Although the Univ. of Utah has reached the Final Four,
school AD Chris Hill said, "This event is not something we
look at as a pot of gold or money at the end. We think of
it as a pot of gold in publicity and fun." Preliminary
estimates suggest Utah and the 15 other schools in the
Western Athletic Conference will split about $1.6M or
roughly $100,000 each from the Final Four berth. Utah was
allotted about 3,500 tickets to sell, but the revenues go to
the NCAA. Hill: "Somebody offered us a scalper's $300,000
to buy 1,000 tickets, and we wouldn't let them do it. We
just can't do that" (Marjorie Cortez, DESERET NEWS, 3/24).
WHO'S GOT TICKETS? In San Antonio, reps for "several
celebrities," including George Clooney, Mario Lopez, Ethan
Hawke, Matthew McConaughey and Ron Howard, have called local
Final Four officials for tickets. Final Four Committee Dir
Sandra Lopez: "We don't get into who's who. We don't have
tickets" (Cindy Ramos, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/25).
GOING FOR BROKE: In San Antonio, Travis Poling reports
that the price of a Final Four ticket through a broker "is
up to $4,500 this week." The brokers say that they buy some
of their tickets from NCAA corporate sponsors, but "several"
sponsors denied any of their tickets were sold to brokers.
Sears spokesperson Lee Antonio: "We use up all our tickets,
and we have to go out and buy more" (EXPRESS-NEWS, 3/25).
