http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/498003.html

Quote :

"Heels still draw a crowd Sellout expected despite struggles Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina coach John Bunting may be on the hot seat after a 1-4 start. But on paper, at least, UNC football remains a hot ticket this week, as well. Only 250 tickets remained Thursday for Saturday's noon kickoff against South Florida at Kenan Stadium. Almost 6,000 sold were $10 "Youth Day" tickets. The near-sellout could be a good sign for Bunting. His predecessor, Carl Torbush, was fired in 2000 partly because attendance began dropping off. "Our attendance and ticket sales and passion ... has been raised [since 2000]," UNC athletics director Dick Baddour said. "This year, we're not where we want to be [as far as wins]. But I think the overall support is strong, is very strong, for Carolina football." Ticket sales are crucial because football and men's basketball are the only sports in UNC's 28-team program that make money. Baddour said that financially, the athletics department is in the best shape of his 10-year tenure. The Educational Foundation had a $159,950 shortfall in 2003-04 but has been able to pay all scholarship costs for the past two years. Funds from signage and student ticket fee increases have helped stabilize the non-revenue program. There's even a plan, still in its infancy, to tear down the old field house in the east end zone, make Kenan Stadium a full oval, and add luxury suites. Football sold $6.6 million in tickets for the 2004 season, the most recent year for which numbers were available. Kenan Stadium seats 60,000, and 16,000 tickets are given away to students, vendors and employees. Of the remaining 44,000 seats, every one that is not sold is potential revenue that is not realized. "If we're going to continue to move forward, we've got to sell tickets," said Maurice Koury, a 1948 UNC graduate and a Rams Club endowment trustee. "That's what brings money to the athletics department." Koury is one of many supporters disappointed with UNC's progress since Bunting was signed to a contract extension in 2004. "I thought we'd be competitive with most teams, and we just haven't been so," he said, adding that the team would have to win "50 percent or better" of its games this season to make him feel as if UNC football were going in the right direction. UNC averaged 49,609 fans per game in Torbush's three seasons. Under Bunting, UNC is averaging only slightly more -- 50,857. Carolina sold out Kenan Stadium only once, against N.C. State in 2000, the season Torbush was fired. This season, Kenan sold out for the Sept. 9 Virginia Tech game, will likely sell out Saturday, and has already sold all of its tickets for the Nov. 18 N.C. State game. Carolina also plays at home against Wake Forest on Oct. 28 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 11. "I'm appreciative of the way that they have supported this football program, this football team," said Bunting, who has three years and $858,600 left on his contract. "It's been difficult this year. In years past, there have been some great crowds here. We need them. The players need them." And as history shows, the coach needs them as well. Staff writer Robbi Pickeral can be reached at 829-8944 or pickeral@newsobserver.com. "

bwahahahahahahahaha

I like how they take credit for "selling out" games where the stadium is all the away team's color.

10/13/2006 7:54:57 AM

whatever it takes for that fat man to keep his job.

10/13/2006 7:58:30 AM

they better all be wearing paper bags. its also faculty appreciation where they can get in for $10, and student appreciation as well, whatever that means. bean counters like baddour apparently don't care about whether or not the team sucks

10/13/2006 8:11:36 AM

selling out a game isn't the same as actually filling the stadium. "selling out" simply means all the tickets have been sold or alotted.

i don't know if y'all know this, but i'm sure some are aware, but unc determines their attendances with "visual estimations". in other words, somebody simply makes up a number to report. nc state, on the other hand, only count incoming tickets at the gates on our official attendance figures. unc was called out a couple of times last year for reporting inflated attendance figures. this really shouldn't suprise anyone though, because unc has been called out in the past for pumping artificial noise in the dean dome.

10/13/2006 8:11:49 AM

Quote :

"I like how they take credit for "selling out" games where the stadium is all the away team's color. "

Is South Florida the Homecoming game? I doubt the Golden Bulls have too many fans yet.

10/13/2006 8:22:28 AM

Quote :

"There's even a plan, still in its infancy, to tear down the old field house in the east end zone, make Kenan Stadium a full oval, and add luxury suites. "

SOMEONE IS JEALOUS OF CARTER FINLEY

10/13/2006 9:15:09 AM

and another thing: the unc football tickets are discounted to $10. TEN-FUCKING-DOLLARS! i can't even imagine state tickets being $10. they might as well be like duke and just give out free tickets.

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 10:22 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2006 10:21:40 AM

I can't imagine $10 football tickets...even the bums on Hillsborough street can afford that.

10/13/2006 10:26:47 AM

Duke should pay people to come see them play.

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 10:29 AM. Reason : give a free basketball ticket to anyone who comes to all 6 home games]

10/13/2006 10:28:56 AM

Must feel good to be an underdog to South Florida in your home stadium

10/13/2006 10:31:31 AM

Bunting is gone

10/13/2006 10:41:45 AM

This article just shows the level of desperation over there at UNC and their right arm, the N&O....next step would be doctoring photos of Amato with a group of Naked alter boys, or planting dead fish in the Murphy Center.

10/13/2006 11:31:32 AM

anyone have copies of the photo shopped fan shot that had a few years ago, where they changed teh colors in the stands from red to blue to make it look like they had fans ?

10/13/2006 11:33:54 AM

basketball school people....basketball school

10/13/2006 11:38:09 AM

just imagine for a moment, if state was 1-4 and fans were not filling the seats, there would be 20 articles about all the money we spent and how we were in a desperate tailspin to fill the seats. UNC probably has too much money for their own good, but if they bowl in the rest of their stadium before they have a winning season, i am going to laugh my ass off!

10/13/2006 11:38:49 AM

^ you know they will too.

10/13/2006 11:42:34 AM

you should not be able to call it a sellout either if you had to sell tickets at 25% of their value.....its just not ethical to count this as a sellout, that is one hell of a spin job

10/13/2006 11:46:00 AM

and when their stadiums (i.e. the Smith Center a couple of years ago) don't turn a profit, they'll ask the NC General Assembly to make up the difference in taxpayers money!

10/13/2006 11:47:09 AM

It's not ETHICAL? Someone quick go get me the college football attendence policy ETHICAL HANDBOOK.

10/13/2006 11:53:23 AM

Quote :

"Is South Florida the Homecoming game? I doubt the Golden Bulls have too many fans yet."

wasn't talking about this weekend's game . . . was talking about the other 3 examples of when they sold out the stadium . . . 2 against us and once against VT

From the article it would seem that it was sold out because of fan support for UNC football, but all 3 times the stadium was full of the opposing team's fans

10/13/2006 12:50:56 PM

Quote :

"anyone have copies of the photo shopped fan shot that had a few years ago, where they changed teh colors in the stands from red to blue to make it look like they had fans ?"

Actual Photo


Photoshop

10/13/2006 12:58:22 PM

^ that makes me laugh everytime

10/13/2006 1:14:58 PM

nbm

[Edited on October 13, 2006 at 1:18 PM. Reason : white]

10/13/2006 1:18:18 PM

If anyone has a thought in thier brain that they're from 2 different games, check out the "ACC 50th Anniversary" logo on the 25. Obviously, that was only 1 year

10/13/2006 1:26:13 PM

the labeling is misleading, because obviously the 2nd photo isnt a photoshop of the first, but they are obviously from the same game, and it is clear that editing has taken place.

10/13/2006 1:29:57 PM

There was a photochop floating around showing Chuck in a UNC polo with a word bubble saying "I've been photoshopped!"

10/13/2006 2:47:46 PM

from accbasketblog:

Quote :

""Sellout expected despite struggles." Let the spin doctoring begin!!!Well, I guess this as a prime example of why folks say Carolina owns the local media. This story by Robbi Pickeral is the biggest misrepresentation of reality I think I've seen in some time. I've been to every single home game over the last 5 years. The tickets may be "sold", but there are empty seats everywhere. This season there were at least 2000 emptyseats for VIRGINIA TECH (loads of Tech people sitting in Carolina home seats, comments from them about the emptiness of the stadium, etc) , double that for the night game against Furman, and there might be, maybe, 45,000 people at the game against USF on Saturday. This is a piece of planted garbage by the UNC athletic department, an attempt to put a positive light on a doomed situation. Shame on you, Carolina, and shame on the N&O publishing this misrepresentative nonsense."

10/13/2006 8:34:13 PM

hahah carolina blow$

10/13/2006 8:38:32 PM

^^ so i don't get it? is that guy a carolina fan?

10/13/2006 8:57:49 PM

i'm almost positive the texas game in '02 was a sellout also, not that it matters at all

10/13/2006 11:37:29 PM

you had to go back to '02 for their last actual sellout?

and the only reason that it was is b/c of mack brown. no one at unc gives a shit about football till they win.

10/13/2006 11:57:58 PM

Quote :

"Almost 6,000 sold were $10 "Youth Day" tickets."

i didn't even have to read the rest.

10/14/2006 12:58:27 AM