Georgia's tailgating tradition turns high-end

ATHENS - Tired of battling for a space to park their Chevy Suburban and tailgate before Georgia Bulldog games, Michael and Jill Sutton paid $12,500 to be guaranteed a space for life on game days.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s become harder and harder and harder to find a consistent place,&#39;&#39; said Michael Sutton, a 38-year-old University of Georgia graduate who lives in metro Atlanta. ``It gives us a place where we can be for the long term.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Suttons were among the first people to buy parking spaces in the off-campus Tailgate Station, described as an upscale tailgating park that offers a pavilion with cable televisions, air-conditioned restrooms and a gated entrance for fans who want to tailgate without the hassle, but for a price. They got in early the spaces now cost $17,500.<br> <br> The tradition of tailgating is getting more expensive at Georgia, with fewer on-campus parking spaces because of construction projects and a campus ban on recreational vehicles implemented last season.<br> <br> Tailgate Station and the Gameday Center, a luxury condominium complex in downtown Athens with units priced to $500,000 marketed as gameday hangouts with their own parking, are new options for Bulldog football fans this season.<br> <br> ``They are not cheap but they&#39;re needed. There are plenty of people out there that have the money,&#39;&#39; said Kim Shupe, a real estate agent involved with Tailgate Station.<br> <br> The condos&#39; buyers are ``frustrated over lodging problems and things affiliated with the RV situation,&#39;&#39; said Stephanie Leathers, a real estate agent selling the Gameday Center. ``It&#39;s just become so difficult.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Tempers flared last year when RV owners learned they would have to move off campus because of a lack of parking, causing some fans to vow to move their tailgating parties to their homes and give up their season tickets.<br> <br> The university had worked out a way for a vacant KMart parking lot nearly five miles from Sanford Stadium to be available, although it won&#39;t be used this season because a store has opened there. The school&#39;s intramural fields were designated for two organized RV clubs paying $300 per member each season.<br> <br> The closest RV lots to the stadium now are the intramural fields about a mile away and four lots near downtown Athens about a half-mile away where users pay between $390 and $600 a season and $65 to $100 per game.<br> <br> ``They would all like to see everything back in one location next to the stadium but there&#39;s no room,&#39;&#39; said Jonathan Pierce, owner of Prestige Parking Inc., the university&#39;s official provider of non-permitted parking for home football games.<br> <br> Ordinary vehicles are still allowed on campus contributors to the athletic association receive parking passes. The university recently eliminated ``grandfathered&#39;&#39; rates to require the same contributions from everyone for parking passes while increasing contribution amounts for the right to buy season tickets. Pierce&#39;s lots cost $15 to $30 per game and up to $180 a season.<br> <br> Some bemoan the fact that the tailgating parties have evolved from an on-campus tradition to several off-campus sites.<br> <br> ``It used to be 20 years ago, my blood would get so excited on Thursdays because you would see the alumni already here. Now because of the parking situation, it&#39;s not the case,&#39;&#39; said Shupe, the real estate agent tied to Tailgate Station.<br> <br> Shupe knows the market she was an evicted tailgater. Her family&#39;s red-and-black-painted 1984 conversion van, nicknamed ``The Shupe Shack,&#39;&#39; was booted from its spot near two dormitories last year. After tailgating on campus for 12 years, she was ready to sell the van and finish their basement to use on game days but then learned about Tailgate Station.<br> <br> Pierce said that over the past three or four years, downtown Athens has become more popular among tailgaters because of the lack of campus parking, more people (last year&#39;s stadium expansion added 5,000 seats), and an effort by the police to limit parking on sidewalks and the street because of safety concerns.<br> <br> The Suttons were attracted to Tailgate Station because of the chance to reserve a hand-picked parking space after years of tailgating on sidewalks and in restaurant lots and fraternity and sorority lots. Michael Sutton even remembers watching games from railroad tracks that tradition ended in 1981 when the stadium&#39;s east end was enclosed.<br> <br> Tailgate Station is seven-tenths of a mile from the stadium, which is estimated at a 10-minute walk. The spaces are sized 22-by-10-feet, offering room for a tent and other tailgating necessities plus a car, van or sport utility vehicle.<br> <br> The first phase has 111 spaces, and the first 30 sold in three days, even though the spots are only allowed by the city to be used on game days. Buyers include investors and groups looking to tailgate together. If this project goes well, the developer may try a park for RVs.<br> <br> Those purchasing units in the Gameday Center are willing to pay to make football Saturdays more convenient, said Gary B. Spillers, president and CEO of Gameday Centers Southeastern, which is based in Atlanta.<br> <br> Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Florida State also have Gameday Centers. The $30 million Athens complex is the largest eight stories with 133 two-bedroom and three-bedroom units and a four-level parking garage.<br> <br> The average buyer is a 56-year-old man worth $2.5 million who has been a season ticket holder for 17 years, although purchasers include Olympic gold medalist and former Georgia swimmer Courtney Shealy.<br> <br> When the furnished condos aren&#39;t used, a management company is available to rent them out, much like a beach condo. Prices in Athens ranged from $146,900 to a three-bedroom penthouse for $575,000, and the complex is nearly sold out.<br> <br> The demand is so high that similar complexes are planned for Kentucky, Clemson, Texas A Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State, Spillers said.<br> <br> Charles Smith, 73, of Savannah, said football fans have needed more high-end options for a long time. Frustrated with escalating prices at Athens&#39; limited hotels and being required to pay for all home games in advance to get a hotel room, Smith, a 1952 Georgia graduate, bought a two-bedroom Gameday condo. His friends bought a unit down the hall.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s one of the best things that could ever happen to a football town,&#39;&#39; Smith said.