It’s time to revise flawed ticket sales

Ector County Independent School District athletic officials probably deserve at least a 5-yard penalty for the way they lined up ticket sales for last Friday's big showdown between Permian and Odessa High football teams. They had too many fans jumping offside as a result of the way remaining seats were allocated after the bands, students and season ticket holders for both teams were accommodated.

So it seems like an ideal time for ECISD to rework the playbook for future events of this magnitude.

And this criticism has to be tempered by the fact that this particular game presented extenuating circumstances. Since the crosstown rivals both came into the contest undefeated, demand for the limited number of leftover seats was exceptionally high. Plus the athletic department doesn't have a lot of experience dealing with such situations. Athletic Director Leon Fuller is only in his second year at the helm and the man who had to face up to the heat when tickets ran out, Todd Vesely, just came on board as athletic coordinator.

Vesely, by all accounts, was right on top of things both Monday morning and Tuesday night. He helped keep the sales moving along and answered questions from the crowd. He remained on scene from start to finish both days.

So let's just skip harsh judgment and suggest that the process needs to be revamped.

For one thing, it's really not a good idea to make prospective ticket buyers jump through two hoops to get their valuable stadium spots. First they had to gather early Monday (some actually camped out overnight) just to get a number that would then allow them to line up again Tuesday evening to actually purchase the tickets.

Officials handed out at least 400 numbers, and most of those who had numbers were under the impression they would be guaranteed reserved stadium seating.

So imagine the confusion and, in some cases, anger when ECISD ran out of reserved seats and started issuing standing room only tickets for the end zone areas. A good number of fans who had a lot of time invested in the process at that point ended up leaving in disgust.

The math, of course, didn't add up. As it turned out, ECISD had only 2,905 actual seats left when sales started Tuesday. And one of the reasons the tickets ran out long before the line did was the fact that each number holder was allowed to purchase up to 10 tickets.

This created a bad situation because many with smaller numbers bought the maximum number even they didn't need them all. And some turned around and offered their extras to those still waiting in line. In a lot of cases, the tickets were sold for a premium, meaning some fans made a tidy profit for their efforts.

Athletic officials were in a bind for any number of reasons. The federally mandated modifications to Ratliff to improve handicap access caused the loss of about 1,600 seats. And because of high student demand, there just weren't that many tickets left over.

But ECISD can learn a lesson from this and design a new process that won't require fans to line up twice to try to get tickets. And individuals should be limited to a smaller maximum number of tickets, such as four. That would cut down on the "scalping" opportunities and provide more fans with a chance to have reserved seats.

A better method would take some anguish out of what otherwise proves to be a fun week each season.