Scattershooting: Half-empty Scott Stadium, why not half-price tickets? Plus Golden Nuggets

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering what it’s going to take to draw bigger crowds at Scott Stadium and what is Virginia doing about it …

The South’s Oldest Rivalry will be renewed this Saturday at high noon over at Scott Stadium when North Carolina comes to town for the 129th meeting with UVA. Question is, how many people will actually be there?

Crowds at Scott Stadium have been pathetic for several years and it is estimated that every time the Cavaliers play in front of a half-filled venue, the athletic program loses a potential extra one million dollars. That’s a lot of money left on the table in today’s college sports world, where Olympic sports depend on some of that revenue for their own budgets.

That’s $1M in ticket sales, not to mention concessions, etc.  I’m baffled how UVA can let this slide year after year.

This season, the “official” attendance figures have been a joke, and I don’t understand why athletic director Carla Williams allows this charade to continue. Of course, that has been going on for years, but it’s time to pony up with the real numbers. Media was told there were 32,688 fans at the last home game with Louisville. One of my colleagues was told prior to the announcement that there were only 22,000 fans actually at the game.

One would think there should be a healthy crowd Saturday for Virginia’s oldest rival.

Tony Elliott was asked about the crowd sizes this week, and this is what he diplomatically said:

“I know we’re doing everything we possibly can to put the best product on the field. These guys work extremely hard. They’ve shown improvement over the past couple of years. I know the athletic department is doing everything they can (I have to interject here with my own thoughts on that … is the athletic department really doing everything it can? More on that in a moment….now back to Elliott’s thoughts). “There has been a lot of improvements to the stadium, gameday atmosphere. There is a lot to be excited about.

“My biggest message [to fans] would be we’re in this thing together. It takes all of us. Hopefully we’ve shown that we’re going to work as hard as we can to do our part and hopefully they can see that the athletic department is working as hard as they can, and that we need them. We need folks to be in the stands, create an environment for the guys, and also make it tough on opponents.

“But the message is we’re all in this thing together. We’re building a program. The fan base is just as much a part of the program as myself and the players that are here in this building.”

But is the athletic department doing everything it can? I noticed the past couple of weeks that Maryland’s athletic department, in an attempt to boost attendance for its final three home games of the season, has offered fans 40 percent, now 50 percent off ticket prices.

Guess what? It worked, at least for the last home game against Southern Cal, and Terps fans got to see an upset over the Trojans last week.

In fact, Maryland drew more than 40,000 fans to its 51,000-capacity stadium for the game, the first time this season and likely much longer than that, that the Terps attracted so many fans. A total of 43,013 were on hand.

Maryland’s athletic department labeled the reduced ticket prices a “flash sale.”

Why can’t Virginia do the same?

There’s only two home games remaining, UNC and then SMU on Nov. 23. Why not try to put more fannies in the seats for the last two home games and drum up some support for Elliott’s team?

What does Virginia have to lose?

Other than a giant videoboard and some food trucks, is there really an enhanced gameday experience for fans? I truly don’t know, because I’m in the press box, so I’ll have to depend on readers who go to games to tell me what’s missing and what can Virginia do to make the experience better.

Feel free to drop me an email (jratcliffe7000@gmail.com) or reply on Twitter/X (@jerryratcliffe).

I realize that Virginia lost tons of longtime, loyal fans back in the Al Groh era when either the athletic department or VAF (fingers have been pointed at both) for a reseating policy that left those fans feeling betrayed. Most of them never came back.

It was a massive mistake by the author of that policy, and I don’t know if those wounds can ever be healed. I’ve been told by several fans that only winning — consistent winning over time — will attract the crowds.

I don’t know what the solution is. You guys tell me what it would take to bring you back (use the above email or Twitter) and I’ll write a follow column with some of the feedback.

Until then, the only short-term cure in my mind, for the last two home games, is to copy what Maryland did and reduce ticket prices to half price and get some fans in the stands.

Turn AC Loose

I’ve appeared as a guest on four or five sports-talk radio shows this week (and our own podcast), and I’m always asked for keys to beating North Carolina. I’ve talked about playing a clean game, no turnovers, low penalties, forcing turnovers and coming out of the locker room at halftime playing like their hair is on fire.

All those things are important in what could be a high-scoring football game. But the more I think about it, the more I’m believing that Virginia’s coaching staff needs to turn Anthony Colandrea loose and let him play like there’s no tomorrow.

Colandrea, or AC as coaches and teammates call him, has gone four games without throwing an interception, a true example of his natural maturation as a quarterback. He’s been pretty solid, but in order to beat the Tar Heels, AC is going to have to put up some big numbers and go for broke.

Carolina is 12th in the ACC in pass defense, giving up 240 yards per game (11 TDs) and tied for last in the league with only two interceptions on the season. The Tar Heels are even worse on run defense, 15th in the ACC, allowing 160 yards rushing per game (13 TDs). In past years, UNC’s defense has had a reputation for being highly vulnerable to running quarterbacks, which should give Colandrea lots of operating room.

This is a game where it’s time for Colandrea to be a star and give Virginia a fifth win.

Wahoo Baseball Soaring

I have grown to truly respect the opinions of baseball writer Aaron Fitt, co-editor and national writer for D1 Baseball. So, when he wrote this about Virginia’s baseball team for 2025, it got my attention.

Fitt wrote: “It’s nuts that UVA Baseball got (Harrison) Didawick and (Jacob) Ference back after the numbers they put up last year. Throw in the additions of Chris Arroyo and dynamic freshman James Nunnallee, plus stars (Henry) Ford & (Henry) Godbout, plus emerging (Eric) Becker/(Aidan) Teel/(Luke) Hanson – I think it’s the best lineup in America.”

Arroyo is a juco transfer from Florida with two-way ability.

Should make for a fun 2025 and another run at Omaha.

Hootie’s Golden Nuggets

• Did you see that Harrison Didawick made D1 Baseball’s Top 12 for speed + power prospects for the coming season?
• Danny Neckel pointed out that Virginia’s football team has a 43-percent chance of making a bowl game according to metrics: a 58-percent chance of beating Carolina; 33-percent vs. Pitt on the road; a 6-percent against Notre Dame in South Bend; a 23-percent chance at home vs. SMU; and a 23-percent chance in Blacksburg, where UVA hasn’t won since 1998.
• UVA basketball lost on essentially what appears to be the last prospect it had hopes of committing when 4-star Cam Ward, ranked No. 55 in the 2025 class, announced he had committed to Michigan State. Ward chose Sparty over Virginia, Maryland, Kansas State and a few others.
• Did you see Jay Huff on Wednesday night? He scored 13 points in 22 minutes off the bench for Memphis. Hit a couple of nice 3’s.
• Virginia AD Carla Williams’ contract expires May 31.
• Opening-day rosters in the NBA revealed how many ACC players are in the league:
• Duke (24), Virginia (9), UNC & FSU (6), Wake (5), Stanford (4), Pitt (3), Louisville, Notre Dame, Miami, Cal, Clemson, Georgia Tech, BC and Syracuse (2), SMU & Virginia Tech (1), NC State (0).
• Are you enjoying Florida State’s lousy season as much as I am? The Seminoles thought they were too good for the ACC, but they’re 1-6 so far this season, and get this, they are now 31-32 in ACC play since the start of the 2017 season.
• I want to personally say thank you to Twitter follower and reader Rich Johnson, who acknowledged that less than a handful of us were right about the Tony Bennett contract controversy and we were unjustifiably chastised by a few haters. Here is what Rich wrote to me: “You discussed the lack of contract renewal when no one else did. I hoped you were wrong. The extension came and I was relieved that Tony was staying and that you (whose articles I love) were wrong. Well, you were not wrong, sadly. Good job peeling back the layers.”