The numbers in Georgia Tech’s season-ticket sellout

October 24, 2015 Atlanta - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Florida State Seminoles take on the field before their game at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday, October 24, 2015. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

October 24, 2015 Atlanta - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Florida State Seminoles take on the field before their game at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday, October 24, 2015. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Georgia Tech’s sellout of its season-ticket plan topped out at 30,467 packages.

In 2016, following Tech’s 3-9 record in 2015 and a less appealing home schedule, the ticket office sold 31,789 season tickets. The numbers include student and staff season tickets, which are discounted.

The total merits some context. This year’s season-ticket pool had to be capped because it included a ticket to Monday’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff game against Tennessee in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tech received an allotment of 35,000 tickets, and so the athletic department reached a point where it could not issue any more tickets for that game.

Even with the momentum from the 9-4 record in 2016 and a strong home schedule, though, that Tech needed almost all of its offseason to reach that number represents the ongoing challenge that many college and pro sports organizations face in selling season tickets when more fans prefer to buy tickets individually or simply watch from home.

In 2015, following the Orange Bowl championship season and with Georgia, Florida State and Virginia Tech on the home schedule, sales reached 34,712. It was the highest total since 2009, coach Paul Johnson’s second year at Tech, when 35,209 season tickets were sold, although that total did not include student tickets. The athletic department began reporting season-ticket totals that included those sold to students and staff in 2015.

Fans can still purchase six-game packages for all of the home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium, which includes games against Georgia and Virginia Tech. Prices begin at $220. Flex packs of three or more games are also available, starting at $125. More information is available on the Tech ticket website or by calling 888-832-4849.