Link: OT- Georgia State facilities

[ALA2262]

Incredible what they are doing!

Turner Field for football...

Baseball stadium on old Fulton County Stadium baseball field footprint(currently a parking lot)...

Also a large mixed use development...

The Stadium - Georgia State University

 

[TideEngineer08]

Those are some nice looking plans. I'll be shocked if they ever replicate the crowd size in that first pic, though.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I wish my firm had gotten some of that work

 

[KrAzY3]

Those are some nice looking plans. I'll be shocked if they ever replicate the crowd size in that first pic, though.

Here's their 2015 attendance stats: 62,081 total attendance, 10,347 average attendance.

I find it laughable that someone can claim anything they are doing is incredible (unless we mean an incredible waste of student's money). While this plan is less wasteful than some I have seen, it's still throwing 53 million dollars at something that no one will really care about. These programs always blame facilities on their poor attendance, but their attendance is still going to stink either way. They literally do not deserve to have an FBS program.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Here's their 2015 attendance stats: 62,081 total attendance, 10,347 average attendance.

I find it laughable that someone can claim anything they are doing is incredible. While this plan is less wasteful than some I have seen, it's still throwing 53 million dollars at something that no one will really care about. These programs always blame facilities on their poor attendance, but their attendance is still going to stink either way. They literally do not deserve to have an FBS program.

Yep. The blame isn't even because they aren't that good of a program.

The real reason attendance is poor for places like this and UAB is that they are way late to the party. This market has already been saturated, long ago. Unless the population of Alabama magically doubles, UAB has no chance of markedly improving their attendance numbers no matter how nice their facilities are. Ditto the state of Georgia and Atlanta. I will admit that Georgia State has a better chance than UAB, just because of the growth of the city of Atlanta. But it's still going to take a lot more to drastically improve those numbers.

 

[KrAzY3]

The real reason attendance is poor for places like this and UAB is that they are way late to the party. This market has already been saturated, long ago. Unless the population of Alabama magically doubles, UAB has no chance of markedly improving their attendance numbers no matter how nice their facilities are.

You mention UAB, but South Alabama has had dreadful attendance as well. 16,000 average in 2015 put them 1,000 above the minimum. I do see the point in that Georgia doesn't have the number of programs as Alabama, so there is hypothetical room for growth, but I'd also argue that there's probably only meaningful support for 4 or 5 programs with the two states combined. The sad thing is in isolation I see nothing wrong with the plans, if they had a real demand for the product it would be a good use of resources.

You have Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama, all well supported. Then you have Georgia Tech, which is kind of at the midway point, they have half Alabama's attendance, but at least double anything Troy (the next most worthy), South Alabama, UAB, or Georgia St. is doing. So, one could argue Georgia has a bit less enthusiasm for college football (which makes sense given their greater access to professional sports).

But anyway you are absolutely correct in that the market simply doesn't exist. Why on earth would fans in those states skip out on SEC and ACC football games to watch UAB, South Alabama, or Georgia St. play? The answer is they don't...

 

[Padreruf]

Yep. The blame isn't even because they aren't that good of a program.

The real reason attendance is poor for places like this and UAB is that they are way late to the party. This market has already been saturated, long ago. Unless the population of Alabama magically doubles, UAB has no chance of markedly improving their attendance numbers no matter how nice their facilities are. Ditto the state of Georgia and Atlanta. I will admit that Georgia State has a better chance than UAB, just because of the growth of the city of Atlanta. But it's still going to take a lot more to drastically improve those numbers.

Precisely...why waste all this money on facilities that will never be filled? Whose ego is at stake here? Or, could it be that they want a share of the D-I money pie? Look no further than the NCAA to find the real culprit in all of this.

 

[92tide]

i don't really care one way or another about the football stadium. i hope that they can get a lot of this stuff installed. the entire area around turner field is parking lots and hopefully that will change.

 

[TideMan09]

It's dang near impossible to tap into economies in places that's already been established by giants of college football like Georgia & Georgia Tech..And that includes UAB in Birmingham trying to compete against Alabama & Auburn..

Those areas of population have fans that are born fans of Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, or GTech Fans from birth & will make it a long haul of many many many many years if they are able to establish even a small fan-base(I'm talking generational kinda years).."Build It And They Will Come" doesn't always turn out the way you want it to..

 

[MattinBama]

First thing that came to mind...

 

[DzynKingRTR]

You guys do know the Georgia State has a bigger student body than UGA and Georgia Tech, right?

 

[CrimsonProf]

You guys do know the Georgia State has a bigger student body than UGA and Georgia Tech, right?

And I'm sure they all show up as freshman eager to cheer on the home team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CullmanTide]

You guys do know the Georgia State has a bigger student body than UGA and Georgia Tech, right?

We do but they can't manufacture tradition.

 

[TideEngineer08]

You guys do know the Georgia State has a bigger student body than UGA and Georgia Tech, right?

Yes, and Central Florida and South Florida have massive student body populations but the Big 12 didn't come close to extending them invitations.

How many of those students actually live on campus and attend courses on campus vs. remote/distance learning? How many truly leave with the kind of attachment to the school that lasts a life time and results in massive donations and support for things like the football team? Or, how many of those are Georgia or Tech fans and are attending State because it's a cheaper option?

Their student body population means nothing if they are barely cracking 10k in attendance on a given Saturday. Those are not going to be passionate Panther alumni who will be coming back for games many years after graduation. Likely, they'll be attending games in Athens, or they have nothing to do with the state of Georgia and care nothing for football or sports in general.

 

[TiderJack]

Here's their 2015 attendance stats: 62,081 total attendance, 10,347 average attendance.

I find it laughable that someone can claim anything they are doing is incredible (unless we mean an incredible waste of student's money). While this plan is less wasteful than some I have seen, it's still throwing 53 million dollars at something that no one will really care about. These programs always blame facilities on their poor attendance, but their attendance is still going to stink either way. They literally do not deserve to have an FBS program.

I am assuming they are using the "build it and they will come" strategy. It is a long term plan/investment that may can work in ATL. New stadiums/facility attracts better players which puts a better product on the field which puts people in the seats. I like the progressive thinking.

 

[Intl.Aperture]

passionate Panther alumni

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose.

 

[92tide]

We do but they can't manufacture tradition.

this is the state of georgia we are talking about here

 

[Power Eye]

When Georgia State started playing football about 6 years ago, I actually thought they might be able to get a successful program for a couple of reasons. 1) They're in a major metropolitan area and 2) UGA is the only in-state school, of a state that has a ton of blue-chip prospects, that consistently gets those prospects. Georgia Tech just does not get the top in-state prospects. They never have and probably never will.

The problem is that there is no campus feel at Georgia State. It's a campus that's mixed-in with the rest of downtown Atlanta. The location of Turner Field isn't far from campus but it's also not connected to the campus. Also, the student body isn't your traditional student body. There are alot of older students who are going back to school or who already have families.

The school that I do think has a chance to have success is Kennesaw State in the northwest metro area. They have a large campus with good housing facilities and a more traditional student body. They started playing football about 2 years ago, and I think they have a chance to really build something.

 

[irNate]

You guys do know the Georgia State has a bigger student body than UGA and Georgia Tech, right?

and a lot of the GSU students are UGA fans that didn't qualify to get into UGA

 

[gtgilbert]

You mention UAB, but South Alabama has had dreadful attendance as well. 16,000 average in 2015 put them 1,000 above the minimum. I do see the point in that Georgia doesn't have the number of programs as Alabama, so there is hypothetical room for growth, but I'd also argue that there's probably only meaningful support for 4 or 5 programs with the two states combined. The sad thing is in isolation I see nothing wrong with the plans, if they had a real demand for the product it would be a good use of resources.

You have Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama, all well supported. Then you have Georgia Tech, which is kind of at the midway point, they have half Alabama's attendance, but at least double anything Troy (the next most worthy), South Alabama, UAB, or Georgia St. is doing. So, one could argue Georgia has a bit less enthusiasm for college football (which makes sense given their greater access to professional sports).

But anyway you are absolutely correct in that the market simply doesn't exist. Why on earth would fans in those states skip out on SEC and ACC football games to watch UAB, South Alabama, or Georgia St. play? The answer is they don't...

and add to all that the fact that much of the population growth in the ATL area is from folks from other states in SEC/ACC territory, and we don't switch our allegiances quickly. There are more bama fans in our neighborhood than GA fans (might be a bit unique as we also have a fair share of folks from northern states also). Walking around the elementary schools you get the same picture - tons of kids wearing gear for out of state SEC and ACC teams.