by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The Gator Bowl Association board left its sales goal far behind and it appears that about 20,000 tickets have been sold locally for the New Year’s Day college football bowl game at Alltel Stadium.
The 114-member board hit 134 percent of its goal, according to the latest figures. The final reporting was Tuesday night at the board’s monthly meeting at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort.
“It’s been a steady increase over the last four years,” said GBA President Rick Catlett. “We’re had a good grassroots effort by the board, good weather for the games and a successful run of good opponents.”
The sales drive was headed by chairman-elect Bob Smith of Cendant Mortgage, who said the board’s growth also is a factor. Board members must commit to selling a preset goal of either tickets or sponsorships, usually $3,000 per person.
“We started with 114 board members and now we have 150,” said Smith. “We added a few to the Chairman’s Club [those who make a larger commitment.] There were more ticket packages available. But, the main reason is that everyone worked hard.”
GBA Chairman Bob White of Compass Bank lauded the group for “doing a great collective job and keeping the game strong for the community.”
The meeting ended board sales and any tickets now must either be purchased through Ticketmaster or from one of the competing teams.
The teams — the GBA gets the No. 2 team from the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences — will be chosen in early December. Each team has a commitment to sell 12,500; thus, if no more tickets are sold, the game is guaranteed a sale of 45,000.
Alltel Stadium will be set up for about 73,000 on New Year’s Day and the last three years have been near sellouts due to avid fans from the competing teams.