, 2013 at 6:23 PM ^
I don't think there's any one reason, it's just that Rovell is annoying. Personally, I feel he could fill an interesting place in sports reporting, instead he just tweets pointless twitter polls, player salaries, and pictures of empty seats before games. He doesn't understand the passion and irrationality of college football fans.
December 27th, 2013 at 7:36 PM ^
The biggest issue is that he's kind of an ass for no good reason, and thinks talking about the financial side of sports without putting any real analysis into it is considered journalism. I'm not saying EDSBS is right all the time, but I stopped followed Rovell when he just started linking to sites with information and effectively saying "hmmm" without providing anything better. Also, this was pretty awesomend highlights how he's kind of a tool.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/the-atlanta-hawks-are-not-amused-by-darren-rovell/
December 27th, 2013 at 4:36 PM ^
How can you blame people for not wanting to go to an overpriced game that really means nothing? People aren't going to shell out thousands of dollars to go watch a meaningless game anymore. Especially since season tickets have increased pretty much everywhere. There's a good reason there's empty seats at nearly every bowl game not named the Rose Bowl or BCS National Championship.
December 27th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^
I am also not surprised that people won't pay to go to these games. The airline prices were nuts this year.
But, as Stewart Mandel tweeted last night, the overnight ratings on the Little Caesar's Bowl were better than the Big East Champtionship basketball game. They will keep having bowls as long as people are watching.
December 27th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
I think this is a function of when the games are. I watched that bowl game last night only because I had no work the next day and there was nothing else on. This is not the same as a random March day.
December 27th, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^
Those Missouri fans were suckers. Tickets to the Cotton Bowl are going for less than $50 now on Stubhub--some for less than $30. Of course they're not the best seats (but they're not the SRO spots sold at the Michigan-Alabama game either). My youngest daughter attends OSU (ntOSU) and student tickets were $150 and had to be purchased in person the morning of their next to last day of finals, with a limit of two tickets each. We wanted three tickets, so I told her I would just get them on Stubhub. $150.00 seems like a ridiculous price for student tickets.
December 27th, 2013 at 7:33 PM ^
I am amazed that they sold 51% of their tickets to a mediocre bowl game in Arizona on December 28th. That's dedication to me.
December 27th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
I don't understand why fans wouldn't want to travel to Tempe for a bowl game. Their is a lot to do there. I think their are benefits to any bowl game destination. Florida has beaches. Nashville has live music. New York has New York. New Orleans would be an unbelievable party. Texas has bbq. Even Detroit would be fun for a weekend.
Just focus on having a good time. The game a small portion of a trip, it only last 4 hours.
December 27th, 2013 at 11:30 PM ^
It's not so much that people are bashing Tempe, just that it really is a nothing game and, honestly, who is dying to go to Tempe in December? I'm not knocking the place, but I live in NYC and I don't think people should be coming to the city this time of the year either. It's randomly cold, out-of-towners seemingly don't understand how streets, subways, taxis, really anything works in terms of transportation, and most of the places that you want to visit are either super-crowded because they are inside or super tourist traps.
I was in SF for the Fight Hunger bowl a couple of years ago between UCLA (I think) and Illinois, and the fanbases certainly didn't look to be happy there despite the fact the city is pretty cool.
December 28th, 2013 at 6:56 AM ^
You went to a Bowl game a couple of years ago and aren't sure if UCLA played in it?????? The pre-party must have been fantastic!
December 28th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ^
Illinois became the first team ever to break a six-game losing streak by winning a bowl game; UCLA became the first team ever to lose eight games in a season in which they went to a bowl. And it was the first bowl game ever to feature two teams that had combined for a losing record during the season.
I'm not sure if it was also the only bowl game to feature two teams that had already fired their head coaches after the regular season ended.
December 29th, 2013 at 12:24 AM ^
You saved me from having to look up these details.
December 28th, 2013 at 7:31 AM ^
"and, honestly, who is dying to go to Tempe in December?"
Uh... Judging by the high number of Michiganders who snowbird in Arizona, a lot. Certainly a lot more than would go to New York City in December and a lot more than want to go to Tempe in July.
December 28th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
is a great place to visit any time of the year. It sounds like you really don't love to travel. I went to Alaska last year. Alaska requires spending hours outside everyday. I was cold but it was better than sitting on my couch.
December 28th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
Sure it is, but it depends on a awful lot to say that. If you don't like cold weather and/or spending your vacation inside, you aren't going to like New York (or Alaska) in the winter time. Same with if you don't like the heat; you aren't going to enjoy Tempe (or Florida) in July.
December 28th, 2013 at 5:08 AM ^
Plus, for years people have complained that all the bowls that Michigan goes to are in Florida. Well, now is the chance for a new venue. Don't be a fair weather fan.
December 28th, 2013 at 7:34 AM ^
People did the same thing with the Outback Bowl last year here in Tampa Bay. Complained all day long about there being nothing to do in Tampa, but failed to realize that there is a ton to do in Tampa Bay, little of it in Tampa, itself.
December 28th, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
It's less the destination than the magnitude of the game.
December 28th, 2013 at 12:45 PM ^
I have a feeling the game will be close to sold out and 75% M.
December 28th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
Can anyone at the game give us an update on the crowd?