Cincinnati sells out Sugar Bowl allotment
December, 10, 2009
12/10/09
4:09
PM ET
Cincinnati has sold out its entire allotment of 17,500 tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl and has requested more tickets.
The school sold out in a little more than three days without much public offering, since season ticket-holders gobbled up their seats for the game first.
"That's a pretty good statement for us," Cincinnati senior associate athletic director Mike Waddell said.
And that's the kind of statement a program needs to continue to attract good bowl bids. The Bearcats brought about 10,000 fans to Birmingham two years ago for the Papajohns.com Bowl. Last year, they sold 13,500 tickets from their allotment to the Orange Bowl, but Waddell said the school estimated that nearly 30,000 Cincinnati fans actually attended. Because the Orange Bowl and BCS title game tickets were sold in a bundle, many who had purchased the package for the national championship game unloaded their Orange Bowl tickets for dirt cheap on the Internet, and lots of Bearcats fans went that route, Waddell said.
But Waddell said when he talked to BCS officials this season, they expressed concern about the 13,500 number.
"That still put us in the worry category," Waddell said. "They wanted to know, 'Are they able to move tickets?'"
Waddell said Cincinnati should know by the weekend whether it will get extra tickets, and he added that there was a "substantial" waiting list for fans wanting to go. Playing Florida in an attractive destination city certainly doesn't hurt. But the program also has some questions now surrounding the coaching situation. That didn't seem to bother the Bearcats fans.
"This is kind of what all of us in the Big East are doing," Waddell said. "We're trying to establish our football reputation. Some schools had it already, some had it and lost it a little bit. Here we are, and our fan base responded that this will not be a temporary thing. Our program is established now."
The school sold out in a little more than three days without much public offering, since season ticket-holders gobbled up their seats for the game first.
"That's a pretty good statement for us," Cincinnati senior associate athletic director Mike Waddell said.
And that's the kind of statement a program needs to continue to attract good bowl bids. The Bearcats brought about 10,000 fans to Birmingham two years ago for the Papajohns.com Bowl. Last year, they sold 13,500 tickets from their allotment to the Orange Bowl, but Waddell said the school estimated that nearly 30,000 Cincinnati fans actually attended. Because the Orange Bowl and BCS title game tickets were sold in a bundle, many who had purchased the package for the national championship game unloaded their Orange Bowl tickets for dirt cheap on the Internet, and lots of Bearcats fans went that route, Waddell said.
But Waddell said when he talked to BCS officials this season, they expressed concern about the 13,500 number.
"That still put us in the worry category," Waddell said. "They wanted to know, 'Are they able to move tickets?'"
Waddell said Cincinnati should know by the weekend whether it will get extra tickets, and he added that there was a "substantial" waiting list for fans wanting to go. Playing Florida in an attractive destination city certainly doesn't hurt. But the program also has some questions now surrounding the coaching situation. That didn't seem to bother the Bearcats fans.
"This is kind of what all of us in the Big East are doing," Waddell said. "We're trying to establish our football reputation. Some schools had it already, some had it and lost it a little bit. Here we are, and our fan base responded that this will not be a temporary thing. Our program is established now."
BIG EAST SCOREBOARD
Saturday, 12/17
Final Temple 37 Wyoming 15 Final Ohio 24 Utah State 23 Final San Diego State 30 Louisiana-Lafayette 32
Tuesday, 12/20
Wednesday, 12/21
Final 18 TCU 31 Louisiana Tech 24
Thursday, 12/22
Saturday, 12/24
Final Nevada 17 21 Southern Miss 24
Monday, 12/26
Tuesday, 12/27
Final Western Michigan 32 Purdue 37 Final Louisville 24 North Carolina State 31
Wednesday, 12/28
Final Toledo 42 Air Force 41 Final California 10 24 Texas 21
Thursday, 12/29
Final Florida State 18 Notre Dame 14 Final Washington 56 12 Baylor 67
Friday, 12/30
Final Brigham Young 24 Tulsa 21 Final Rutgers 27 Iowa State 13 Final Mississippi State 23 Wake Forest 17 Final Iowa 14 14 Oklahoma 31
Saturday, 12/31
Final Texas A&M 33 Northwestern 22 Final/OT Georgia Tech 27 Utah 30 Final Illinois 20 UCLA 14 Final Cincinnati 31 Vanderbilt 24 Final Virginia 24 25 Auburn 43
Monday, 1/2
Final 19 Houston 30 22 Penn State 14 Final Ohio State 17 Florida 24 Final/3OT 17 Michigan State 33 16 Georgia 30 Final 20 Nebraska 13 9 South Carolina 30 Final 10 Wisconsin 38 5 Oregon 45 Final/OT 4 Stanford 38 3 Oklahoma State 41
Tuesday, 1/3
Final/OT 13 Michigan 23 11 Virginia Tech 20
Wednesday, 1/4
Final 23 West Virginia 70 15 Clemson 33
Friday, 1/6
Final 8 Kansas State 16 6 Arkansas 29


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