Update: 2:23p Friday. Tickets have been snatched up over the past three days. While there’s still some rows empty in the corners of the upper bowl and single tickets in the lower one, most of the seats have been sold. Only a few thousand tickets are left, and attendance will be probably north of 47,000 which is terrific. There are some reports coming out of CNY that thousands of Clemson fans swooped in this week and grabbed them. But let’s see how it looks tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, it’s a tremendous Syracuse crowd.
* * *
Saturday¬†marks a¬†historic day in Syracuse athletics. For all the upheaval, rebranding, and press releases about it, SU still hasn’t played an ACC game. At least not in football or basketball, which are the only sports that matter to realignment. Let’s face it: It makes far more sense to play St. John’s in soccer, and Providence in field hockey, than it does to travel to Georgia Tech for tennis or Miami for volleyball. But the sports that pay the bills want the checks to cash richer, so the two big ones forced the hand of the SU athletic department.
So¬†Saturday¬†at 3:30 p.m. is Syracuse’s first crack at the big time. Third-ranked Clemson comes into the Dome; it’s on national television; Don McPherson’s jersey will be retired; a Heisman hopeful under the Tiger center; and the Orange¬†
gets to prove it can run with the grown ups. But the early returns are not great.
SU just released tickets for the lower bowl that go on sale¬†Thursday. Yep, lower bowl seats are still available. You can get the $75 family pack. That’s four tickets in section 332, parking, and $5 in concessions for the first game in ACC history against a national-title contender. The first 10,000 fans get a free 8×10 of D-Mac.
And there are still plenty of tickets left. You don’t have to wait until¬†Thursday. You could go on the¬†Carrier Dome website right now¬†and buy a slew of tickets in the lower bowl for around $50 per. You want to buy an entire section? You can do that. The upper bowl has blocks of rows still empty. The graph on the seating chart says light blue sections mean there’s some tickets left. Darker blue says lots of tickets. There’s sure a lot of blue in that upper bowl. Most of those seats are $30.¬†
Football has been mediocre for awhile at SU. Groobers bled the life out of the program. Doug Marrone leaving was a gut punch. Against the only two legitimate teams it has played this season,¬†Syracuse was outscored 71-44. I totally understand Orange Nation’s hesitance to completely embrace SU football. I didn’t make it a priority to make it to this game, either.¬†
But the great ACC experiment has its first test with the #3 team in the country. And Daryl Gross is calling everyone in his two iPhone contact lists to buy four seats. While SU has told us¬†everything has changed, if there are swaths of empty seats¬†Saturday, it means the ACC doesn’t change everything.¬†
Posted: D.A.
43 responses to “Good Seats Still Available: Syracuse’s 1st ACC Test Not So Hot”
Don’t make it sound so grim… I think announced attendence will be 44,000+ which is a good accomplishment for the program at this point.
So you write a daily blog about SU sports, but you are not going to the biggest football game in a decade…? I hope to god you don’t live in driving distance of the dome.. Lame man.
I am an SU alum, class of ’77, residing on Long Island. I have not been to a football game in the Carrier Dome in this century, but I will be there on Saturday to show my support. ACC, Clemson, this is the kind of excitement that has been lacking for years. Let’s Go Orange!
Aaron – I live in NYC. So it’s a bit of a hike for me. But we have a Fizz staffer credentialed and writing at every game. If the attendance is 44k, then that should be pretty good. I think we’d all like to see it even more than that. But we’ll see.
Announced attendance doesn’t mean a thing. Hell for the Tulane game it was announced that the attendence was 36 thou and some change. I don’t think that their was over 26 thou. What matters is people actually showing up for these games and not sitting home or going to the bar. People will say that prices are way expensive. I agree, but going to the bars is just as expensive than goin to the dome. When I go to the game we tailgate. Have some good eats before the game. I only bring enough for a snack and a couple of drinks($20). Also, if this team goes out on that field and sees a half empty dome. That is saying alot about the support that they get. Folks in this town wonder why we don’t get top recriuts. This is the reason. These kids are doing the best that they can to make a good season. The most we as fans can do is show up and support them back. Show that we care and are behind them. I just hope that the dome is full to capacity this weekend. Also to show the recriuts coming in what kind of place this is and can be
If there aren’t at least 45,000 butts in seats this Saturday than this fan base deserves whatever they get in terms of home games being shipped to Metlife. I heard a lot of “USC would’ve sold out the Dome” last year, well this game is proof that wouldn’t have happened. I’ve got better things to do with my money that I spend on 4 season tickets, but I love football and there isn’t a bad seat in the house. I’m sick I’ve hearing all the excuses from this fan base. It’s either “to expensive”, or “they don’t play anybody”, or “they’re gonna get killed…” Just remember ‘Cuse fans, you don’t show up this weekend…then you deserve whatever you get going forward.
IF and its a huge IF. If the team beats Clemson and Terrel Hunt plays a major role in the win be prepared to hear his name being mention in Heisman whispers.We should have three Heisman winners in our history. The other two are Jim Brown and Donnie Mac. Jim lost to Hornung the Notre bDame white player. Donnie lost to the NotreDame publicity machine which pushed Tim Brown up in the minds of the voters. Our publicity department screwed the pooch in its duties to promote Donnie.
@Aaron; way to take DA to task.It’s not like the game hasn’t been scheduled for a year, wow, that is as lame as Poliquin and Axe.
Isn’t this wonderful? We alums who live thousands of miles from SU see the SU alums sitting home for a game that would sell out in any other city in America…The risks? Cripple recruiting for next year since many of the potential signees will be sitting in a half empty Dome and the ACC will have second thoughts about inviting us in…Where are the guys who used to sit next to me in Archbold on freezing seats with snow going down the backs of our necks….Pitiful….We, far away, are ashamed to be call you fellow alums and fans…To draw the same people for Buffalo and Akron as for Clemson…What a joke!
This is just the kind of feeling the media here generates about SU sports. It is sold out or will be by saturday.
I live in Texas and i will be in the dome just wait till u see the dome it will be rocking
People need to pack the Dome! I live in North Carolina and will be at the NC State game. If I lived within driving distance of the dome…I would be there. I am going to have to drive 4 hours to get to Raleigh…but this is such a treat. Why are people not going to see Clemson ranked # 3 in the country in the dome? All these fans in CNY talking trash about SU football…now is your opportunity to support the team. True fans support their teams…win or lose….now get off your butts……and go purchase some tickets…..
Win Baby and they will come=SIMPLE!!
Do not forget the abused children at PSU!! THE NCAA did!!
Da: I live in miami and I’m flying to the fsu game and last year i drove to Tampa for the south Florida game. No different than you driving to cuse from NYC, and I don’t write a cuse blog. Be a good example for your readers and Get off your tuchus and go to the game!
Can’t wait for this game. Lets get it!
Wow! I actually was feeling a buzz for this game and had heard that ticket sales as of Wed. were close to 44k. This article is among the top 5 buzzkills of all time. Really bad stuff DA.
@DA;
So you live in the NYC area,whats the big deal? Maybe you ought to write the pundits at ESPN or Doug Gottlieb on just how far it is for Syracuse to travel for a basketball or football game,and tell them it is truly a road game and not a home game.
When Syracuse plays at the Garden or at MetLife Stadium,have you noticed all of the fans from the upstate area in attendance? If people expect the upstate fans to travel to the games then we in the upstate area expect the same from the so called fans that live in and around the NYC area.
There are some seats left in the Dome DA,why don’t you invite some of your friends to a get together and get your rear ends to Syracuse for the game?
DA – You should be ashamed of yourself. You make a living covering SU sports and can’t find your way to the Cuse for this gaem. Its only been on the calendar for months. No way to adjust your schedule and get your butt up here. i was at Metlife, and made the decision to go in the last week. You can do the same! Otherwise, lets drop the act that you care about the Orange.
DA, you need to check your sources. We passed 45,000 last night. The goal is to get to 48,000 now. You’re sending a “staffer” lol, you have 3 people in your organization. Enjoy the Red Sox game. very poor article
DA, a few things.
Clemson will have well over 3000 fans at the game, the vast majority coming from a greater distance than NYC.
You live within 4.5 hours of the Dome but can’t figure out a way to get to the biggest game played there in years?
Cuse will have plenty of fans in attendance that have traveled a greater distance than NYC. I know this because I know several from out of state that will be making the trip. And if I, in Seattle, was planning on going before surgery set me back, then I know plenty more are willing to make the trip. And neither I, nor them, write a blog for the team we love.
It’s poor form man. I can understand as a Cuse fan that you might think this game could get ugly. But to confess on a public forum read by many fans that you couldn’t tear yourself away from everyday life for a huge game like this without having some other pressing matter to keep you from attending is just sad.
I enjoy your articles and your perspectives, but on this matter you’re just wrong and you present yourself as part of the attendance problem.
Guys! What’s with all the friendly fire?! I went to the Penn State game. (I actually paid TWICE for it, b/c I lost my first ticket. Yep, paid twice to watch that!) I was at every game of last year’s Big East Tourney. Traveled to ATL for the Final Four. Flew into NYC for the Pinstripe Bowl before I lived in NYC. I came up to Cuse for a Maine football game and Fordham hoops game! Barn burners! I went to three basketball games at the Dome last year. I’ve traveled to Iowa, Tampa, Miami in the last handful of years to see SU… last year I went out to LA from Boston for the USC game. I went to South Bend for the SU-ND game that ended the Groobers Error. That’s some frequent flyer miles!
I’m proud of all of you for making all the efforts you can for the school and the team. I love it. I love when I high five SU strangers at road games. We actually have a staff of five writers, a daily editor and myself, so I’m also proud to say the Fizz has credentialed writers (sometimes more than 1) at every home game and most road ones. It doesn’t have to be just me at the game for the Fizz to represent. This weekend I can’t make it up there. Wish I could.
I would advise against anyone judging any body else for when/where they spend their money/time on SU. My point of the story was not to scold anyone for NOT going. That’s on me if I wasn’t clear enough. My last line was: “While SU has told us everything has changed, if there are swaths of empty seats Saturday, it means the ACC doesn‚Äôt change everything.” I’m just saying that attendance has been an issue for years with SU football and the allure of the ACC and a national title team coming in hasn’t changed that 100%. That’s all.
And please don’t assume you know what’s going on with anyone personally that they “can’t tear themselves away from everyday life.” I’m honest and upfront, transparent with you guys. I’m not gonna lie or pass it off like I’m there. Any idea how many hours it takes to run this website devoted to SU? How many hours I spend with alumni and current students? How much money I’ve spent going on the road to see this team? I would say that speaks more to my commitment to my alma mater than if I can swing the Clemson game. Let’s just all keep everything in perspective here. I appreciate the passion from everyone. It’s what makes running this site so rewarding. But blindly judging people and criticizing their choices is the side of the internet none of us want to be on. Thanks guys for listening. -DA
“DA, you are not going up to Syracuse to cover this game, and you know this is the weekend I scheduled for us to go to Vermont with my parents fo the leaf festival”
I’ll go ahead and support DA on this one.If it were me, I wouldn’t want to miss it, but we have no idea of what his life is like, his family, commitments or otherwise. It’s still a 9-10 hour round trip, probable hotel room at premium rates, and other expenses. Why not just say thanks for his work and honesty, and be supportive?
JB – I would rather plant 100 trees on Euclid Street with Clemson fans pouring beer on my head after a 70-7 win than go to the leaf festival. Haha. Thanks Bgogo.
If they don’t get AT LEAST 45k, that’s really sad… And very telling. Shafer is continuing the course set by Marrone by bringing in quality character kids for the program, and building a program we can all be proud of. Now they are facing the #3 team in the country and probable national championship participant and they are struggling to sell tickets?…. I do not want to hear one more complaint from anyone in the Syracuse community about them playing “the big games” in NYC. This proves that the community (students and city) are undeserving of this program…. Gross should move all the games to the city. Pathetic really…. This is exactly how Marrone felt, but could never say it… And now they are showing Shafer the same thanks…. He should move on too…. This community deserves bringing back Greg Robinson.
@DA;
I for one accept your apology. Your reason came off kinda like you were snubbing the Orangemen and didn’t want to spend the money to travel to Syracuse and see them get blown off the field.
I posted last week that i was told by reliable sources that the game would be a sell out. This is for the people who made comments on DA not coming to the game on Saturday.
I was told againg by my source that it was reported on the radio on the way home from work that ticket sales are over 49,000 and are getting harder and harder to come by for the clemson game. Terry did you notice that I said over 49,000 tickets sold. We still have anothewr 2 days before the game. Watch out Clemson,everyone in the dome is there to watch Syracuse lock the doors and kick your a$$es. IT’S GOING TO BE A FUN DAY SATURDAY.
You write for this but make no effort tongontonthe cuse vs number 3 team? Sorry, but that’s pathetic.
I’m sorry but you really need to re-read your story here. If you didn’t know what was happening with ticket sales you would think this thing is going to be half empty for this game.Your comment on not blaming the fans for not embracing this team and not making it a priority yourself lead nobody to believe you had a personal commitment or issue but,in fact, that you could care less. Sorry,this is on you.
Yeah, DA, all the while they would be sceaming get the yankee.
sorry guys,Im with DA on this one!No one devotes and builds a career around something unless he loves it and as someone who has been around I never question someone especially whose been upfront!Life can throw people for bigger losses than missing a FB game and who are we to question the guy responsible for giving us the forum to express our views?@Ron,were gonna kick their azzes!!!Bring on Da PAIN!
Well Dave, I appreciate your comments and respect your opinions. But I disagree with your assessment. Here’s your Carrier Dome seating chart. Good seats still available in many sections as of Thursday night. That was my only point. Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. It’s always good to have open discourse: http://www.ticketmaster.com/syracuse-orange-football-vs-clemson-university-syracuse-new-york-10-05-2013/event/00004AF3A6279E5C?artistid=829348&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=8&tm_link=search_msg-0_00004AF3A6279E5C
Alumni do a poor job of supporting the program in person. I can understand time commitments make it hard to make every game, but there is no reason why alumni cannot make 3-4 games a year. If people like DA cannot make the Clemson game, then fine. But they better make Wake and one of Pitt or BC. No excuses.
ANY SU alumn who cares about football & lives within a tank of gas (NYC, Philly, Boston) should own season tickets. It is ONLY 6 friggin games a year. Even if you cannot make all 6, you should be able to make 3-4 a year. Heck at worst find a fellow alumn near you & split the seasons. Each go to half.
BTW the bus from NYC takes 4.5 hours with a 10 min layover in Binghamton. A normal person should be able to do the drive in under 4 hours, even with a quick stop. The trip is not bad, I have done it 6x a year every season since graduating in 2000. I even went up for the NorthEASTern game in 2008.
As to CNYers, they are just awful football fans. They should be embarrassed.
@kingottoiii;
As to CNYers, they are just awful football fans. They should be embarrassed.
I don’t know where you get your information from bud. but one thing for sure is you shouldn’t be lumping us all together in making a statement like that.
I’m definately not embarrassed to be a Syracuse Fan. You see I have a Giant “S” on my chest and wear an Orange cape whereever I go or fly.
Oop’s I let the cat out of the bag on this won. I promise to be more careful in the future.
What do you think about this kid making a comment like that about people like us Terry,Russell,Smitty Sec 103 who come “HELL OR HIGH WATER” support Syracuse Football?
Correction;
Oop’s I let the cat out of the bag on this won. Should have been ONE NOT WON at the end here.
Ron,He’s relatively young and presumptious but obviously we could use more fans like him and yourself Ron if were to get back where we belong.Don’t take it personal Ron as he obviously should know the majority of the fans that do show are CNYers!I think attendance will get better when we start winning again which should start w/a BIG WIn like Clemson to stir the pride of Orange nation!…I know how you feel though Ron as I’m always on guard for any percieved insult to my home state/region too!!Ha Ha were proud men Ron!!
Ron
As a whole what I said is true. It doesn’t mean ALL, but as a group I am right. Anywhere you travel in CNY you will see SU gear. There are plenty of fans. But the majority of these fans will not show up for mediocre opponents, will not show up if they think SU won’t win, & will not show up unless SU has an 8-4 calibre team. Real fans go to support the team. CNY has some real fans. The majority though are not.
Our fanbase both alumni & locals are way too negative. That includes our media too (Brent Axe). GRob was 5 years ago. That excuse is old. In the meantime we have won 8 of 11 games, 6 straight at home, won two Bowl games, beat at home two highly ranked opponents (WV who destroyed Clemson in the Orange Bowl & Louisville who beat up Florida in the Sugar), have an uptempo passing O, and an aggressive D.
Instead of saying wow we put up 50 in two straight games and haven’t done that since 1997, we get a negative spin. Instead of saying we haven’t beat a team like Tulane 52-17 since Tulane in 1999, we get a negative spin. I am not saying we should be talking just positives. The Northwestern game deserves a negative spin. That was awful. But the other three games deserve to have the positives pointed out. Instead we just see negative, negative, negative.
This is not just a result of GRob. The negativity has always been there. This program in most years will be in the 5-7 to 8-4 regular season range. Occasionally we will be worse, occasionally better. That is life as a private school, in a real conference, without a lot of nearby HS talent. I am afraid that those types of teams will struggle to avg 40k every year. Those records won’t draw local support. When the majority of your fanbase (both local & alumni) won’t show up for those teams, you have a poor fanbase.
The problem isn’t the number of football fans SU has, it is the number of fans that care enough to support the team.
@kingottoiii;
I agree with everything that you’ve said in your response. I’ve been arguing with the so called fans for over 30 years now and the way I look at it is,If you don’t come to support the team then keep your damn mouth shut,because I just don’t want to hear your complaints.
I know your right,and there isn’t anything any of us are going to do about it.
Terry has always complained about the great divide between football and the basketball teams and he’s right on target with his critizisim.
The media has always been negative whenever they write about Syracuse athletics. I stopped buying the Post Standard because of it. Brent Ax and Bud Poliquin doesn’t have a good word to say ever.
@Russell, I didn’t take his first post personal at all,I just don’t want to get grouped with a bunch of idiots.
@kingottoiii;
Your right on the money with your comment about the alumni. I’ve been saying for a long time the reason we don’t get and big time recruits is because we don’t have any deep pocketed alumni that’s willing to split with some of their money.
I feel the deck is stacked against Syracuse because of that reason.
Ron sorry if I offended you at all. You seem like a good fan. Unfortunately there are not enough of us. Not enough alumni or locals support the team. Under 38k a game last year is sad. Not asking that we be Clemson or even like bigger state schools like UNC/UVA. But is it really too hard to ask for 42k (85% full) to show up?
I get people not showing up 2005-2009. But 2000-2004 we only had one losing season. And 2010-today we have had decent teams. Yet we have only broken the 42k barrier in 2000 (43k) and 2002 (42,250).
That said we still have a shot to do it this year should we avg 45k our last 4 games. Clemson should surpass 45k. Pitt and BC are traditional rivals and should be around 45k. That leaves a bad Wake team. Even if we only get 40k for Wake it should be enough to be our best attendance since 2002.
That is the hope. But it will be hard if we fail to beat one of Clemson, NC St, or GA Tech.
@kingottoiii;
The thing that bothered me most was how you lumped us all together. In your second post you explained it well and I didn’t get offended.
Syracuse football is still the best damn show in town. I know we’re going to start getting some top recruits and some real good 3* players and things will turn around. I set back and take a look at college football on the national level and fine that we’re not alone in our misery. A lot of programs are having difficulties,every school goes through these phases dut to graduation and players leaving early for the NFL. I know that Syracuse is going to pull through this rough time.
I’m not afraid to talk different points of view with anyone,matter of fact I love talking with people like you who bring different perspective to the conversation. What I can’t stand is a know it all who doesn’t go to the games,labels Syracuse a loser of a program,or support the team in a more positive way. Look I’m no angel here,when I feel something is wrong I let my feelings be known. I will in no way tear apart a program that I’ve loved for so long. Maybe I’m wrong about Syracuse winning tomorrow,but if they do,I’ll tell the world Syracuse is for real. Watch out NC ST and Georgia Tech.
I’m sorry Terry,I got carried away a little.
Please believe me kingotto,there was no harm done,your point of view had been well recieved.
Thanks again.
@kingottoiii;
As to CNYers, they are just awful football fans. They should be embarrassed.
Please let me make my position a little more clear.
I don’t want to be associated with a bunch of nobodies that want to be somebody by being part time Syracuse Football Fans. I’m truely a die hard Fan. I’ve made statements over the years that I’ve recieved a lot of grief over. This year alone I predicted a 9-3 over-all record and that Syracuse would beat Clemson. We all know the results of the game on Saturday and my prediction of a 9-3 record is in jeopardy.
Recieving the grief doesn’t stop me from being a fan though.
In the end Kingotto there is no hard feelings and there was no harm done. Keep on posting and letting everyone know just how you feel. There are times as I set in the dome watching a game and seeing all of the empty seats,what the hells wrong with these people?
@Ron,have you finished?Ha Ha..
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