With the competition for entertainment dollars "so tough and empty seats painting a negative image of football programs," ACC schools are "brainstorming ways to get more fans to games," according to Hank Kurz Jr. of the AP. Some have "created fan zones outside of stadiums with live music, offered reduced season ticket packages and installed new video boards, all hoping an enhanced fan experience will do the trick." North Carolina is among the schools that have "created an area offering live music and other pregame enhancements geared toward children and families." UNC is "expected to contend for the Coastal Division title," but the school estimates that "an average of 54,500 fans came to their 63,000-seat stadium the first two games of the season." But "not all of the league's schools are feeling the attendance pain." Florida State drew 81,294 fans -- "about 1,000 below capacity" -- for its home opener against Citadel, while Clemson drew 78,000 -- "3,500 below capacity" -- for its home opener against South Carolina State. Louisville, in its first season in the ACC, is the conference's only school to "have filled its home stadium to capacity" through the first two weeks. UL's opener against Miami set a "standing room only record." Meanwhile, Syracuse coach Scott Shafer "offered to buy every fan that bought a ticket a second one" for the school's season opener against Villanova. The school had "drawn an average of 36,012 fans to their previous five games against FCS competition," more than 13,000 "below the Carrier Dome's capacity, prompting the coach's unusual offer." It "worked, to a degree, with 41,189 fans showing up" (AP, 9/10).
Virginia Tech Exec Associate AD Desiree Reed-Francois said that recent ticket sales "show just how much impact" last weekend's road win over Ohio State "has on the university and athletic program." Reed-Francois on Monday said, "In the last 30 hours, we've sold about 2,600 individual game tickets." In Roanoke, Nadine Maeser noted the spike in sales "is a much different story from what Virginia Tech saw just a few weeks ago." Reed-Francois: "While we don't have a sell out yet, we're trending ahead where we were for the William and Mary game" (
WDBJ7.com, 9/8). Also in Roanoke, Doug Doughty noted the crowd of 34,533 that watched Virginia defeat Richmond on Saturday "was the lowest at Scott Stadium" since '89. UVA that year drew 33,400 for a midseason game with Louisville, "which will make its first visit to UVa since then" for a 12:30pm ET kickoff on Saturday. The school drew 44,749 for its opener against UCLA on Aug. 30 (
ROANOKE TIMES, 9/9).
