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About 5,000 tickets to general public quickly scooped up

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
By Ted Lewis

Approximately 5,000 tickets available to the general public were snapped up Tuesday, officially making the Sugar Bowl, which will be played on New Year's Day, a sellout.

The BCS championship game Jan. 7, also to be played at the Superdome, had already been declared a sellout without any public sale.

"This is a real testament to the support our game has," Sugar Bowl Chief Executive Officer Paul Hoolahan said. "We knew that these tickets would be valuable, but we really didn't anticipate them going in one day."

The Sugar Bowl allots 35,000 tickets to the participating teams, with most of the others accounted for by those owned by season ticket holders, plus local and national sponsors.

That left the 5,000 tickets, all in the terrace section and priced at $95 for those who had indicated an interest in purchasing them during the past two years.

Hoolahan said the ticket allotment for the championship game is 15,000 per school, with the rest divvied up between sponsors and Destination Management, the bowl's official tour operator.

This will be the first time that the Sugar Bowl has played host to its regular game and the championship game.

Sugar Bowl President Ray Jeandron said that the quick sellout was a step toward showing New Orleans' ability to stage both games.

"Our committee is ready and eager to host these two great games," he said. "The fans have shown their confidence in our committee and our city in selling out both games, and we look forward to having a real championship experience."

NOLA.com: Everything New Orleans

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