Wednesday Bulldog Update - 6/30/10
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SPIRIT IS ALIVE IN BULLDOG COUNTRY
I had the opportunity to make the pleasant drive west on Highway 82 this past Monday and visit with the good folks in Greenwood. I joined Jimmy Abraham and others from the university at the Leflore County Civic Center for the Leflore-Carroll Counties alumni social and dinner.
Despite the fact that we have yet to hit the month of July, it was quite apparent that Bulldog spirit was alive and well in Greenwood. We had a great time.met a lot of great folks.and there was a lot of excitement for Mississippi State on display.
We look forward to reaching out to so many more Bulldog fans and friends during the coming months at the alumni association-sponsored send-off parties and at the Central Mississippi Extravaganza in two weeks (July 15). Come join us.
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FOOTBALL SEASON PARKING
The Bulldog Club has completed seat assignments for renewal football season ticket orders and parking has been allocated on those orders for the 2010 season. This is an arduous task when you realize that we are nearing 40,000 season ticket orders and have slightly more than 5,000 reserved parking spaces for distribution. Those ticket and parking assignments have been posted to everyone's on-line accounts, as many of you have discovered. It may not be unexpected that some folks were surprised with their parking lot assignments.
This is an issue that began last year. As you might remember, we had an unseasonably wet fall, and the weather conditions forced us to alter our game-day parking for five of the seven home games. Some parking areas - the areas where drainage was exceptionally poor - prohibited us from using those lots for all five of those games. Other parking areas were reduced in size, or limited in some other way.
It was a challenge for us, and became an issue on the campus. The decision was made by the university's game-day committee to restrict future use of grass parking, except in areas that were absolutely necessary. We lost 400 spaces alone in Lots 7 and 15 on the south side of Davis Wade Stadium, and the trickle down affect resulted in the largest revision of football parking in recent memory.
We were able to acquire about 600 parking slots north of the stadium when we relocated recreational vehicles to the intramural fields east of the Vet School. While this certainly aided our car parking assignments, those spaces are away from the Junction/FanFair areas, the most requested parking areas on game-day.
Despite those challenges, there are still two undeniable facts regarding our game-day parking: we still have some of the best, most convenient parking areas in close proximity to our football stadium of anyone in the Southeastern Conference.and our reserved parking lots are sold out, which shows there continues to be demand.
To help cope with the issues we face with such high demand, we have arranged with the game-day committee and the university's game-day parking crew to provide an option for those fans who ordered, but did not receive reserved parking assignments, when they arrive on game day. Fans who were not allocated reserved parking in a specific lot will be sent a parking pass that will gain them admission to any of our game-day pay lots at no charge.
The ultimate goal, obviously, is that we want to continue to provide convenient parking for our fans, while maintaining our beautiful campus. We believe we have been able to accomplish both, and we ask that you work with the university, the game-day committee, and the athletic department as we adjust to a new year.
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NEARING 39,000 FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS SOLD
As our season ticket sales number continues to climb toward another record, we want you to know that we are working to improve upon what was a great game-day experience last year. The increased ticket and parking demand certainly provides challenges, but this kind of demand is what we have all worked so hard to attain.
Despite our season ticket demand, we still have a limited number of season tickets in the lower level at Davis Wade Stadium. They are going fast, however, so make your plans now to be with us this fall. Also, another deadline arrives tomorrow. Those Bulldog fans who intend to use their priority standing for road game tickets must do so by tomorrow. Following July 1, those tickets will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
We announced via Twitter last week - and it was re-tweeted and blogged by traditional media sources - that our east side upper level Top Dog season tickets were sold out.
The last report from our athletic ticket office shows that 38,745 season tickets, a number that includes the 11,000 season tickets we have allocated for students, have been sold. We are currently running more than 2,000 season tickets ahead of where we were at this time a year ago. We sold 448 season tickets last week, the largest seven-day sales total in a month.
We sold 40,901 season tickets last year, a total that included a sold-out student section. With a substantial increase in student enrollment this fall, it is anticipated that our students will easily reach that 11,000 figure again this year.
In addition to our full-schedule season ticket, we are also offering a flex plan season ticket for just $75. That three-game package includes a ticket for SEC opponent Georgia, as well as one for in-state rival Alcorn State, and then you pick one from season-opener Memphis, homecoming opponent UAB, or SEC foes Kentucky and Arkansas. Flex plan season tickets are not counted in our season ticket number.
Call 1-888-GO-DAWGS or log on to MStateAthletics.com/tickets to order your tickets today.
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BASKETBALL TICKET PRIORITY PUSHED BACK A MONTH
Our traditional pledge deadline for Bulldog Club priority for basketball seating has been July 1. Due to the increased football season ticket sales and the additional time our staff spent working on seating and parking assignments, we have decided to push that deadline back to August 1. Total Bulldog Club pledges are currently up 3% over last year's year-end total. In order to make a new pledge, or increase your current pledge, please contact the Bulldog Club office at 662-325-3074.
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HAVE A HAPPY, SAFE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND
All of us in athletics at Mississippi State University wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and safe July 4 weekend. Sunday is the one day you can safely wear red, white and blue without penalty. Celebrate our country's birth responsibly!
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BUT BEFORE DONNING THE COLORS OF OUR FLAG.
Remember that Friday is a day for maroon. Are you in the Maroon?
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We appreciate what you do for Mississippi State Athletics and want to encourage you to get others involved. There are three things you can do to help the athletic department at Mississippi State reach its desired goals -
1. Buy Season Tickets
2. Financially Support the Bulldog Club
3. Get Others To Do The Same
Thanks for taking the time to read this Update.
Go Dawgs!
Scott Stricklin