Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Football fans bought season tickets online at record pace in the first few days of a priority points promotion offer through the Athletics Department.
The promotion offered 10 priority points per purchase, double the normal amount awarded. Associate athletics director Jim Marchiony said fans purchased more than 1,000 season-ticket packages during the first six days of the online promotion, which began on Jan. 31 and ends Feb. 14.
“If this is any indication, they’ll increase dramatically from two years ago,” he said.
The priority points system gives those with the largest total number of points first choice on seats in the stadium and the best chance at getting season tickets for men’s basketball.
The Athletics Department sold a record 28,110 season ticket packages last year, surpassing the previous high of 27,700 in 1969.
Marchiony said fans preferred seats in various spots throughout the stadium, but sections nine, ten and eleven usually filled up first. They run from one 35-yard line to the other, on the west side of the stadium. He estimated fans sitting in those sections had about 2,500 priority points.
Marchiony said increasing online sales minimized the handling costs for tickets by reducing the number of employees needed to take orders, reducing credit card fees and cutting down mailing costs. He said the online process was also easier for fans because they could order tickets any time of the day rather than only during business hours. He said fans could still purchase tickets in person or over the phone.
“I don’t know if anytime soon it will be exclusively online but who knows,” Marchiony said. “Ten years ago no one would’ve thought it was even possible,” he said.
With the priority points system in its third year, Marchiony said the most dramatic turnover was complete now that nearly all fans in the most coveted seats had high point totals and were less likely to be displaced.
The priority points system gives those with the largest total number of points first choice on seats in the stadium and the best chance at getting season tickets for men’s basketball.
“People tend to gravitate towards the seats they’ve had for a while,” he said. “When they have a choice, they like to sit where they’ve been sitting.”
Lawrence resident Kitcha Paranjothi recently purchased family-zone tickets in the north end of Memorial Stadium for the fifth year in a row. He said he received a mail solicitation from the Williams Fund seeking a donation to increase his priority points but threw it away after a quick glance.
Paranjothi said he wasn’t interested in making annual donations to influence his points total.
“I haven’t really followed it because I know I won’t ever donate enough to make a difference,” he said. “I just don’t see myself donating thousands of dollars to get seats in Allen Fieldhouse.”
The football season ticket package includes seven games at Memorial Stadium, as well as the Jayhawks’ home game against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansan staff writer Kyle Carter can be contacted at kcarter@kansan.com.
— Edited by Darla Slipke
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