Gazette, The (Colorado Springs) - Better sooner than later for buyers Tickets for AFA-Oklahoma will go

The person answering the phone in the Air Force ticket office pleasantly gave the warning. So did Air Force officials, who know they’re in for a frantic Tuesday.

The message: If fans want to buy their Air Force-Oklahoma football tickets Tuesday, come to the ticket office on the Cadet Field House concourse.

About 10,000 tickets will be on sale for the Air Force-Oklahoma game Sept. 1 (1:30 p.m.) at 52,480-seat Falcon Stadium. All other single-game football tickets will be available, too, but the one that’s been causing a stir since Air Force announced the agreement Feb. 15 to play Oklahoma was the ticket to see the defending national champion in Falcon Stadium.

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The ticket office opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“The phone lines are going to be jammed,” Air Force ticket manager Chris Peludat said.

Air Force athletic director Randy Spetman decided to put all 2001 home-game tickets at $25 tops, no matter the opponent. The highest- priced tickets last year for a home game were $25, with other games a few dollars less. End-zone tickets cost about $5 for a youth and $11 for an adult.

With a sellout almost assured, the ticket price could have been set higher. What’s $35 or $45 to see the defending national champion? A previous season’s title-holder has played only twice at Falcon Stadium. When Oklahoma goes to Nebraska this fall, the ticket cost will be $50.

“Colonel Spetman could have gouged for this Oklahoma game and he didn’t,” Peludat said.

Oklahoma fans quickly snatched up their 6,000-ticket allotment to the Air Force game. Some Oklahoma fans already bought Air Force season tickets to attend just the season opener. When Oklahoma officials asked for more single-game tickets, Air Force officials decided to allow them 1,500 more. That stopped the Oklahoma fans from buying prime seats in the season-ticket section that Air Force fans could purchase.

Air Force season-ticket holders can buy some single-game tickets before everyone else, too. That’s happened at a crisp rate, Peludat said.

The addition of Oklahoma to the 2001 home schedule has boosted Air Force’s season ticket sales by about 5 percent from the same date last year. That would mean about 24,000 - including about 4,000 cadets - this season.

So why only about 10,000 tickets available Tuesday to the Air Force-Oklahoma game? Take the 24,000 season tickets, the 7,500 tickets to Oklahoma fans, the cadets’ parents who will attend the game as part of Parents Weekend, the single-game tickets already purchased by season-ticket holders, the pool of reserve tickets for season-ticket buyers in the next two months and the total comes to more than 40,000.

This upcoming flurry comes in the midst of a ticket-plan revision that began a year ago. Air Force has ceased its All Sports Pass, a family of four’s ticket to any academy athletic event. Some longtime holders of the All Sports Pass will have to pay a higher price to attend Air Force games. Some are retired people on a fixed income. A few have complained.

“It was an inevitable decision,” Peludat said. “Football fuels the 26 other sports. With this, we have gone from about 300 people buying our end-zone season tickets last year to almost 900 this year.”

What had been an expenditure of as little as $90 for all sports now would go for about $190 for just football. The All Sports Pass was offered at $90 to $200, depending on a person’s military rank.

Air Force officials said they compared their season tickets with those of about 15 similar athletic departments, such as Colorado, Colorado State, Army, Navy, Toledo and Texas Tech. Air Force had the least expensive, usually by at least $100.

Brad DeAustin, Air Force senior associate athletic director, said his department was asked by officials in Washington to check the academy’s low ticket costs to see if there could be a better way to increase revenue.

“We’ve had some letters about the price increase,” he said. “Most people understand.”

Air Force also opened its Preferred Patron Program to all after previously allowing only military personnel. For a $30 annual fee, a member receives seating priority, discounts and other benefits on tickets and academy merchandise.

- Tim Mimick may be reached at 636-0365 or tmim@gazette.com