Bham paper: "unprecedented numbers of free tickets"
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:29 pm
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012 ... sales.html
The BBVA Compass Bowl is offering unprecedented numbers of free tickets to Saturday's game due to low sales by Pittsburgh and SMU.
Pittsburgh distributed approximately 2,500 of its allotted 10,000 tickets, similar to last year's appearance in Birmingham, team spokesman E.J. Borghetti said. Pitt would not disclose how many of those were sold and how many were complimentary tickets.
SMU did not provide ticket counts from its allotment of 10,000 and declined to be interviewed for this article.
The BBVA Compass Bowl is providing up to four free tickets to first responders from last spring's tornadoes in Alabama. Members of fire, police and rescue squads can pick up tickets at Gate 13 of Legion Field on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Military and veterans can also continue to receive four free tickets.
For the first time, the bowl is offering up to two free tickets to students, faculty and staff at UAB, Samford, Birmingham-Southern and Miles.
Pittsburgh and SMU, which replaced the SEC in Birmingham's bowl, were each required by the bowl to buy 10,000 tickets at $50 apiece. Pitt's distribution of 2,500 tickets means the school will lose more than $375,000 from ticket sales.
This figures to be the largest financial losses from ticket sales for two BBVA Compass Bowl teams.