Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Commodores in the Music City Bowl: Early Reaction

There's two articles in the Nashville papers about Vanderbilt's appearance in the home town bowl that are worth a read. David Boclair paints a decidedly more positive picture in today's Nashville City Paper than Chas Sisk (apologies to Mo Patton) does in today's Tennessean. Boclair highlights how Vanderbilt has already received orders for close to 4,000 tickets. Vanderbilt's allotment is 11,500, but tickets can also be purchased directly through the Music City Bowl. In light of the early success of ticket sales, Vanderbilt announced the "deadline" to order tickets through the university has been moved up from December 12th to December 10th. You can request/order tickets from Vanderbilt's allotment through Ticketmaster, or by calling 615-322-4653.

The concern, according to Mo, is that local Vanderbilt fans will just attend the game and not give the city the overall economic boost the bowl typically provides. As we've discussed in this space, we think this concern is over-stated, especially given the national breadth of the Vanderbilt fan base. The Guru is on the case, and will put the resources of the university behind ensuring Vanderbilt's appearance in the Music City Bowl is a success. One question I have, what are they doing for the students? Are they opening the dorms early? It would be a real shame if the student body was discouraged from attending the game because they couldn't get into their rooms. I know some will argue that allowing students to stay on campus would cut into hotel profits, which is true. But that seems short-sided. Vanderbilt will be judged primarily on how many tickets they sell and how well attended the game is. Further, opening the dorms does not require opening the various eateries on campus. These kids have to eat, and thwy'd be forced to do it off campus. Granted, it's 5-7 dollars at a time, but that adds up.

What is confirmed is all 5 VSL contributors, plus some of your favorite commenters, will be in Nashville for the game. Once finals are over, we will start figuring out the details of the first ever VSL-tailgate, so stay tuned. In the meantime, the least you can do is buy a t-shirt.

10 comments:

Douglas James said...

In my month and a half spent in marketing after graduation I learned one thing. Selling the ticket is the most important thing! Every ticket you don't sell is lost revenue that you can't get back. Hotel revenue, spending money around town are all a result of the person first buying the ticket. Getting 2500-3000 students back for the game (even if most stay in the dorms) will have more of an economic impact (and make Vandy look better) then if 1000 came back and they got hotel rooms. Not to mention I think people from out of town will stay longer which will help the impact on the economy of Nashville.

Stanimal said...
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Anonymous said...

the first VSL tailgate ever!?!?!? can i wear a shirt that says anonymous? we got 4 front row tix. we won't be generating revenue for hotels, but we'll definitely be generating plenty on the streets in the resteraunts and bars

Douglas James said...

I also hope to generate revenue for Deja Vu (apparently Ken's Gold Club is currently unavailable)

Anonymous said...

Christie's Cabaret, my friend. You won't regret it.

mmd said...
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Anonymous said...

That literally has nothing to do with tittie bars.

Unknown said...

As I think was said in another post. Unless its changed since i graduated (07) dorms can be accessed by students over break as long as they register through the housing website.

Anonymous said...

The selection of Vanderbilt by the bowl committee is the biggest tragedy Nashville Sports have seen in a long time. Its a slap in the face. First and foremost, after years of bowl drought, Vandy players and fans DESERVE to travel to a new place and have a fun and exciting bowl experience like every other college bowl bound team. Second, the positive economic impact that Nashville will lose (regardless of what the rest of you believe) will be a have a HUGE impact on businesses, especially the ones downtown on west end, broadway, and 2nd Ave. This bowl game is what most of the businesses use to float through the winter months when the droves of people frequenting our fair city subside during the cold months. Many of these businesses may now go under do to lack of the weeklong bowl activities we usually have.
The only real reason that Vandy could have been stuck here is that they were last on the list (meaning Kentucky did not want to come back for a third straight year). The Bowl Committees number one goal is to bring cash flow into this city, and this year, with a slim Boston College fan base who will likely sit at home and the Vandy fans who will brave the cold (most of which are the same ones who would not even come out to watch the 11-1 Titans beat the Browns at $5 a ticket) will NOT spend a dime more than they would have if there was no game at all. HUGE dissappointment for the city of Nashville. The Music City Bowl Committee Failed HORRIBLY on this one. 4000 tickets out an allotment of 11,500???? Last year it sold out quickly, and the REAL reason the moved up the deadline, was so they could get the rest of the tickets back to ticketmaster to try to hock them on that site. The only plus side of all this is that you can find lower bowl tickets for $45 on craigslist. Ive already bought mine, and yes, Ill be eating at home before I head to the game, after all, its cheaper.

Stanimal said...

Entitled to your opinion. I think you'll be surprised however.