Re: [gatortalk] FW: [gatornews] [SUN]: Gators win 24th straight at home to open SEC play

On Jan 9, 2014, at 11:52 AM, Kirkley.net wrote:

I'm shocked and a bit disappointed that this is the record and it surpassed the previous record by 1,000.  It seems to be that on a campus of 50,000 we should routinely get 10% of them to come watch a basketball game.

Does the athletic department not provide more student tickets or is it a demand problem, or cost problem?

Ken K

MNGator

I think that it is weirder than that. In fact, I don't know how this stat is even kept.

I attend a lot of UF basketball games and buy tickets from the UAA and on-line at StubHub.

The "Rowdy Reptiles" section is student only, not sure if it is discounted or free like at Duke. Either way, there is enough incentive to camp out.

All other seats are reserved and the tickets sold at full price.

So, I don't see how we could ever have more students attending other than counting the Rowdy Reptile section. When I buy a reserved seat, it is not as if the website or the ushers know whether I am a student (well, maybe the ushers). It is not as if the UAA will kick out season ticket holders to increase the size of the Rowdy Reptile section. 

My only guess is that we had a number of unsold tickets from the UAA and - to sell them - the UAA discounted them and sold them as student tickets. If so, it would mean that outside demand for this game was low, not high.

That makes sense, as we beat USC by 37 last year, and it is tough to road trip to Gainesville for a Wednesday night game. So, there probably were a fair number of unsold seats.

I guaranty that we will have fewer "students" attend the UK game, not because they don't want to, but because people like me have bought tickets.

-Zeb