Did Utah purposely shut down their online ticket office to prevent Alabama fans from getting Tickets?

by Jeremy Mauss on Dec 12, 2008 6:42 PM PST

I doubt that is the case, but today at 10 AM mountain time the Utah ticket office was selling Sugar Bowl tickets online, over the phone, and at the box office. However, early in the process the website crashed and a message was released that all tickets had to go through the box office in person or over the phone. Extra staff was added to cover the flood of calls or those who went to the box office in person.

I wonder if Utah delibrately shut down the website so that Alabama fans would have a tougher time getting the tickets allocated to the Utah fans. Anyone could call in for tickets, but unless you were a resourceful Alabama fan finding news could have been difficult. Now, I would hope that Utah would not pull a stunt like that to make harder for Alabama fans to get tickets, but I would not put it pass any fanbase to do so.

A few years ago in one of the NBA Western conference play off series between San Antonio and Dallas were playing, and the two cities are only a two to three hour car drive. When the games were in Dallas anyone who called or went online to buy tickets were unable to buy if their zipcode was in the greater San Antonio area, so there is precedent in trying to get the tickets for a certain team within the fan base.

Just a thought, but an interesting one.

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Comments

say they did do it on purpose, is that really so bad? Why are alabama fans buying the few tickets allocated to Utah? Their sheer proximity to the venue will give them a huge attendance advantage. Why can’t Utah protect the few tickets it has?

by bnel14 on Dec 12, 2008 10:33 PM PST reply actions

Maybe, but not for sure. Alabama fans besides wanting to be at the game, they want as few Utah fans as possible. I would feel more comfortable if Utah blocked zip codes in the state of Alabama.

by Jeremy on Dec 13, 2008 5:41 AM PST up reply actions

When I ordered tickets through Utah, I spoke to the ticket rep there and he said he’d rather have Alabama fans buy the tickets than for Utah to have to eat thousands or send them back. There’s no reason for Utah to crash their system to keep us from buying them.

There are still tickets available through Utah. See ya’ll in the Utah section. ROLL TIDE! Safe travels Utes!

by Tom on Dec 23, 2008 12:13 PM PST reply actions