Gameday experience

[sader24]

Before anyone jumps down my throat, we are far better coached and disciplined than we were. My opinion of all football related stuff is that I'm very excited about what a difference this staff has made on many fronts. 1) The will call window was a disaster. Line wasn't moving, I don't know what was going on. 2) Tulane made the same mistake the saints made years ago when printing the season tickets. There is only 1 barcode on the ticket and it's below the perforated line where it can be torn off when u pull ur ticket out the book and u aren't able to get in. Saw and heard of quite a few people needing their tickets reprinted bc their barcode was ripped off. The Saints fixed this by adding a 2nd barcode to the top of the ticket. 3) the food concessions situation downstairs are a nightmare. There are not enough food concessions with actual food instead of nuts or just drinks. The lines were horrible, the people working the concessions were often incompetent and overwhelmed. I missed the entire 2nd quarter trying to find something to eat. I settled at something called the sausage grill which was literally a lone sausage link with no bread or condiments. 4) when I tried to go upstairs to find some other concessions or smaller lines I was turned away at the entrance bc my ticket doesn't allow me access to the 2nd level but I had numerous people sitting in my section and seats that didn't belong bc nobody was checking tickets in my section. I missed the last 3 minutes of the half bc I was refused access to my own seats by barricades for the band to get on the field even though I was going in the opposite direction. They need to get their sh*t together for the ULL game bc it's gonna be packed. They are leaving money on the table with the concession SNAFUs, setups are bad, service is bad, employees are bad. Maybe less booths serving Craft beer that nobody was drinking and more food booths.

[winwave]

I meant to post about the bar codes. I knew as soon as I saw it it was going to be a problem. The bar code at the bottom of the parking pass is even more difficult to get off w/the rest of the pass and that caused problems getting into the lot.

[greenphantom]

I meant to post about the bar codes. I knew as soon as I saw it it was going to be a problem. The bar code at the bottom of the parking pass is even more difficult to get off w/the rest of the pass and that caused problems getting into the lot.

At least you got into your lot. I thought the purpose of buying a parking pass was to ensure a parking spot but Ursuline was full so I was turned away and had to park on the street.

[winwave]

I meant to post about the bar codes. I knew as soon as I saw it it was going to be a problem. The bar code at the bottom of the parking pass is even more difficult to get off w/the rest of the pass and that caused problems getting into the lot.

At least you got into your lot. I thought the purpose of buying a parking pass was to ensure a parking spot but Ursuline was full so I was turned away and had to park on the street.

By the skin of my teeth. Traffic was worse than usual b/c of an accident. I am sure several pass holders got turned away.

[tpstulane]

Loyola parking lot was also full at 5pm.
Parking passes were turned away.
Yet some people were allowed in later. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe some miscommunication.

[sader24]

They are saying on the other board that the concession stands ran out of food in the 2nd quarter, which is grossly incompetent. We schedule Southern bc they bring a good crowd and then we aren't prepared for the crowd. Hey Troy, ULL will bring a big crowd too, prob bigger.

[RobertM320]

I had no problem picking up my ticket at Will Call. Of course, I picked it up around 4:30pm, and was stuck there for another half an hour during the monsoon that came through. I entered the stadium a little before six. The built-in concession stands were open, but all the ones that are underneath the overhang of the seats were closed. Its possible some of it had to do with the rain delaying everything, but lots of people arrive at a game early to eat so they should all be open by then. Seems like people got too complacent going to games at the Superdome with 973 people and being able to just walk up to the concession stand and get served. If we're going to have crowds, you need to get used to standing in line. Maybe plan ahead and get to the game earlier so you don't need to get food during the game.

[GreenLantern]

Before anyone jumps down my throat, we are far better coached and disciplined than we were. My opinion of all football related stuff is that I'm very excited about what a difference this staff has made on many fronts. 1) The will call window was a disaster. Line wasn't moving, I don't know what was going on. 2) Tulane made the same mistake the saints made years ago when printing the season tickets. There is only 1 barcode on the ticket and it's below the perforated line where it can be torn off when u pull ur ticket out the book and u aren't able to get in. Saw and heard of quite a few people needing their tickets reprinted bc their barcode was ripped off. The Saints fixed this by adding a 2nd barcode to the top of the ticket. 3) the food concessions situation downstairs are a nightmare. There are not enough food concessions with actual food instead of nuts or just drinks. The lines were horrible, the people working the concessions were often incompetent and overwhelmed. I missed the entire 2nd quarter trying to find something to eat. I settled at something called the sausage grill which was literally a lone sausage link with no bread or condiments. 4) when I tried to go upstairs to find some other concessions or smaller lines I was turned away at the entrance bc my ticket doesn't allow me access to the 2nd level but I had numerous people sitting in my section and seats that didn't belong bc nobody was checking tickets in my section. I missed the last 3 minutes of the half bc I was refused access to my own seats by barricades for the band to get on the field even though I was going in the opposite direction. They need to get their sh*t together for the ULL game bc it's gonna be packed. They are leaving money on the table with the concession SNAFUs, setups are bad, service is bad, employees are bad. Maybe less booths serving Craft beer that nobody was drinking and more food booths.

Oh, the horrors! And then there was the blasted football team constantly scoring. There was the crowd with the incessant screaming and Hullabaloo-chanting! These distractions made it nearly impossible to chat with nearby friends and enjoy the gameday experience.

[lurker123]

Didn't they have parking at Superdome and Ochsner on River Road (not Baptist) the first year? I assume they ditched it because few folks used it then.

Issue is neighborhoods could handle parking for a 30,000 capacity stadium. I bet Audubon Boulevard could hold 200+ cars including people selling parking in their driveways like the old days. Look if Uber and AirBnB are legal around here then the NIMBYS ought to let their teenagers make a little coin renting the driveways too.

[sader24]

I had no problem picking up my ticket at Will Call. Of course, I picked it up around 4:30pm, and was stuck there for another half an hour during the monsoon that came through. I entered the stadium a little before six. The built-in concession stands were open, but all the ones that are underneath the overhang of the seats were closed. Its possible some of it had to do with the rain delaying everything, but lots of people arrive at a game early to eat so they should all be open by then. Seems like people got too complacent going to games at the Superdome with 973 people and being able to just walk up to the concession stand and get served. If we're going to have crowds, you need to get used to standing in line. Maybe plan ahead and get to the game earlier so you don't need to get food during the game.

I've had Saints, LSU, and Ole Miss season tickets. I've never had the concession problems at any of those events for food that I've had at Tulane for the 2 crowded games we've had. I shouldn't have to miss the entire 2nd quarter for a hot dog. It's an issue.

[winwave]

Didn't they have parking at Superdome and Ochsner on River Road (not Baptist) the first year? I assume they ditched it because few folks used it then.

Issue is neighborhoods could handle parking for a 30,000 capacity stadium. I bet Audubon Boulevard could hold 200+ cars including people selling parking in their driveways like the old days. Look if Uber and AirBnB are legal around here then the NIMBYS ought to let their teenagers make a little coin renting the driveways too.

They still have parking at the Dome. Not sure about Ochsner.

[lurker123]

Concessions last night reminded me of a lot of pro stadiums lack of service. I don't recall seeing in in-stands concessionaires selling drinks and whatever. That usually takes some pressure off the waiting lines under the stands.

One positive from last night. When my buds went to fetch the brews, it was the first time in a while at a Tulane game that when they asked me, "Did I miss anything by the Wave while I was gone?" I could truthfully say, "Well in fact you did, there was ...... and then the....."

[McWave]

Great job by the team and coaches. Thank you!!!!!! Now the overall experience needs improvement. Parked in Loyola garage with pass no problem and noticed non passholders parking. I assumed they paid cash but did not see any payment signs. Most were southern fans. I arrived around 5:30. Walked through campus up Mcallister. Nothing special except the audio announcements reminded me of the hunger games. Walking into stadium security staff encouraging southern fans to beat Tulane. Not beat us in the stands but on the field. Food/drink vendors were bad. Had to wait for service with no one in front of me. Had to wait to pay for order with cash even though I had exact change. The servicer would not take my cash. I had to wait for the cashier to run a card which was not working to pay. I Sat in the west Westfielt and there were no napkins in the dispensers. I expect huge improvement from home game one to home game two.

[tpstulane]

...Nothing special except the audio announcements reminded me of the hunger games..

Great comment and so true!

[JerseyWave]

Be confident that Dannen and his staff will address all the issues this week and produce a much better fan experience against Navy. Hopefully they were all too busy working on the Big 12 presentation last week.

[tpstulane]

I also had a problem worth mentioning. I usually go down to the TClub at halftime. The elevator lets you out at the bottom of the multipurpose room which butts up to the TClub. Instead of letting us go 10 feet into the media room the security people made us leave the stadium and re-enter in the rain on the other side to access the TClub. This was a problem we had in year one of Yulman but was corrected by Barbara Burke immediately. I'm not sure who's in charge of these things at Yulman anymore. It's embarrassing to bring guests to games and have this happen. The best part was that the media room was completely empty.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

Anyone bring in a stadium seat and get turned away? Cause I had to leave mine at the gate which was gone by the time I left. I never had any trouble last year or the year before and all of sudden they said no this year without telling us.

As for Will Call, yes it's a hot mess. I had to personally go down there on Friday to get season tickets and make sure they properly left 2 tickets. The problem I have is that I've had 4 season tickets for last 3 years and this year they only sent me 2 season tickets. After a full month of patiently waiting, and phone calls nothing. They reassured me they reprinted and re-mailed them to me. Well, I live in Nola and I thought it was highly strange why if they mailed it to me 3X I still haven't received it for over a month and that's why I went to TU ticketing on Friday.

Will Call/ Tulane Football Ticketing gets a nice F in my book.

[Bigschtick]

Before anyone jumps down my throat, we are far better coached and disciplined than we were. My opinion of all football related stuff is that I'm very excited about what a difference this staff has made on many fronts. 1) The will call window was a disaster. Line wasn't moving, I don't know what was going on. 2) Tulane made the same mistake the saints made years ago when printing the season tickets. There is only 1 barcode on the ticket and it's below the perforated line where it can be torn off when u pull ur ticket out the book and u aren't able to get in. Saw and heard of quite a few people needing their tickets reprinted bc their barcode was ripped off. The Saints fixed this by adding a 2nd barcode to the top of the ticket. 3) the food concessions situation downstairs are a nightmare. There are not enough food concessions with actual food instead of nuts or just drinks. The lines were horrible, the people working the concessions were often incompetent and overwhelmed. I missed the entire 2nd quarter trying to find something to eat. I settled at something called the sausage grill which was literally a lone sausage link with no bread or condiments. 4) when I tried to go upstairs to find some other concessions or smaller lines I was turned away at the entrance bc my ticket doesn't allow me access to the 2nd level but I had numerous people sitting in my section and seats that didn't belong bc nobody was checking tickets in my section. I missed the last 3 minutes of the half bc I was refused access to my own seats by barricades for the band to get on the field even though I was going in the opposite direction. They need to get their sh*t together for the ULL game bc it's gonna be packed. They are leaving money on the table with the concession SNAFUs, setups are bad, service is bad, employees are bad. Maybe less booths serving Craft beer that nobody was drinking and more food booths.

You should email this to TD.

[tpstulane]

Anyone bring in a stadium seat and get turned away? Cause I had to leave mine at the gate which was gone by the time I left. I never had any trouble last year or the year before and all of sudden they said no this year without telling us.

As for Will Call, yes it's a hot mess. I had to personally go down there on Friday to get season tickets and make sure they properly left 2 tickets. The problem I have is that I've had 4 season tickets for last 3 years and this year they only sent me 2 season tickets. After a full month of patiently waiting, and phone calls nothing. They reassured me they reprinted and re-mailed them to me. Well, I live in Nola and I thought it was highly strange why if they mailed it to me 3X I still haven't received it for over a month and that's why I went to TU ticketing on Friday.

Will Call/ Tulane Football Ticketing gets a nice F in my book.

My fix for the seat problem. Tulane charges an extra $30 to rent the stadium seat for the year. To fix that nonsense they need to replace the bench seats inside the 40's with permit chairbacks and charge additional $30 for those seats. The seats outside the 40's should at least be bench backs.
Or perhaps change out all the seats between the 20's with chairbacks and charge $30-50 more for that privilege. I think most fans would appreciate that and be happy. They could survey season ticket holders on the West side and find out if that would fly.

[lurker123]

Before anyone jumps down my throat, we are far better coached and disciplined than we were. My opinion of all football related stuff is that I'm very excited about what a difference this staff has made on many fronts. 1) The will call window was a disaster. Line wasn't moving, I don't know what was going on. 2) Tulane made the same mistake the saints made years ago when printing the season tickets. There is only 1 barcode on the ticket and it's below the perforated line where it can be torn off when u pull ur ticket out the book and u aren't able to get in. Saw and heard of quite a few people needing their tickets reprinted bc their barcode was ripped off. The Saints fixed this by adding a 2nd barcode to the top of the ticket. 3) the food concessions situation downstairs are a nightmare. There are not enough food concessions with actual food instead of nuts or just drinks. The lines were horrible, the people working the concessions were often incompetent and overwhelmed. I missed the entire 2nd quarter trying to find something to eat. I settled at something called the sausage grill which was literally a lone sausage link with no bread or condiments. 4) when I tried to go upstairs to find some other concessions or smaller lines I was turned away at the entrance bc my ticket doesn't allow me access to the 2nd level but I had numerous people sitting in my section and seats that didn't belong bc nobody was checking tickets in my section. I missed the last 3 minutes of the half bc I was refused access to my own seats by barricades for the band to get on the field even though I was going in the opposite direction. They need to get their sh*t together for the ULL game bc it's gonna be packed. They are leaving money on the table with the concession SNAFUs, setups are bad, service is bad, employees are bad. Maybe less booths serving Craft beer that nobody was drinking and more food booths.

You should email this to TD.

After the opening GT game and being blocked by the under stadium barricades, I have since usually just walked through the stands and never underneath until I'm at my destination. Usually very doable on all but East side high price seats. Also starting last year when South side student entrance was opened up for all that helped avoid some of the snafus on north side from teams entry and exit and sometimes visiting band.

Again others like me will figure out how to get around Yulman and I guess too bad for the folks whose view we're blocking who get tired of yelling "Sit Down!!"

I'll acknowledge that Southern had the biggest band I've ever seen so that was a unique logistical problem but still....

This is all fixable and to the extent any of this is because of "political" requirements maybe we should invite Mayor Mitch and the City Council to sit with us plebs for ULL or Homecoming and then perhaps we'll see some action to help the voters???

[winwave]

We heard ya the first time.

[capwave]

Anyone bring in a stadium seat and get turned away? Cause I had to leave mine at the gate which was gone by the time I left. I never had any trouble last year or the year before and all of sudden they said no this year without telling us.

As for Will Call, yes it's a hot mess. I had to personally go down there on Friday to get season tickets and make sure they properly left 2 tickets. The problem I have is that I've had 4 season tickets for last 3 years and this year they only sent me 2 season tickets. After a full month of patiently waiting, and phone calls nothing. They reassured me they reprinted and re-mailed them to me. Well, I live in Nola and I thought it was highly strange why if they mailed it to me 3X I still haven't received it for over a month and that's why I went to TU ticketing on Friday.

Will Call/ Tulane Football Ticketing gets a nice F in my book.

My season tickets also never arrived. I called and they were resent and once again never arrived. So I called again, this time not very happy, and they were resent and again they never arrived. So I called again on the Wednesday before the opener and they fedex"d me my tickets overnight. They arrived but only my parking pass and Southern tickets, not the rest of my tickets. So I called again and the ticket guy who I will not name said he would personally deliver them to my seats. Guess what, he never showed.

[BC Wave]

My GD experience, in somewhat billeted form:

The Good ---
Parking -- I have a pass for Loyola. Very friendly staff. Plenty of empty spaces when I pulled in at 4:30.
I did see a sign pointing to Loyola for $20 parking.
They should limit paid customers so every season pass has a spot.

Waited out the storm next door at the Tulane Science building. Scary close lightning strikes.

Portaged across Freret barefooted through calf high water.

Good eats at the Green Wave Club tent.

Mandeville Seafood was selling some of the best fried shrimp and fried catfish I have ever eaten. Seriously good food!

Entered stadium with no problems (I read the stadium policy beforehand so I knew not to bring an umbrella or a backpack (which I would have done, normally))

Checker at entrance was very polite and had no problems with contents in my book bag --- extra T shirt, digital camera, binoculars.

Arrived at elevator just as The Human Jukebox was marching to the field. It was an awesome experience.

Elevator operator is one of the most gracious men I have ever met.

Big Ass fans were great.
Game and game view both incredible.

The Bad
$12 for a large soft drink is pure gouging.

Westfeldt area still can hardly hear the PA system.

Hullabaloo presentation (nitpicking here)
I am now conditioned to look at the scoreboard for my cue with it being cheered before the announcer states the score. But a much better, rhythmic presentation would be something like the announcer saying

"The point after touchdown is good. With 10:25 left in the first quarter it's Tulane 21, Southern 0"
Two
Three...
"A one, a two, a helluva hullabaloo...."

[RobertM320]

BC Wave, $12 for a soft drink? I paid $4 for a 20 oz Sprite. Not sure where you were getting yours from.

I do have one comment about the stadium in general: I was seated in section 118, near the goal line of the north end zone, west side. It would be really nice if they had a basic scoreboard at both sides of the stadium, instead of only on the north end, east side. I couldn't hardly see that one, and whomever was operating the other one was often lagging behind the other one.

[BC Wave]

Yes, bottled soft drinks were a Much better deal at $4, but if you wanted a fountain drink with ice the prices were $8, $10 and $12