Lap of Sugar luxury costs $23,000
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School clarifies short sale of tickets
A Honolulu business paid $23,000 for a luxury suite at the Louisiana Superdome for the Sugar Bowl, according to a spokesman for the online ticket agent StubHub.com.
Sean Pate said the transaction on StubHub.com appeared to be made by a woman in Honolulu. The suite is on the 25-yard line on the University of Hawaii Warriors' side of the field for the Jan. 1 game against the University of Georgia. It holds 30 people and the price covers food, drinks and amenities, Pate said.
StubHub.com is a site where people can buy and sell tickets. It oversees ticket transactions, payments and the shipping process. San Francisco-based StubHub.com is owned by eBay Inc.
Pate said people have the advantage of purchasing tickets on their Web site that are not made available through universities, such as the suite. These rooms are usually sold by someone who owns the suite and uses it annually, he added.
Pate said more than 2,600 tickets were sold through the StubHub Web site nationwide. Of that figure, nearly 300 tickets were purchased by Hawaii residents. Sugar Bowl tickets offered on the Web site range from $135 to $765.
Sugar bowl ticket trends
Statistics for Sugar Bowl tickets purchased from StubHub.com:
» It's the second-biggest-selling bowl game based on dollar volume, behind the BCS National Championship of Ohio State vs. LSU game.
» Average ticket prices: $274
» Most expensive ticket: $765
» Least expensive ticket: $100
» Top five states where ticket buyers are located: Louisiana at 23 percent; Georgia, 22 percent; Hawaii, 11 percent; Texas, 7 percent; Florida, 6 percent.
» Ticket availability as of yesterday: More than 1,200
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School clarifies short sale of tickets
UH says consultants helped decide how many bowl tickets should be returned
While the University of Hawaii inspired the ire of Warrior fans by not taking its allowed allotment of Sugar Bowl tickets, it could have been worse.
UH officials acknowledged last week that they agreed to accept only 13,500 of the 17,500 tickets allotted to each university for the Jan. 1 game against the University of Georgia. The 4,000 not taken by UH then became available to Georgia Bulldog fans, leaving hundreds of Warrior supporters empty-handed.
But UH Athletic Director Herman Frazier told the Star-Bulletin yesterday that the decision on how many tickets to accept came after a discussion among a small group of UH officials and consultants.
"The original number provided to me on what we needed was much less than what we took. And we said, 'No, there's no way, we need more than that,' which is why we settled on the 13,500," he said. He declined to give the original figure or with whom he consulted.
Since the decision, UH officials have been scrambling to fill the demand.
So far, Sugar Bowl officials have made another 1,500 tickets available for 352 Hawaii season ticket holders on a waiting list who were allowed to take up to six tickets each.
When UH made tickets available from the first allotment on Dec. 2, some season-ticket holders bought large blocks of seats.
That was not supposed to happen, Frazier said. "I think there was some internal miscommunication," he said.
Another miscommunication apparently has occurred regarding the number of tickets reserved for team and university use.
Last week, a UH official said the university had 3,000 tickets reserved from the initial 13,500 allotment. But Frazier said yesterday that number was inflated. The actual amount is closer to 1,250, with 1,000 tickets for the team and 250 for administrators.
Of the 1,000 tickets allotted for the team, a total of 114 student athletes who will travel to New Orleans were each offered six complimentary tickets, which amounts to 684 tickets.
That leaves the remaining number of tickets for coaches, medical, equipment and ground transportation staff and others, Frazier said.
Tickets provided to Gov. Linda Lingle, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and UH President David McClain came from the 250 tickets allocated to the administration, Frazier said.
Associate Athletic Director John McNamara said the 3,000 reserved tickets figure he provided last week was an "anticipated need."
"You hold the blocks until you know for sure what your needs are," McNamara said yesterday.
The athletic department is expected to receive a list of people who will represent the team and university in the Sugar Bowl by Friday to determine the exact need for tickets.
An announcement will be made Monday on whether more tickets are available, McNamara said. If more tickets become available, they would be allocated to season-ticket holders through a lottery.