Game, flight tickets for KU in short supply

By Eric Weslander     Mar 12, 2007

If you’re hoping to fly to Chicago this week to watch Kansas University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, you’d better be willing to leave at mid-week.

KU doesn’t open play until Friday evening. But as of this morning, almost all flights from Kansas City to Chicago on Thursday and Friday were booked. Between United, American and Southwest Airlines, only one departing flight was listed as still available this morning for those two days: a Thursday morning flight on Southwest.

Wednesday flights are still available.

“I think because it’s spring break, it’s a huge problem,” said Marcia West, a travel consultant with Carlson Wagonlit travel. “So many things are already booked.”

Also, a sales representative on KU’s ticket line, 1-800-34HAWKS, said this morning that all of the 550 tickets allotted to KU for the Chicago venue already had been claimed. He suggested going online to www.unitedcenter.com and getting a printed application.

Jim Bare, the director of ticket operations for the United Center, said this afternoon that there are “several hundred” tickets still available through the center’s box office. To order, fans must print out a form through the United Center’s web site and fax it to the box office.

“Looking at how many we sold today, if that pace continues tomorrow, we would probably be out by the middle of Wednesday,” he said. “They’d be pushing their luck a little bit if they waited until Wednesday.”

Asked about the quality of the seats, Bare said, “They’re in the building.”

“They’re all upper-level…They’re among the top rows,” he said.

Meanwhile, plenty of tickets are selling online through secondary-market web sites, such as razorgator.com, which had one set of tickets selling for $864.00 apiece.

The tickets for the games have been on sale for more than a year. All the 21,000 seats in the United Center initially sold for the same price, but sellers are now marking up their tickets based on the perceived quality of the seats.

Bare said he had no idea how many seats had found their way to third-party sellers.

“Whatever it is, it’s higher than I want it to be,” he said.

“The NCAA tries to lessen the secondary market, but obviously as you can see, there are those who are not true fans,” Bare said. “People that follow Kansas basketball are strong fans. I think they should have a chance to buy the tickets and see the game and not have to compete with people” who are trying to make money off the tickets.

Each ticket costs $225, plus an $11 service charge and $3 fee, and is good for the first- and second-round games. The limit is eight tickets per order.

The KU Alumni Association will be hosting pep rallies and pregame parties at the tournament. Final plans had not been announced by Monday morning.

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