ADLER

Tickets to the game could be included with your North Texas season tickets, and I'd bet an outstanding deal could be arranged to get students in for even less than fare admission alone. Here's what the ticket pricing was for this season's game, and it included admission to the fair:

No way, that would be addressing the issue only after we had already screwed the pooch. Schools do occasionally add temporary seating. SMU added thousands of temporary seats when they hosted A&M, and Houston added a huge amount of grandstand seating when they hosted Texas (although some of it was shoddily assembled). The SMU game is the first home game of the season. There is no time to wait to see what the student interest is, but it should be the highest (by far) of any in Apogee's short history. I think the school should prepare as if they expect the current momentum to be maintained and the ticket sales campaigns to be successful. Why in the world would anyone prepare otherwise?

I too believe we are finally seeing North Texas joining the 'big boy' ranks. With a little creative scheduling, increased promotions, and some stadium expansion, I believe that North Texas can become a program that's competitive with many of the P5 schools.

Me too. I like the opportunity to play the service academies as I feel it an honor to participate in their pagentry, I like the idea of regularly playing what would essentially be another home game in the midst of one of our biggest recruiting areas, I love that it benefits a charity event, I would love the additional local media coverage, and I like the idea of hosting these programs with their strong national following.

The Heart Of Dallas Classic football game is also scheduled each year at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair matching a CUSA team against one of the three military academies. La Tech played Army this past September. Although less regional schools like UTEP and UTSA may certainly receive occasional invites, the big catch for The Heart Of Dallas Classic and CUSA is when they'll be able to bring North Texas into the event. Watch for North Texas to possibly drop some of the future bodybag games to schedule this charity event. And to your question, yes, if there are comparable records involved, North Texas will be the natural choice for the Heart Of Dallas Bowl. The other CUSA schools would likely be compensated to play elsewhere.

I agree, but... What if, as expected, the university sells every available seat in advance and there is seating available for only about a third of the students that show up? Remember, they too are contributing quite generously to the athletics program and it would certainly be viewed as an egregious error to have not done everything possible to accomodate them. Which would be viewed more favorably, investing too much or too little on the best interests of our students.

Mark it, the first home game will not only be a sellout, but there will be an enormous shortage of seating. The tickets will sell out almost immediately and demand for student tickets will easily outnumber the 8000 seats reserved for them. I don't think anybody is prepared to deny admission to students who are paying an athletics fee. SRO works at some facilities but not Apogee where it would only be blocking walkways. The athletic department should seriously consider building temporary grandstands over the south endzone grass sections and maybe on both sides of the wing to increase the general admission seating.

Per the UNLV Athletic Director, UNLV sold less than 300 tickets. Don't be fooled by the presence of their band or some of the Rebel players families wearing red, the "UNLV Side" of the Cotton Bowl was almost all North Texas fans. There were some UNLV fans along the front rail and a smattering in the 50 yard-line section, but very few others. The east side was all the people that purchased 'best seats available' from the bowl web site, and probably 98% of those were North Texas fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5DjJFCEXI

UNLV sold less than 300 tickets, and there was virtually no walk-up demand from any local UNLV football fans. http://m.lvsun.com/news/2013/dec/31/bowl-bites-unlv-ad-focuses-value-bowl-experience-o/ A UNLV fan had explained that many of their alumni work jobs that support the tourism and gaming industries and that New Years is a hard time to leave Vegas. Other than those several hundred UNLV fans it was all North Texas for the remaining 38,000.

True, we had 9 FBS victories. Those two schools had a combined 7 FBS wins.

Sunny and 60 Degrees You couldn't ask for more perfect weather for a New Years Day game.

Middle Tennessee has been destroyed by a combined 83 to 14 score in its only two trips to Apogee. Although Middle Tennessee plays in CUSA's eastern division, I don't believe it is right for us to deny them this biennial beatdown that they now proclaim is integral to their success. You may call me a bleeding heart humanitarian, but I would be willing for North Texas to continue to perform this therapeutic service, even on an annual basis if necessary.

Perfect weather........ Per NOAA.COM Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. South wind 5 to 10 mph.

Also, the $50 seats can be purchased for $40 each by using Promo Code BANKOFAMERICA

All embroidered, yeah, that's a steal at $17.50 each, especially when you consider they throw in free shipping. North Texas fans have got to start occasionally shopping outside the Voertmans and Bookstore monopoly. Those stores have profiteered excessively for decades by offering a very limited selection at absolute premium pricing. Having a selection of merchandise available through major retailers causes competition which can only be beneficial in the long run. If anyone is aware of any other outstanding deals on green North Texas cold weather attire please post them here.

True. I too need to buy additional fan attire for guests and would strongly prefer green. If anyone knows of any equal or better deals please let us know. These were the two best green fan options that I'm aware of in the less than $20 price range but unfortunately Finish Line is alseady sold out of both.

Unfortunately the Finish Line has sold out of the green North Texas hoodies, but they still have these on sale for $19.99 each or Two for $35.00 and they offer Free Shipping in time for Christmas. Men's North Texas Mean Green College Icon Hoodie This College Hoodie helps you stay warm and comfortable even on the coldest game days, while also putting your favorite team name front and center. This super-soft hoodie features team details embroidered on the front, making it ideal for casual-wear all year long. An adjustable hood with drawstring enables you to warm up even more as the temperature drops, while the kangaroo front pocket is perfect for icy hands and storing your stuff. Focus your energy on cheering your team to victory, not on shivering, in this cozy hoodie. FEATURES: MATERIAL: 70% cotton and 30% polyester FIT: Classic CARE: Machine wash IMPORTED Buy them here: http://www.finishline.com/store/product/mens-north-texas-mean-green-college-icon-hoodie/_/A-29080?productId=prod733266

ADLER made that very suggestion couple weeks ago Would be worth looking into, but is there really room? GMG! Yes, it should be incorporated with the convention center to serve as convention hall during certain times of the year....... and, like the New Orleans Convention Center, the Superdome, the LSU Marivich Center, and the ULL facilities, it should also be contracted with FEMA as a potential evacuation refugee facility in case of regional disasters like floods, fires, or tornados. FEMA being based in Denton makes the city a natural selection for an evacuation center, and the Apogee location with it's easy interstate access to multiple destinations, and with airfields and hospitals both within a few minutes travel make the it an ideal emergency response location. I hope it would never be required for that function but being prepared may be in the regions best interest.

That's how I feel, and we need the Metroplex, other than just Horton, to know that We Are Here. From the Victory Park web site:

The 2003 New Orleans Bowl is a perfect example for a comparison of how a situation was handled by two schools presented with the same opportunities. The game was the 2003 New Orleans Bowl. The only major attraction besides the game itself, was the French Quarter. What did North Texas do? North Texas planned all it's events the evening before the game outside the French Quarter. For the second year in a row, the nice but expensive athletic boosters function was a good distance away from any tourist activities at Rigor Mortis Hall. The Green Brigade, the Cheer Team, and the Dance Team were also shipped out of the French Quarter for parties elsewhere, some on Mississippi riverboats, and the football team was sent for a nice dinner somewhere. They were all nice quaint events, but the overwhelming majority of North Texas fans, including all the students that travelled, were left in the French Quarter aimlessly wandering Bourbon Street while watching all the Memphis University festivities. What did Memphis do? The Memphis AD made an announcement before his team had even left Memphis, "Let the other school go do whatever they are going to go do, WE'RE GOING TO MAKE BOURBON STREET OUR PARTY!" Memphis arranged for multiple Bourbon Street bars to place preprinted WELCOME TIGERS banners outside, with many advertising drink specials. Memphis purchased thousands of blue beads from Mardi Gras Annex, rented enough parade floats from Kern Studios to carry the whole team, and then Marched the Tiger Band and a New Orleans Bowl Parade down Bourbon Street to where a stage was set up. The coaches, players, and the band were then able to throw one hell of a pep rally that included everyone and was the perfect start to the Bourbon Street parties that night. These events made the news in New Orleans that night, and surely were played back in Memphis. Plain and simple: we got shown up. Now we have North Texas again in a similar situation, except that North Texas has much more time to plan, more local resources to draw from, and an event that includes already planned New Years Eve festivities and midnight fireworks display at our disposal. Are we going to alienate our fanbase by concentrating our efforts on having another 'nice little discrete gathering of jewelry jinglers' at a prim and proper banquet hall somewhere in Dallas, or are we going to plan events that are going to put tens of thousands of our fans into the Victory Park New Years Eve Party. You want to catch the attention of Dallas? Strike while the iron is hot; make arrangements to run your Heart of Dallas Bowl Parade right through that celebration, hold a pep rally, and MAKE IT OUR PARTY. NOOOORTH!!!!

Of course this would be several years out.........but the college and the city both have a potential need for this facility. Why not do an outstanding joint venture instead of separate and less impressive facilities. The city gets the ability to host car shows, boat shows, and industrial trade shows. North Texas gets a first class indoor practice facility and a facility to hold pregame and postgame parties and concerts. In an ideal situation, don't build it near Apogee Stadium, build it as part of Apogee Stadium. Imagine a huge convention hall / indoor practice facility attached directly to the stadium during the east side-luxury box expansion part of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lAytJiCoSs . The availability of such a large convention hall could be the amenity that would make Denton a better selection than all the other surrounding cities which only offer the hotel and conference centers option for conventions. Build it attached to the stadium and attached to the planned convention center and hotel. Essentially, the showroom/practice facility would cover much of the property between the stadium and the planned convention center.

You're joking, but there could be a future need for a multiple use facility that could be switched back and forth from being an indoor practice facility and a convention center arena that could host car shows, boat shows, industrial shows etc.