Plenty of seats – more than 24,000 – still remain for Florida Atlantic season opener
Plenty of seats – more than 24,000 – still remain for Florida Atlantic season opener against Wagner
by Tom D'Angelo
Judging by the tickets sales obtained by The Palm Beach Post, new FAU AD Pat Chun has a lot of work ahead.
As of late Friday FAU had sold 4,989 season tickets, which includes 1,636 distributed as part of sponsorship packages. An additional 770 single game tickets have been sold for Friday’s opener at FAU Stadium against Wagner.
All of which means more than 24,000 tickets remain for the first game in what FAU is hoping is a new (and improved) era for the football program. The numbers do not include tickets that have been claimed by the students.
Chun said the disappointing turnout he is sure to encounter Friday will not get him down. The reality is the Owls are coming off a 1-11 season, scheduled an unattractive FCS team to give them a better chance of winning and are competing against high school football’s opening night. In fact, the West Boca at Boca Raton game will be played across Glades Road from the FAU campus.
“Part of my job is to paint reality,” Chun said. “Expectations need to be realistic about what we’re going to draw. But this isn’t the end, this is just the beginning.
“Once we open those doors everyone is going to see first hand the great work Carl Pelini and his coaching staff and those (players) have done to change the tide of that football program.”
The 4,989 season tickets is a slight increase from the 4,633 sold last season.
Another loser in this financially is Pelini. Hopefully Pelini hadn’t spent the bonus that is tied to season tickets.
Pelini’s contract calls for an additional $100,000 if FAU sells 12,000 season tickets, another $50,000 if they reach 18,000 and a $50,000 more if they sell 24,000.
Safe to say Pelini’s won’t be seeing that money anytime soon, but with a base pay of $450,000 a year for five years, he should be set.
|