The Aspire Group Chair & CEO Bernie Mullin said the company "has no intention of walking away" from its five-year contract with the Univ. of Texas, even after UT AD Mike Perrin informed Aspire that the school intended to opt out of the deal, according to Brian Davis of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Aspire had handled season-ticket sales and customer service for UT. Mullin "never threatened specific legal action," but his intentions "were clear." It is "unclear why Perrin," who replaced former UT AD Steve Patterson last September, is "making this move at all." A source said, "There appears to be no plan as to what happens now." Davis notes a team of 32 Aspire employees "were still at work" yesterday and will "keep going for now." There had been "few complaints about the sales and service team." The vast majority of complaints "revolved around the actual ticket prices and a stiff resale policy -- two decisions made by Patterson." Mullin said that Aspire was "contractually required" to reach 90% of its annual sales goals each of the first two years of the contract. He added that Aspire’s sales team "crossed that threshold two months ago," and its director "had already been paid a sales bonus." Before Patterson arrived, Texas’ ticket operations were "spread across multiple areas of the athletic department." That led to "lax oversight and rampant abuses." The abuse was "so widespread, Texas officials refused to estimate how much money was lost over the years" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 6/29).
