UL-Southern a sellout!! 41,357 attend!!

[UL_Cajuns]

Went to the game last night with the wife. Great to see so many people tailgating and so many people in the game. Also, great to see the cajuns whip a lower division team. That is what we have to do and should be expected if we want to be big boys.

This is not a complaint, but just an observation: How in the hell do you run out of concessions when you know that the game was going to be beyond a sell out. You know how much money we were losing. Hopefully the concessions are filled up for the Kansas St game because I think that one will be a sell out as well or close to it.

Overall I think the large crowd was handled good. The line was long to get in, but it moved at a good pace. I don't think anyone should complain about the amount of people, because the Swamp can hold these people. Now we just need to expand the seating in the swamp so those that were in the grass can have seats. I also must note that all the Southern fans I came across were very respectful and looked like they were having a good time.

Also on the way back up I-49, it was pouring from Lafayette to Opelousas. It was hard to see the road. I was thinking that someone was going to get in an accident in that stuff.

All in all great night! Mason looked in full control and comfortable. Sails looked good too. The D Still needs to work on giving up the 3rd and long.
Congrats Ragin' Cajuns!!!

[Hammer58]

I'm split on the number of tickets sold. On the one hand it is great for the revenue but I think it is a bit over the line when its SRO in the aisles. As for concessions it wasn't bad on the upper deck concourse. They had separate Kiosks set up for those just wanting water or bottled soda so there was no real wait there. There was a bit of a line for those wanting food and drink but I've waited just as long in lines at the Superdome; I think lines are to be expected at almost any sporting event. I do think the admin needs to calculate how many people can realistically fit in the assigned stadium seating and the endzone areas and set that as the max ticket capacity. I would say that is probably somewhere around 39,000 to 40,000 people. Limit sales to that number and I don't think you have quite the congestion in the aisles that we had Saturday.

[cajunfan79]

yeah how about we go back to 10 and 15k people at games so you can get your nachos in time

[Zeebart21]

yeah how about we go back to 10 and 15k people at games so you can get your nachos in time

YEAH, no s.h.l...t....

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I would direct your complaints to Sodexo...the company in charge of concessions....Also the guys that were responsible for getting the right permits for the beer concession.

Now its been a few years since I have been to a UL basketball game but....

they are also the company that makes sure the signs at concessions in the Cajundome say UL.L, and alot of their concession workers sport LSU t shirts at UL sporting events...

Z

[zephyr]

_ Who cares about concession lines. If all of our home game even somewhat resembled last nite we would have stadium improvements. I hope we get 41K again for K-State. Probably won't happen, but I wouldn't mind it one bit. _

Yeah i agree, first we complain about our program, funding, facilities for athletes and we have a true college atmosphere you're going to have more congestion and delays. Its simply the truth. I can deal with it if it means we are progressing.

[zephyr]

_ I'm split on the number of tickets sold. On the one hand it is great for the revenue but I think it is a bit over the line when its SRO in the aisles. As for concessions it wasn't bad on the upper deck concourse. They had separate Kiosks set up for those just wanting water or bottled soda so there was no real wait there. There was a bit of a line for those wanting food and drink but I've waited just as long in lines at the Superdome; I think lines are to be expected at almost any sporting event. I do think the admin needs to calculate how many people can realistically fit in the assigned stadium seating and the endzone areas and set that as the max ticket capacity. I would say that is probably somewhere around 39,000 to 40,000 people. Limit sales to that number and I don't think you have quite the congestion in the aisles that we had Saturday. _

I disagree with the seating arrangements. I see your point but there is no way in hell we turn people and revenue away for an event like this. Our general admission tickets are cheap and we don't get many chances at packing the house like we did. Come conference and fighting with LSU fans not showing, you are looking at 20,000 people while we're hoping for 30,000. We paid Southern over $100,000 to come and the revenue from their 6,000 tickets sold so we need to recoup that money then some. I say do it. It's not every game that we get that opportunity.

[Hammer58]

_ I disagree with the seating arrangements. I see your point but there is no way in hell we turn people and revenue away for an event like this. Our general admission tickets are cheap and we don't get many chances at packing the house like we did. Come conference and fighting with LSU fans not showing, you are looking at 20,000 people while we're hoping for 30,000. We paid Southern over $100,000 to come and the revenue from their 6,000 tickets sold so we need to recoup that money then some. I say do it. It's not every game that we get that opportunity. _

First, I agree that we will not have this problem often although ti would be nice to have it on a regular basis. But I think you have got to figure out what the stadium in its current configuration can realistically hold. As it was we did turn people away. There was just no way to continue to allow more bodies into the stadium. While the people packed into the walkways and aisles was a mere inconvenience Saturday it could have been a serious problem if there was a medical or security emergency. I just think in the future for a game where a crowd of this magnitude is expected we need to declare ahead of time what the capacity (based on a reasonable, calculated study) will be and how many tickets will be available and then limit it to that. As for the revenue side, if the demand is there raise the ticket prices.

The best part is this discussion and situation is a good problem to have. It sure beats a discussion of where to put blue or maroon tarps to cover vast swaths of empty seating.

[ATXCajun]

_ I'm split on the number of tickets sold. On the one hand it is great for the revenue but I think it is a bit over the line when its SRO in the aisles. As for concessions it wasn't bad on the upper deck concourse. They had separate Kiosks set up for those just wanting water or bottled soda so there was no real wait there. There was a bit of a line for those wanting food and drink but I've waited just as long in lines at the Superdome; I think lines are to be expected at almost any sporting event. I do think the admin needs to calculate how many people can realistically fit in the assigned stadium seating and the endzone areas and set that as the max ticket capacity. I would say that is probably somewhere around 39,000 to 40,000 people. Limit sales to that number and I don't think you have quite the congestion in the aisles that we had Saturday. _

I wasn't there, but I wonder if the long lines were compounded by everyone staying in their seats to watch the SU band and then heading to concessions en mass.

[CajunCanaille]

I can't believe some people are complaining about having too many people!?!?!?! This is what we want. We will not improve our teams, facilities, etc. puting 14K in the stands. Can we not make some people happy on here. I hope for the same crowd for every game this season.

By the way.....if your gonna blame anyone for poorly run concessions and the lack of beer blame Sodexo, not UL.

[HOUCajun]

_ Wow... some real adults on here...

There is no reason the lines should have been back to the rails of the bowl. If you want to be a big time school, you have to run a good show. At the movies, you don't put one guy on the popcorn on opening night of the biggest movie of the year...

No, concessions aren't as important as whats on the field, but as I walked through the crowd I heard many UL fans getting angry and leaving because its Sept. in Louisiana and they have a 20 minute wait for water. I heard very similar statements from Southern fans as well... _

Per Gerald Hebert concessions were trippled for the game. There just isn't enough infrastructure (concession stands, kiosks etc) to handle 41k at the swamp nor should there be considering we avarage 15-20k.
I think we all wish 30k+ crowds were he norm and UL did a better job of logistics. Hopefully that will come in time

[RCAJUN90]

_ I can't believe some people are complaining about having too many people!?!?!?! This is what we want. We will not improve our teams, facilities, etc. puting 14K in the stands. Can we not make some people happy on here. I hope for the same crowd for every game this season.

By the way.....if your gonna blame anyone for poorly run concessions and the lack of beer blame Sodexo, not UL. _

I was thinking the same thing. Wonderful crowd great game and most importantly a great WIN! We want 41,000 at every game. Perhaps one day soon we can get rid of the white fence and fill in bowl.

[CajunCanaille]

_ I was thinking the same thing. Wonderful crowd great game and most importantly a great WIN! We want 41,000 at every game. Perhaps one day soon we can get rid of the white fence and fill in bowl. _

While the white fence was pretty cheesy it was a big improvement over the ussual plastic orange fence.

But like you said, great game, great win. Bring on this crowd every week!!!!!