Q&A with the Tangerine Bowl's Tom Mickle |
Tom Mickle is the Executive Director of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs the Mazada Tangerine Bowl.
Are you hearing any early returns on ticket sales from either or both universities? Yesterday (Thursday), Clemson was at 6,000. Texas Tech was at 1,600 Does this include those sold by 3rd parties like Ticketmaster? No, we have had approximately 2,000 tickets sold through Ticketmaster since the teams were announced. What % do you feel that some people who want to go to the Tangerine Bowl will purchase tickets through other means than the schools (Ticketmaster, for example)? I would think it would be a rather small percentage because, for this game the schools have been given excellent seating locations. Most of those seats are located on the sidelines. So, there is really no advantage to going through Ticketmaster unless you are interested in a limited number of discounted end zone seats. Did Clemson have the option of offering the special 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks for $109 deal?And if not doesn’t this make it hard for Clemson to sell its tickets at a higher price? The $109 special was set up mainly to attract local ticket sales before the teams were announced. Two hundred and thirteen (213) packages equaling 852 tickets were sold as of this morning, so obviously the demand has not been great. Will Clemson or Texas Tech have to purchase any of the 12,500 tickets allotted to them if they unable to sell them? First Clemson receives 12,500 and Texas Tech receives 12,000 tickets by contract. Yes, they are obligated to sell their allotment. However, many conferences have agreements with their league members to protect the institutions from financial loses from unsold tickets. What is the current goal that the Tangerine Bowl would like to see sold? Our long-range goal is to sell out the lower bowl of the stadium, which seats 48,000. Last year, we had 28,000 people at our game. The goal we set for this year is 35,000. What factors went into moving the date of the bowl to December 23 such as TV? Is that something the bowl will look into every year? Yes. The day could change from year-to-year. The factors that weigh into the decision are the dates which are available for television, school exam schedules, and the date of the Big 12 Championship game, which impacts our selection date. Last year, we had an earlier date of December 20. We heard feedback from families that said the early date was tough because school aged children were not yet out for the holiday break. That influenced the decision to move the game to Monday, December 23. Most schools release students for holiday break on Friday, December 20. The only other date available to the bowl was December 19 due to NFL and NBA programming on ESPN. Due to the aforementioned problem we had last year with families attending and several exam conflicts we choose December 23. The Bowl Process has become quite a sales opportunity for sponsors, universities, and the host city as well. What would you say that Orlando and the Tangerine Bowl have to offer of which the public may not already be aware? This is a great time of the year to visit the area attractions. It is one of the few down periods for the theme parks, thus there are no long lines at Disney, Universal and Sea World. Are any of the bowl practices open to the public? Each participating institution dictates whether their practices are closed or open. What kind of activities does the bowl have planned for the team? Player party at ESPN Club, the Mazda Tangerine Bowl Scholar-Athlete Kickoff Luncheon as well as theme park visits. How did the Tangerine bowl come into existence? Was it under another name before? This bowl was previously the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami. It existed there for 11 years under various names. Our organization moved the game to Orlando last season and renamed it the Tangerine Bowl, which is the name of our original bowl game. The original Tangerine Bowl is now the Capital One Bowl and is on New Year's Day. What is the Tangerine record for attendance? The first game for this bowl took place in 1990 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. It featured legendary head coaches Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden. So the Penn State-FSU match-up attracted 74,021 to what was then called the Blockbuster Bowl. What is parking like for the Tangerine bowl? Parking will be good because we have a facility that seats 65,438. We also have a shuttle service which allows fans to park in our great downtown area. Information on the shuttle can be found on our web site. http://fcsports.com/info/stadium/stadium-shuttle.shtml We do encourage fans to arrive early to avoid any potential traffic snarls and to enjoy One Cool Tailgate at Tinker Field. For $25.00 per person, One Cool Tailgate includes all you can eat, plenty of beer and other beverages, live band, school band performances, 35-foot Christmas tree, Santa Claus with milk & cookies and interactive games. So it is something Tiger fans will not want to miss. How much is Orlando looking forward to seeing some of those Clemson $2 bills? We hope to see a lot of Clemson's $2 bills. Clemson is very famous for its $2 bills and traveling fans. We are excited the Tigers are going to be in our game this year. Clemson fans have a lot to look forward to in Orlando. We hope to see as many of you as possible. Happy Holidays.
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