Tech's $14 ticket price is attempt to fill 5,000 bowl seats

By Doug Roberson

Dec 9, 2010

Georgia Tech's offer of a limited supply of $14 Independence Bowl tickets is an attempt to fill 5,000 seats and enhance the fan base, athletics director Dan Radakovich said.

More than 2,200 tickets for the Dec. 27 game against Air Force in Shreveport, La., had been sold through Wednesday morning, and the cheaper $14 tickets are available until Sunday. Tech's overall ticket allotment is 10,000, and the school is responsible for up to 6,000 unsold seats. The ACC will pay for remaining tickets if 8,000 are sold.

Radakovich said the school doesn't profit from bowl ticket sales, even when no discounts are involved.

"To be there in Shreveport, that's what's going to be able to sell Georgia Tech for years upcoming within the ACC in the bowl pecking order," Radakovich said. "Not to disparage other teams, but we don't have that far to go to be recognized within our conference as a great traveling team. It's manageable; we can do that."

The $14 price was chosen to honor Tech's bowl streak, which is now 14 consecutive games. The normal price for these tickets were $37 and $47. Bowl tickets are usually more expensive. Seats to last year's Orange Bowl cost $125. Tickets to the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl ranged from $60 to $70, and Tech had an allotment of 17,500 for the game in the Georgia Dome, which sold out.

David Thompson, a Tech fan who lives in Little Rock, Ark., said he considered buying full-fare Independence Bowl tickets for his father, an 1973 alum, and brother, but decided he couldn't afford them. When the $14 tickets were made available, Thompson purchased three.

The discount idea came after Radakovich met on Sunday with bowl officials. It was hoped the sale of the cheaper seats sales would be brisk. School officials want to see as many Tech fans as possible at Shreveport hotels, restaurants and other attractions.

The athletic director met with other officials within the athletics association and they decided that the potential punitive price of tickets was one obstacle they could remove for those who considered attending.

Tech sold 10,000 to last season's ACC championship game and 10,000 more to the Orange Bowl. He said the Independence Bowl tickets are sideline seats and the timing of the game is well positioned; the game comes the week after the Christmas holiday, when most families are on vacation. Shreveport is a nine-hour drive from Atlanta.

"It was important for us to try something different," Radakovich said. "Some have worked; some haven't worked. We want to make sure that we continue to try to do things to try and entice our fans to jump on the bandwagon."

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