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Miners fund ambitions the old-fashioned way
From Associated Press Reports with Staff
Contributions
Texas-El Paso is raising
season ticket prices for football and basketball games in an effort to
capitalize on its teams' sudden popularity.
Season tickets will cost $1 to $5 more next season, UTEP officials announced
last week. It was the school's first price increase in three years.
UTEP said it needs the extra
money to build a strong Division I athletic program that will be competitive
in the Western Athletic Conference and across the nation. Ironically, the
boost in ticket prices comes in the wake of widespread media reports that
the school would soon begin the process of leaving the WAC for Conference
USA.
Enthusiasm among boosters
about the Miners' two revenue sports is burgeoning and officials indicated
the timing was right to take advantage of that interest.
The school's basketball team
went to the NCAA tournament this spring for the first time in 12 years. New
football coach Mike Price is one of the highest-profile coaches in the
school's history, and part of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to his
salary, athletic director Bob Stull said.
"All of our sports are getting
better," Stull told the El Paso Times. "Though the ticket prices are rising
slightly, it's still the best bargain in town."
The price of UTEP season
football tickets, even after the projected increase, appears to be somewhat
of a bargain compared to East Carolina's basic season ticket prices of $155
and $170. General admission season tickets will cost Miners fans $66 this
year, up from $63 last year.
The cost of a family pack of
tickets to UTEP football games, covering two adults and three children, will
rise by $10 to $150.
Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net
contributed to this report.
02/23/2007 10:41:13 AM
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