I received a request yesterday to update everyone on how ticket sales for the Gator Bowl are going.  I wasn't able to get the latest numbers, but I do have the figures from Monday and Tuesday.

As of the end of the day Monday, the first day that tickets went on sale, the Hokies had sold over 5700 tickets.  As I said in the last News and Notes update, that number can be a little misleading, because it no doubt includes the advance ticket sales.

Every year, leading up to the bowl game, the VT Ticket Office sends out advance order forms to season ticket holders and Hokie Club members.  The order forms include spaces to specify how many tickets you want to each of the bowl games that Tech might be eligible for.  This year's form included order blanks for the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Gator Bowl, Carquest Bowl, and Liberty Bowl.  There was no blank for the Orange Bowl, because, gee, we didn't anticipate playing for the national championship (before the Miami-Ohio game, maybe, but not afterwards, ha-ha).

At the end of the day Tuesday, the reported figure was about 7400 tickets sold, and Tech officials were predicting sales of 18,000-20,000.  This is all old news, and I'm sorry I don't have more recent numbers.

The original allotment for each school is 11,000 tickets, which the Hokies will probably sell out easily, and then more tickets can be ordered from the Gator.

What About Carolina?  It appears that the Hokie fans will once again vastly outnumber their opponent's fans.  UNC has only sold about 1000 tickets to the bowl.   I was looking at a UNC message board yesterday, and one of the Carolina fans was asking when the bowl ticket order forms were going to be mailed out(!), so here's one case where the Tech Ticket Office has one-upped the competition, via the advance-order form.   I'm not really sure why UNC fans would be waiting for an order form, instead of calling the ticket office and ordering over the phone.  Maybe I just read one post by a confused fan.

One last comment - I suggest ordering tickets through the Tech ticket office, instead of directly from the Gator Bowl.  The seats in the stadium will be better than in the past, and better seating is (finally!) going to be given to those who order earlier (end zone seats will be sold last).  If you order from Tech, the numbers will be more easily tracked, and Tech's reputation as a traveling school will remain secure.

TSL News and Notes Archives