This post was written by senior staff writer Dan Greene.
With the start of the men’s basketball season about three weeks away, the athletic department is not worried that premium season tickets remain unsold, Director of Athletics Jack Kvancz said Monday.
The closest section of seating for sale, often referred to as the “blue seats” because of their color, is typically sold out each year. Each seat costs $375, and includes tickets to all of the team’s home games.
Kvancz said that the current ticket situation is not unlike past years, but that recent economic developments may be having an affect on ticket sales.
“The reality is that there’s always a turnover,” Kvancz said. “My biggest concern is that the economy is hitting every professional sport – it’s disposable income. That’s where my concern is.”
Still, Kvancz said he doesn’t think any decrease in ticket sales will be too severe.
Season ticket holders from the 2007-2008 season have until Nov. 1 to renew their tickets for the upcoming season. Kvancz said the department will have a better assessment of the situation after that date and then respond accordingly.
An e-mail was sent out to current ticket holders to alert them that more tickets were available, and the department has advertised the ticket availability in the D.C. Examiner.
“Basically we have been able to sell them by word-of-mouth,” Kvancz said of past years. “This year we’ve taken a shot at getting the word out that they can buy some extras if they want to do it because it hasn’t been as easy by word-of-mouth.”
If economics are playing a part, however, Kvancz fears there may be no real course of action available.
“I’m not sure what it is you do,” Kvancz said. “And until we can figure out you’re not renewing your season tickets because of these reasons, we can’t address it. If there’s something that I can do, we intend to address whatever it is.”
Kvancz also cited similar concerns at the professional level, where the economic downturn recently prompted the NBA to lay off 80 workers in the U.S.
“If the NBA is concerned, then I would say we should be concerned,” Kvancz said. “But just like them, until they tip it off and find out how many they sell, I don’t know what it is.”
