Ticket Requests More Than Double Available Inventory

May 17, 2010

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Inclusion versus exclusion is the goal for Pam Finke, the UI Athletics Department’s director of ticket operations, as she maneuvers through season ticket requests that total almost two times the number of seats available.

Finke said she has received requests for season tickets to the seven home games of the nationally ranked 2010 University of Iowa football team from more than 2,300 fans of the Hawkeyes who would be considered “new customers,” e.g. they did not purchase season tickets for the 2009 season. All counted, the requests total approximately 7,300 seats – a nice number except that only 4,500 seats are available.

“We don’t have enough seats in the stadium to sell season tickets to everyone who wants them, so the goal will be to offer most of our new season ticket applicants the opportunity to have two visits to Kinnick Stadium next fall,” said Finke, who noted that the pair of games will likely be one non-conference game and one game against a Big Ten Conference opponent.

The Athletics Ticket Office will be contacting each new customer over the next two weeks. The overwhelming majority will be contacted via the e-mail address they provided when they placed their season ticket order. The contact will provide a status of their order and, where applicable, the invitation to purchase tickets to two home games.

Fans will be offered tickets to either Iowa’s non-conference game against Eastern Illinois (Sept. 4) or Ball State (Sept. 25), and, most likely, the Hawkeyes’ date with Big Ten Conference rival Michigan State (Oct. 30). Fans who accept the UI’s offer to purchase the two-game package will be given one year’s season ticket credit in the UI’s ticket priority points system.

“That point has real value. It puts them officially into our priority points system and, among other things, provides them priority over those fans who are not in the priority points system when it comes to tickets to bowl games and season tickets in future seasons,” said Finke.

Finke said she is personally reviewing requests for additional tickets from renewal season ticket customers – fans of the Hawkeyes who purchased a season ticket in 2009 – but that she anticipates filling “only a very limited number” of those requests.

Finke said once the process of securing two-game sale commitments from fans who accept that offer, the availability of single game tickets will be limited to very small quantities of tickets to Iowa’s non-conference games against Eastern Illinois and Ball State. She also doesn’t expect to receive many tickets back from teams who visit Kinnick Stadium this fall with the possible exception being Michigan State.”

“Iowa State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State…those schools will use their full allotment of visiting team tickets. If history is any guide, we’ll get a handful back from Michigan State, but not that much,” said Finke.

Fans that decline an offer for a two-game package will be added to the waiting list for Iowa football tickets the UI Athletics Ticket Office is now managing. They will be the first fans offered single-game tickets if single-game tickets become available for this season’s home games. Finke said she expects to make a definitive announcement on the availability of single-game tickets and the date on which those would go on sale in mid to late June.

Fans on the waiting list will also automatically receive a season ticket application next year.

Fans interested in being added to the ticket office’s waiting list should call the UI Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800 IA-HAWKS or visit the ticket office’s temporary location inside the West Entrance of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.