By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Radio talk-show callers demand the University of Hawai'i football team play — and beat — more brand-name opponents. Online chatroom inhabitants fret the Warriors will lose valuable coaches if salaries aren't kept competitive and want action.

But rhetoric is one thing. How many of these fervent fans will back up their words with their wallets and purses when the 2005 bill comes due?

Now, they'll be put to the test as UH seeks to raise the price of success on its sports in general and football in particular and the reaction will be interesting to see.

Want better, competitive teams, and a decent seat to watch them? Prepare to open up the checkbook, wide. If the school's proposed increase in seat premiums — the charge above the face value of the ticket to retain seats in the most desirable locations — is adopted, all season ticket holders will pay a higher rate in 2005. Some as much as $75 more. (See story on Page A1.)

What's more — and hold onto your chair on this one — seat owners in loge areas of Aloha Stadium will be asked to pay $3,500 to $15,000 per seat or face relocation under plans that go up before a scheduled public hearing Friday at 5 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Of one thing there is no doubt: The UH athletic department needs the money. Desperately. It has been hemorrhaging red ink for three years now and been borrowing from the upper campus. Despite a four-percent cut in some areas, there is no guarantee the books will balance this year, either.

If you caught head football coach June Jones' press conference rant on Thursday and got past the headline-making part about recruiting controversy with Kahuku, you caught a hint of the desperation in his impassioned plea for improved facilities and competitive resources. One that has been echoed by women's volleyball coach Dave Shoji.

The wonder, they tell you, is that UH has been able to be this successful this long in this financial pickle. When San Jose State, a school that averages less than 7,000 fans per football game, can woo UH offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh with a more lucrative compensation package and show prospective recruits some better facilities, it sends a shudder.

Nor is it surprising UH has picked this year to make its dash for cash. With a home schedule that opens with two-time defending national champion Southern California and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart, plus three other nationally ranked opponents (Boise State, Fresno State and Wisconsin), the Warriors have a lot more to sell than most seasons.

We're told attaching mandatory "donations" to tickets is the price of business in Division I-A where, even with the proposed round of hikes, UH will be on the low-to-middle end.

And, yes, if it gets more corporations and the well-heeled to pump significant money into the program, then so-called "high-roller" or "Gucci Row" seating areas are necessary.

But you also have to wonder about the impact on the core fan and the wisdom of doing it at a time when season ticket renewals have been in decline, and Aloha Stadium attendance is steadily falling off in favor of TV pay-per-view sales.

Indeed, the fear is that some of UH's bedrock audience, which includes older season ticket holders on fixed incomes who have been long-time supporters, and the young families who are the future, might become just occasional ticket buyers. Or, leave altogether.

For UH, that would be a price tag too high.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.