After distributing nearly $2.5 million annually in complimentary tickets to its sporting events, the University of Hawaii athletic department said it will make "significant" changes in how they are issued this year, beginning with football.

"We’re looking at (restricting) who is going to be able to get those tickets this season and how many they can get," athletic director Ben Jay said.

Among those expected to be affected are UH administrators, employees and their family members deemed not performing "a legitimate state purpose." Allocations for members of the UH Board of Regents also would be reduced.

The crackdown comes in the wake of new, more stringent guidelines recently authored by the Hawaii State Ethics Commission and a UH system audit critical of the athletic program last fall.

The May 30 commission advisory says, "Tickets, entry passes and parking passes to UH athletic events are state assets, i.e. state property with a relatively substantial dollar value." It warned, "Distribution of complimentary tickets or passes to any person must serve a legitimate state purpose."

The audit said UH gave away 3,387 football season tickets for the 2012 fiscal year (2011 football season) valued at $851,910. The figure equates to about 16 percent of all football season tickets issued that season.

Overall, UH issued 8,570 free season tickets valued at $1,975,945 for six so-called admission sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, and baseball) and 22,893 individual game tickets appraised at $496,650 in fiscal 2012, the most recent year for which numbers are available. An independent auditor said the department had a $1.8 million deficit for the 2012 fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012.

"In a way, that’s lost revenue to us, but I don’t know (whether) this is going to spur people to buy tickets," Jay said.

The system audit said that 91 percent of the 322 complimentary tickets provided to UH athletic department employees for football in fiscal 2012 "were situated in sections that require (Aha­hui Koa Anue­nue booster club) contributions ranging from $110-$230 per ticket."

According to information obtained by the Star-Advertiser through the state’s open-records law, UH has issued as many as 4,476 complimentary tickets for a single football game. That was for the 2010 season opener against preseason No. 14 Southern California. The figure represented 10 percent of the total tickets issued for the game, which was the highest net revenue producer ($1,107,000) in school history.

Meanwhile, according to open-records information, 1,719 free tickets were issued for the 2012 season opener against Lamar, 1,285 received admission for the Nevada game and 1,160 for the New Mexico game. Those numbers included the 300 to 400 tickets UH was required to make available to the visiting teams under conference policy or game contracts.

UH officials said they are still implementing the changes and were not immediately able to say how many free tickets might be cut for the Aug. 29 opener against USC.

How UH distributes tickets has been an issue since 2008, when the department came under fire for its handling of Sugar Bowl tickets and travel. In response, UH has redrawn policies.

The latest one, in 2012, drew a sharp response from the ethics commission.

"The commission does not agree that all aspects of the UH ticket policies applicable to the regents, system administrators and the (Manoa) Chancellor, in their current form, comport with the State Ethics Code, and has recommended that the ticket policies be revised to be consistent with the State Ethics Code," the commission said.

The commission advisory concludes, "Tickets and passes to UH Manoa athletic events are state assets, under the jurisdiction and control of the Chancellor. The State Ethics Code prohibits the Chancellor and athletics department … from distributing these assets in a manner that creates unwarranted privileges or advantages or preferential treatment for the regents, system administrators, Chancellor or other UH personnel or anyone else."

The commission added, "Complimentary tickets should not be distributed routinely to community leaders or government officials (including legislators) by virtue of their positions."

The system audit classified the five main groups receiving complimentary tickets as corporate partners; auto dealerships; UH athletic department and booster club employees (and family members) and volunteers; regents and executive officials; and athletes and prospective recruits and their coaches.

In the past, visiting dignitaries, retired regents, executives and coaches, staffers at hotels, prospective donors, former players, businesses that provide summer jobs to UH athletes and Aloha Stadium employees have been among those permitted free tickets.

Corporate partners — businesses that contribute from $10,000 to more than $150,000 in goods and services for the athletic department annually — received graduated levels of tickets, and account for about 4,500 season tickets overall a year. Auto dealers, who provide courtesy cars for coaches under the "Car Coaches" program, total about 630 season tickets. They are not expected to have their numbers cut, officials said.

The Star-Advertiser is a diamond-level ($150,000-plus) corporate sponsor.

Under NCAA rules, UH athletes are allowed to receive four tickets for each home and away contest, and the school is allowed to make tickets available to prospective recruits and their coaches.

In addition, several coaches and administrators have ticket provisions in their contracts. For example, head football coach Norm Chow’s agreement says he may receive up to 30 season tickets and eight parking passes for football and up to eight seasons tickets for other UH sports. Jay’s contract specifies he will be "provided a minimum of 10 season tickets each year for all UH sports."

Policies have allowed regents to receive up to four tickets per athletic event and passes per event. But the ethics commission guidelines would now limit them to two. Regents would, however, be allowed to buy additional seats in areas reserved for them and not for sale to the general public.

UH vice presidents, associate vice presidents, senior campus administrators, faculty and personnel will be allowed one ticket when required for a state purpose and not be permitted to buy additional ones in special areas.

The system audit noted, "All UH athletics and Aha­hui Koa Anue­nue employees, including their respective partners/spouse and household dependents are eligible to receive complimentary season and or game tickets (home and away) upon request."

The internal audit has warned UH to "evaluate the propriety of certain UH employees receiving season tickets but not receiving a W-2 or Form 1099 noting additional compensation for the value of season tickets."