UT tailgaters will have their chance at 15 minutes of YouTube fame because of a new channel hosted by the University Co-op.

The Burnt Orange Tailgating Channel began streaming on YouTube after the UT vs. Rice game at the beginning of this season. The new channel asks tailgaters from both teams questions submitted by UT football fans. The Co-op will accept questions from Facebook and Twitter users prior to game day and hopes to increase traffic to their social media pages by providing a new way to look at UT spirit on game day, said UT co-op promotions manager Will Kelleher. Co-op staff will interview tailgaters at all home games, looking for answers to some of the questions, Kelleher said.

“The reason behind it was to explore the pregame rituals and all of the University of Texas passion that surrounds football games on Saturday,” he said. “We wanted to get a first-hand deal from it and just have fun, talk to UT students and connect to UT students and get entertaining content.”

The UT vs. Rice game’s videos drew approximately about 1,400 views, and the UT vs. BYU game drew 2,500 views, Kelleher said.

“We’re expecting to grow exponentially throughout the season, especially with some of our Big 12 rivals,” he said. “It’ll be great to see what kind of questions people have for the OU, Oklahoma State and A&M games.”

Chemistry sophomore Stuart Reynolds is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, which tailgates near the stadium before every home game. The Burnt Orange Tailgating Channel is a cool concept, but they have to plan for all activities that might happen at tailgates, he said.

“They just have to understand that a lot of people don’t want their faces shown,” he said. “I don’t condone it and I don’t want to get myself in trouble, but there is underage drinking that goes on. They have to understand that it happens and they can’t prosecute and can’t intervene in the process of the tailgate and what happens after.”

As long as the questions are interesting and relevant, Burnt Orange Tailgating would be a good way to increase school spirit before and after football games, said sophomore Andrea Velazquez. This is Velazquez’s first year going to football games and tailgating, she said.

“It’s going to be cool to get some YouTube exposure, and also it’s cool to see what other fans are thinking,” she said. “I would ask probably what your favorite part of the actual game is. From the half-time show to watching the commercials on the big screen, to the moment after scoring a touchdown or even walking out of the stadium after a game, there are plenty of different parts of the game experience.”

Printed on Friday, September 23, 2011 as: "University Co-op creates YouTube channel to show tailgaters' game day spirit."