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Friday, February 18, 2000

Regents tackle
ticket prices

The UH board is expected
to OK the increase today

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

The athletic department's proposal for raising ticket prices in football is expected to be approved today by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

Athletic director Hugh Yoshida told the UH Committee on Finance yesterday that ticket increases were necessary to offset the rising costs of running a department still trying to meet the stringent requirements of Title IX and gender equity.

Yoshida not only wants to increase the prices of individual game tickets, but charge a premium of $25 for prime sideline seats and $12 for others.

Under the proposal that was approved yesterday by the committee on finance, season tickets for eight home games will cost $140 for sideline seats and $122 for end zone. That's the same rate fans paid last year for nine home games at Aloha Stadium.

But in addition to that base rate, fans buying tickets in sections MM, LL, KK, JJ, M, L, K and J in the orange, blue and brown levels will also pay a $25 premium for each seat.

A $12 premium fee will be attached to fans sitting in the orange, blue and brown sections of QQ, PP, NN, HH, GG, FF, Q, P, N, H, G, F and south end zone seats in the brown level only.

"This is something we need to get done so we can start sending out our renewels over the next few weeks," Yoshida said after his presentation was approved. Based on how many season tickets we sold last year (about 22,000), these increases would generate around $232,000 in additional revenues."

Yoshida and associate athletic director Jim Donovan read statements from people attending public meetings Wednesday night and yesterday morning regarding the likely increases. Fifteen people took the time to attend the meetings. About half agreed an increase was necessary with the other half disagreeing.

Individual prices will range from $24 for sideline and $20 for end zone seats for the season opener with Texas and the season finale with Wisconsin to $17 for sideline and $14 for end zone seats for the nonconference game with Division I-AA Portland State.

Yoshida told the finance committee he was also meeting with Aloha Stadium officials regarding parking concerns and whether rent reduction was a possibility.

For nine games last year, the university paid Aloha Stadium 7.5 percent of the gross receipts that totaled $352,238. UH is hoping to pay only 4 percent this year. Had that rate been in effect last year, UH would have saved $187,860 on rent fees.

Yoshida is also asking Koa Anuenue -- the major booster club for the athletic department -- to kick in $1 million this year to the general fund. Last year, Koa Anuenue generated $600,000 for the athletic department.

Yoshida is hopeful Hawaii's NCAA record-setting turnaround last year will generate an increase in season ticket sales. Hawaii sold about 22,000 season tickets, but that is still down about 10,000 from the high-water mark of 31,000 in 1991.

Yoshida believes the fans are coming back, but conceded the numbers weren't as good as first hoped. Hawaii averaged 38,695 tickets distributed and 36,203 fans in the house this past season.

Those numbers were up from the 1998 campaign. Hawaii distributed an average of 29,352 tickets in eight games. Actual attendance was 23,667.

That means first-year head coach June Jones' remarkable turnaround produced a 31.8 percent increase in tickets distributed and 53 percent increase in the number of fans attending games.

"We feel like most of our fans will be willing to pay this increase," Yoshida said. "The premium surcharge is tax deductible (80 percent). It will help us generate more revenues and keep us competitive with teams we play in and outside of our conference."

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UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii