UH football ticket prices staying put, kickoffs going later
The price of many University of Hawaii football tickets will remain unchanged, but the kickoff time for home games will be 30 minutes later this season, officials said yesterday.
Instead of 5:30 p.m., which was the starting time in 2010, Warriors home games will kick off at 6:05 p.m. unless moved by ESPN contract, athletic director Jim Donovan said.
"We’ve continually gotten feedback from season-ticket holders sitting on the mauka sideline (at Aloha Stadium) saying their seats are still hot at 5:30," Donovan said. In addition, Donovan said, "we’ve heard from a lot of people who would like a later start to allow them to attend their family’s soccer or Pop Warner games and other events."
UH did a survey of ticket buyers in 2009 that found fans split among 5:05 p.m., 5:35 p.m. and 6:05 p.m., with those who tend to purchase tickets on an individual game basis leaning toward 6:05 p.m.
UH games, which kicked off at 6:05 p.m. in 2008 and ’09, were moved to 5:35 p.m. in part to allow Western Athletic Conference teams to make redeye flights out after the games. Last year’s UH games averaged 3 hours, 21 minutes.
Meanwhile, except for season tickets in premium zones, many prices will remain at pricing levels that have not increased in seven years, UH said.
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The exceptions are areas that require premium seat contributions above the face value of season tickets, which will rise by $10-30 depending upon location. About 28,500 seats in 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium require premium seat donations and 80 percent of the premium may be tax deductible, UH said.
Individual game tickets will remain at previous price levels, except for the Colorado, Fresno State and Brigham Young games, which will carry a $4-10 surcharge, as was the case with last year’s game against USC.
"We’re very very concerned that the cost of supporting UH and coming to our events remains affordable," Donovan said. "We’re trying really hard to to keep prices stable and, in some cases, have reduced prices for tickets and (in arena sports) concessions."