Sign of the economic times: ACC tourney tickets available for sale for 1st time in 40 yrs

[marmar]

from the News & Observer (NC):


ACC tickets for sale
Extra ones may be sold to public

Ken Tysiac and A.J. Carr - Staff Writers


Fans may get a rare chance to buy ACC Tournament ticket books as officials are considering holding the first public sale since 1966, ACC associate commissioner Karl Hicks confirmed Monday.

For more than 40 years, only donors at ACC schools have been able to purchase tickets to the tournament. Hicks, who directs the ACC's men's basketball operations, said the "perfect storm" of holding the tournament in its largest venue during a recession has some schools holding unsold tickets.

The tournament is scheduled to tip off March 12 and run through March 15 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. The dome has been configured for 36,000 seats in a slightly smaller set-up -- 4,083 fewer than its biggest crowd in 2001 -- to help ensure that spectators have a good view of the game.

But some of the league's 12 schools have been unable to sell their allotments of 2,600 tickets.

Hicks said the ACC is redistributing unsold tickets to schools whose demand exceeds the number of tickets they've been allotted. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/1408301.html