Friday, December 31
Sold out game still drawing ticket buyers
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- Paul Hoolahan is hearing from a lot of old
acquaintances these days.
The executive director of the Sugar Bowl is used to an annual
spurt of popularity, but is finding himself even more in demand
this year.
"Yea, I answer the phone and hear people saying, 'Don't you
remember me? We went to grade school together,"' Hoolahan said.
"Calls come in every day, but believe me, there are no tickets --
none."
The Sugar Bowl game on Jan. 4 between No. 1 Florida State (11-0)
and No. 2 Virginia Tech (11-0) has been sold out for weeks, but
that hasn't stopped people from trying to get tickets.
They won't get them from the bowl or the teams and they won't
get them at anything like the face value of $85 to $125.
Ticket agencies are selling end zone tickets for up to $800
each, on the sidelines they run as high as $1,250 each, and dealers
don't expect the price to fall.
"It's the most expensive college ticket I've ever heard of," a
New Orleans broker said. "We hear there's going to be a scramble
to the end, too, with people looking for tickets."
The Sugar Bowl expects 120,000 people to be outside the building
on game day. Only 73,000 of them can actually get inside.
"That's people going to the game and people trying to go to the
game," Hoolahan said. "A lot of them will be looking to buy
tickets on the street. It's an incredibly hot ticket."
Ticket scalping is both a state and city offense, and there will
be both uniformed and undercover police outside the Superdome on
game day looking for offenders, said New Orleans Police spokesman
Lt. Marlon Defillo.
"The arrests are minimal," Defillo said. "But we do make
them. And when we do, we confiscate any tickets or money the person
has on them."
Conviction could earn the offender 90 days in jail and a $500
fine, Defillo said.
Both schools quickly sold out of their 16,000-ticket allotment.
And although Florida State fans are still seeking them, it appears
to be Virginia Tech fans that are stoking the demand.
"Two weeks ago I would have told you I didn't even know a
Virginia Tech grad," said Richard Moore, a New Orleans resident
who was hunting for tickets for himself on Thursday. "Now I'm
hearing from all these people who went to school there -- my
accountant, my baby sitter's cousin, a guy from the bank. Now that
they have something to cheer about they're coming out of the
closet."
For those not lucky enough to be among the 73,000 in the
Superdome, the bowl has another 18,000 tickets for the arena
directly adjacent to the Dome. For $15 buyers will be able to watch
the game on the big screens, eat stadium food, and even get a
half-time show, bands and pageantry, Hoolahan said.
"We expect that to sell out as well," he said. "You're going
to have a lot of people show up without tickets expecting to get
them, and when they don't, this is a good alternative to just going
back to your room or to a local establishment. Here you'll at least
have the game atmosphere."
