Posted on: Thursday, February 17, 2005

Regents hear stadium pitch today

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i athletic department will take a slightly modified proposal to the Board of Regents today for a so-called high-roller seating section at Aloha Stadium it hopes will generate an additional $1 million to help underwrite scholarship costs.

Athletic department officials will pitch the plan for raising the price of some stadium loge seats during the regents' meeting at Honolulu Community College.

If approved, the cost of the seats would rise to $3,500 to $15,000 for the 2005 football season and would reach $5,000 to $20,000 by 2007. Four football seats, additional privileges in an arena sport plus parking and other benefits come with the $3,500 payment, UH said.

Price hikes that will take place in other areas of the stadium for 2005 were part of a sliding scale approved two years ago by the regents.

Vince Baldemor, executive director of 'Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the school's umbrella athletic booster organization, said the proposal that goes before the board involves about 1,000 seats in the loge area where the current seat holders would be required to pay the new fee or move elsewhere.

UH has said money generated would go toward covering scholarship and benefit costs for the more than 300 athletes on scholarship. Baldemor said Koa Anuenue has contributed as much as $2 million toward scholarships per year, about half of the nearly $4 million the athletic department pays for scholarships, room and board for its athletes.

Following often-impassioned testimony at last week's public hearing, UH Tuesday announced a slight modification in its original proposal. Baldemor said displaced season ticket holders in the loge area can be relocated within preferred seat areas based upon various priority levels and may receive some breaks in premium fees.

Baldemor said, "if they move to a zone that is $50 (premium charge) and the next year want to sit in a zone that is $200, they'll just pay the $50 rate" for up to two years. Originally, there were no breaks on premium fees. Premium fees are the mandatory donation above the face value of the ticket.

Baldemor said, "the executive committee took their comments very seriously and wanted to craft something that will help them out since they were being relocated."

Koa Anuenue was created by the late Gov. John A. Burns in 1967 to support UH athletics and its scholarship program.

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