If you are not a member of the Hokie Club and you are not currently a student, there is one simple solution to watch a Hokie football game: "Watch it on TV", says Sandy Smith, the Director of Ticketing Services at Virginia Tech.

Over the past few years, Tech football has soared in terms of popularity and national recognition. All of this is just fine and dandy for the program, but success comes at a price, and the fans foot the bill.

Over the past two football seasons, only four groups of people have been able to attend football games at Lane Stadium: (1) Coaches and players; (2) Fans from opposing teams; (3) Virginia Tech students and guests of students; and (4) Hokie Club members.

Hokie Club members are part of an elite organization who all have one thing in common: they donate large amounts of money to the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. With the success of the football program in the last couple of years, seating has been very limited.

"We give top priority to the Hokie Club members, and the games have been selling out quickly," Smith said. "We let the contributors get a chance to go to the games, the ones who pay for the scholarships."

Hokie Club members have devoured all tickets in the past two years, leaving no tickets remaining for non-donating fans. Smith said that his department has not sold an individual game ticket in two years because they simply haven’t had any left over.

In 1993, there were 10,056 season tickets sold, according to the 2000 Football Media guide. That number steadily increased over the next few years, reaching a little more than 12,000 the following year, and in 1995 season ticket sales had jumped to 14,124. In 1996 the number was 16,087 but sales remained stagnant for the ‘97 season, with only 16,675 applicants for season tickets sales. In ’98 sales increased by another two thousand, but things were about to change drastically.

In 1998 the Hokies cruised to a 9-3 record and a convincing victory over Alabama in the Music City Bowl. The success was followed by a jump in season tickets sales. In 1999, season ticket sales increased by over 25 percent, leaping from 18,433 to 23,816. Those 23,816 season tickets holders got to witness Tech’s most historic season to date, including an undefeated record and a trip to the Sugar Bowl to play for the National Championship. The next year, a record 35,000 applications poured in requesting season tickets. Of those 35,000 requests, 29,440 season tickets were sold, almost tripling the total sold in 1993, just seven years earlier.

If the number has declined in the 2001 campaign, it is only because of lack of space rather than waning interest. Anyone who has been to the stadium will notice that behind the South end zone sits cranes and bulldozers, rather than Orange and Maroon faithful.

In the 2000 season, Lane Stadium held 56,272 people, but due to reconstruction that number has dropped to 51,220. However, when Tech opens its 2002 season, the South end zone expansion will be finished, adding an additional 11,000-12,000 seats. Smith said that they are unsure of the exact number of new seats that will be created.

According to the 2001 Virginia Tech Football Media Guide, the seats will be arranged in a double deck structure. The seats will run along the entire south end zone, but will not connect with the existing East and West seating structures.

Smith said that the new seating will be delegated to Hokie Club members who are not currently allotted tickets. As of now, there are no plans to rearrange seating, moving fans from the West bleachers to the new facilities. This means that alumni and contributors who currently occupy seats will not be forced to give up those seats.

Currently, seating arrangements are determined by loyalty, and of course pocket books. Who gets that prime real estate along the 50-yard line? "It is based on donations and longevity within the programs," Smith said.

Hokie Club membership is diverse, with various levels and benefits depending on amount of money donated. The entry level is the Hokie Gift Level, with the minimum annual donation of $100. However, the annual categories extend to Platinum Gift Level, which requires a hefty annual donation of $5,000 and up. The greater the donation, the better the chance of receiving tickets.

Hokie Club members do not only receive one ticket for membership. On the contrary, many members receive upwards of four tickets for every Virginia Tech home game.

Ticket orders are routinely taken through the HokieTickets.com web page maintained by Smith and his associates. Hokietickets.com allows fans a chance to purchase tickets if available, although the football tickets links have required little maintenance in the last few years. The same message has appeared: "All season tickets have been sold."

Since there have been no individual ticket sales for two seasons, the traffic on the site is mainly in vain. Therefore, the web site for fans who wish to attend football games is hokieclub.com. This site describes all of the separate clubs in great detail, including benefits and prices for particular status.

Another site that fans who wish to see Tech football games should check out is walmartcom, or other such appliance-laden web pages. With the Holidays approaching, there should be some great deals on big screen TV’s and recliners.

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