• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Georgia Tech Focuses on Fan Safety With Return of Football

  • Fans have returned to Bobby Dodd Stadium at 20% capacity.
  • Fans have many of their questions answered by Satisfi Labs virtual assistant.
Georgia Tech football
Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

With the beginning of the college football season, several programs have allowed fans back into venues in a limited capacity. In the heart of Atlanta, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have allowed fans into Bobby Dodd Stadium at 20% capacity. 

To keep fans safe Mike Castle, assistant athletic director, ticket sales & operations, and the rest of the athletic department put together a cohesive plan to best service customers while maximizing revenue.

“I think the most difficult hurdle was that there was no written plan to start from,” Castle told Front Office Sports. “We were all starting from scratch and reacting as the situation unfolded. This was such a fluid offseason in preparation for so many unknowns, it was definitely one of the more challenging things I’ve ever had to encounter in my career.”

For the past several years, Georgia Tech has implemented Satisfi Labs’ virtual assistant to help answer fans’ questions about the game-day experience both leading up to game day and once they are inside the stadium or arena. Fans can access the virtual assistant on ramblinwreck.com, via SMS, and through the athletic department’s official app. This has been particularly helpful in 2020 as the Yellow Jackets’ staff deals with many new COVID-19 related questions, especially when it comes to entry policies, mobile ticketing, food and beverage handling, and even tailgating protocol.

“The great thing about Satisfi Labs and the specifics of the products we use with them is that it learns off of itself,” Castle said. “Each season, we can build off of the questions that fans are asking and provide more intelligent answers. This offseason, we were working with a bank of questions that we’ve never had answers to before and we were trying to guess what kind of questions people were going to have about their game-day experience. Luckily, Satisfi works with a lot of different teams that have already started the process. So we were able to benefit from a lot of the COVID platforms that have been built for other teams and built off of it to make it unique and applicable to our own team here.”

As part of Georgia Tech’s measures to decrease points of contact between customers and venue staff, the Yellow Jackets implemented a digital-only approach to ticketing. Many questions the virtual assistant is now handling for the staff are pertaining to digital tickets assistance, as a result.

“That particular part of the virtual assistant was really applicable, but in general, we built our virtual assistant with the idea that it could be helpful on game days, but also leading up to game day,” Castle said. “The platform of the virtual assistant is versatile enough to answer and help them. Satisfi is so good at anticipating what’s going to be asked, but also reacting to questions and adapting along the way. It’s just a spectacular product.”

With three home games left in the season, Castle and the rest of Georgia Tech’s ticketing staff will be proud to continue to provide their fans with high quality service made possible, in part, by their partnership with Satisfi Labs. 

“I’m most proud of our ability to anticipate situations and problems that fans may encounter so that we can have a solution for them,” Castle concluded. “If we weren’t able to answer it from the first person, make sure that the second, third, fourth, fifth person, and everybody else that asks gets an appropriate response and has the best customer experience.”

Learn more about Satisfi Labs

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

WNBA Championship Ring Boom: ‘Way Bigger. Way More Diamonds’

The Liberty’s WNBA championship ring value soared to $60,000.

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
Mar 28, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels forward Jaemyn Brakefield (4) rebounds over Michigan State Spartans center Carson Cooper (15) and Mississippi Rebels guard Matthew Murrell (11) in the second half of a South Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at State Farm Arena.

SEC Increases Court Storming Fine to $500K—With Caveat

The SEC used to fine schools $500,000 as a third-time offense.

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

Featured Today

How Rolex Paved the Way for Luxury’s Love Affair With Tennis

“It’s almost impossible to think about tennis without thinking about Rolex.”
Mar 23, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Alexandra Eala (PHI) reacts after winning a point against Madison Keys (USA)(not pictured) on day six of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.
May 24, 2025

Alex Eala Is Defying Her Country’s Odds to Make French Open History

The Philippines native has overcome a unique set of financial odds.
May 24, 2025

Indiana Is the Center of the Basketball Universe—Thanks to Both Pro Teams

The Fever and Pacers are thriving at the same time.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”
Sponsored

Game the Green: Transforming Fan Experiences at TPC Sawgrass

As fans gather at THE PLAYERS Championship, Comcast Business will be keeping spectators and the PGA TOUR connected like never before.
October 8, 2024

NBA GMs Rank Salary-Cap Apron As Rule That Needs to Change Most

Schedule changes finished second with 17% of the vote.
February 3, 2025

Super Bowl Ticket Prices Crash As Hotel Rooms See Historic Rate Hike

Prices sink by about 30%, due in part to a lodging crunch.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
September 8, 2024

US Open Breaks Attendance Record

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner beat No. 12 Taylor Fritz in straight sets Sunday.
Sponsored

Mastercard’s Foodies & Fairways: Where Golf Meets Gourmet at the TOUR Championship

This year’s TOUR Championship in Atlanta isn’t just about world-class golf—it’s also a celebration of local flavors.
July 18, 2024

Loyal WNBA Fans Hit With Enormous Season-Ticket Price Hikes

Some season-ticket holders are seeing their prices doubled.
July 16, 2024

CONMEBOL, Hard Rock Stadium Continue Trading Blame Over Copa Disaster

Each blames the other for the security madness at Sunday’s final.