Posted on: Wednesday, August 6, 2003
UH hopes fees offset ticket sale dropoff
| • | Five players waiting on eligibility |
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Although the University of Hawai'i football team has incurred a 12-percent drop in season-ticket sales from last year's total of 25,000 — the largest reduction in seven years — officials are hopeful of making up the shortfall through higher premium fees and increased sales of single-game tickets.
As of yesterday, "we're about 22,000" in season-ticket sales for football, UH athletic director Herman Frazier said.
But Frazier added, "they're still selling them and still processing them. We feel good about where we are."
This year, UH increased the premium fee — by twice as much in some areas — for seats in prime locations at Aloha Stadium. A premium fee is the "donation" paid on top of the face value of a ticket. The donation is 80 percent tax deductible.
Frazier said UH has earned at least $860,000 in premium fees for this season, compared to about $500,000 for all of the 2002 season.
Frazier said a dropoff in season-ticket sales was expected because of the increase in premium-seat fees, the availability of live pay-per-view telecasts and the "usual attrition."
"Probably the economy, more than anything else, was the reason," Frazier said. "We got a few letters from people who didn't want to pay the new premium. But by the same token, in those sections, we have a waiting list. Even though we lose some fans, we still have other people who would like to have" the vacated tickets.
Frazier said he is hopeful the UH Ticket Office's new ticketing system, which combines three computer systems into one and offers more options for purchasing tickets, will stimulate ticket sales.
Previously, each computer system had its own allotment of tickets. Now any available ticket may be purchased at several outlets — including Aloha Stadium, UH Campus Center and Windward Community College's OCET office — or through the Internet (etickethawaii.com) or by calling 944-2697. There is a $2 handling fee on telephone sales.
The new system "will be good for us and good for the fans," Frazier said. "That was the ultimate goal, to make it user- and fan-friendly."
'Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the school's umbrella booster club, paid $265,000 for the system upgrade.
