Contact your state legislators, they might have an extra one for you..... From the T-P: State legislators get sweet ticket deal Each has shot to buy 6 Sugar Bowl seats Tuesday December 09, 2003 By Robert Travis Scott Capital bureau BATON ROUGE -- As LSU fans scramble for scarce tickets to the Jan. 4 Nokia Sugar Bowl, state lawmakers can keep their cool. They'll have a much easier time getting into the college football championship game: Louisiana's 144-member Legislature will get the option to buy at least six tickets each. The Sugar Bowl sells four tickets to each lawmaker at the face value of $150 each. Plus, LSU sets aside two tickets for each lawmaker to buy at the same price, said Dan Radakovich, senior associate athletic director. This has been LSU's policy for the past several bowl games, he said. Corporate bowl sponsors will get tickets that they may provide to lawmakers for the game, which will pit LSU against the University of Oklahoma. Sen. Ken Hollis, R-Metairie, said that by Monday afternoon people were already calling him looking for tickets. So far he has spent $600 on four tickets from the Sugar Bowl and was waiting to hear from LSU about its ticket policy. Hollis said he expects to attend the game, along with his wife, a son and a son-in-law. All Sugar Bowl seats are valued at $150 except suites, which are $250 per seat. The Sugar Bowl is the only game in the Bowl Championship Series that relies on state financing, said Jeff Hundley, associate executive director of the Sugar Bowl. The state cash keeps the Sugar Bowl competitive with other bowl cities that have bigger bases of corporate sponsorship, he said. Through the budget of the Department of Economic Development, the state gave the Sugar Bowl just under $1.1 million this year, as it has for the past nine years. Hundley said he hopes lawmakers will take advantage of their tickets to invite people who can help the state generate economic development. "It's certainly a good platform for the state," Hundley said. Hundley said the Sugar Bowl does not allot tickets to U.S. House and Senate members, "but we do what we can to accommodate them." Sugar Bowl officials keep track of all tickets and that all are paid for, he said. Under a lease agreement with the Superdome, the governor controls two box suites at the Dome, Gov. Foster's chief of staff, Andy Kopplin, said, and the competition for the approximately 60 tickets for the seats in the suites will be fierce. Kopplin said that in the next few days he and Foster will go over the list of invitees and discuss how the bowl tickets will be used. Kopplin said some of the tickets probably will go to corporate executives who are considering moving their operations to Louisiana or expanding existing operations, or as part of a lobbying effort to keep them from downsizing or moving to other states. For the Final Four men's college basketball tournament at the Superdome last spring, Kopplin said the state "invited a number of site-selection" officials with corporations to pitch them on the virtues of doing business in the state. Secretary of Economic Development Don Hutchinson "has put in a request for all he can get. We are trying to use them for economic development purposes," Kopplin said of tickets. Hutchinson said his agency does not have a suite but will try to prevail upon the governor's office and companies with suites to entertain corporate executives and site-selection consultants. Kopplin said a national collegiate football championship game at the Dome, especially one featuring LSU, gives the state a chance to "show off the Superdome, the flagship university's football team and our state." Kopplin said it is possible Foster will consult with Gov.-elect Kathleen Blanco to see if she needs tickets and possibly allocate some to her. Blanco transition spokesman Bob Mann said Blanco, who is lieutenant governor until Jan. 12, does not have control of a suite but may talk to Foster about using some of his. Hundley said Monday afternoon that he had not yet heard from anyone on Blanco's team who is seeking tickets. Kopplin did not say if Foster would attend the game. "The governor doesn't like crowds," he said. . . . . . . . Staff writers Laura Maggi and Ed Anderson contributed to this story. Robert Travis Scott can be reached at [email protected] or (225) 342-4197. :dis:
I've been told that bigeasy.com may have more tickets available on Monday. It's a $400 party-package with no hotel. Just a rumor. Check it out and good luck.
Doesn't this sound like Public Corruption to anyone else? You have two bodies that go to the Legislature for funding. One is a private organization (Sugar Bowl). Yet, they give the Legislature FIRST SHOT at purchasing PRIME seats (I've seen where they sit) to a BIG TIME event like this? Is this a LEGALIZED BUYOFF??? Rafeal Goyaneche (sp?) - WHERE ARE YOU???
Calm down. Ever heard of not biting the hand that feeds you. The Sugar Bowl gets $1.1M each year from the State for Economic Development. If 6 tickets per legislature is the trade off for economic development then that is a small price to pay. (Granted there hasn't been much under Foster, but...) I am not discussing politics or making this a political thread. That is all.
I have no problem with the Sugar Bowl selling tickets to lawmakers ... the Sugar Bowl gets help from the state. I have major problems with LSU selling tickets to lawmakers ... our athletic dept gets ZERO help from the state.
Lawmakers get 2 season tickets from LSU so... Another question: Does LSU (athletic dept. or not) get help from the state? Damnit, I said I didn't want to discuss politics.
Yes, academics receive state funds .. and when our debate team is in the national finals, our lawmakers should get first shot at tickets! Otherwise, sell those Sugar Bowl tickets to deserving season ticketholders...
