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Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:24 pm EST

Be it ever so humble, at least 116 people are buying tickets to the Humanitarian Bowl

By Matt Hinton

Quite a few folks around the 'sphere -- Deadspin, FanHouse, even the sports blog of the Chicago Sun-Times -- have had a good time with a TV news fluff story from last Monday that reported a whopping 24 tickets sold to the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise:

As of Monday afternoon the University of Maryland says it's sold about 16 tickets to the game. The University of Nevada says it's sold 8 so far.

That was a week ago. And as much fun as it is to imagine two 7-5 teams traveling hundreds of miles from home to play their hearts out on freezing blue turf in a completely empty stadium save a few of their parents two days before New Year's, Nevada assistant athletic director Chad Hartley assured me via e-mail today that the numbers aren't quite as dire as all that:

We’ve sold about 100 tickets so far, but that number and the news report you’ve linked are misleading. The schools playing in the game, Nevada and Maryland, only received the $50 seats to sell to fans. Ticket prices for the game range from $18 to $150 but only the $50 seats are available through the schools. To get tickets in the other price ranges, you have to buy tickets directly from the bowl game or via www.idahotickets.com. The vast majority of our fans going to the game have gone that route, to get the cheaper tickets (or the better seats).

While he wouldn't provide an exact number, Maryland media guy Shawn Nestor wrote that, although Maryland "realize(s) the ticket sales numbers won't be quite as high due to the proximity of the bowl and the state of the current economy" -- ah, the economy; what malady can't it explain? -- he'll be very anxious to compare the Terps' eventual turnout with that of other ACC teams playing in Boise in December over the past five years. The team is excited about the trip!

So there you go: Even if it doesn't match the announced 27,000 for last year's Fresno State-Georgia Tech tilt, the Humanitarian Bowl can expect at least a couple hundred people on Dec. 30. And then the ACC will never have to worry about filling this slot again.

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11 Comments

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  1. SnowedIn'Bama
    1. Posted by SnowedIn'Bama Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:01 pm EDT

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    This is embarrassing for all of college football. But especially the teams, and the players. I hope it's only the economy, 'cause otherwise the alumni of the schools should be ashamed.
  2. JP Girouard
    2. Posted by JP Girouard Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:37 pm EDT

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    Seriously, though, is there a real need for the Humanitarian Bowl anymore? We've got plenty of other non-descript, slightly quirky bowls in odd destinations (New Mexico! Toronto!) to take its place.
    It was a good run, though.
  3. lee
    3. Posted by lee Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:00 pm EDT

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    Which conversation is more likely to occur in a household with disposable income?
    Person A: Let's go to Boise, Idaho, at the end of December!
    Person B: Splendid idea!
    or
    Person A: Let's not go to Boise, Idaho, at the end of December!
    Person B: Splendid idea!
  4. willwc
    4. Posted by willwc Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:48 pm EDT

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    Let me take a look at this from the Maryland perspective. At rough glance, one round-trip ticket from the DC area to Boise will run roughly 700 bucks. Factor in a night or two of a hotel room and a game ticket, and that's easily a thousand bucks you'd be dropping just to see the game. In Idaho. Right after Christmas (and any associated costs of . To see your relatively non-descript 7-5 ACC team. To see them play another relatively non-descript 7-5 WAC team.
    My question to SnowdIn (and anyone who feels the same): why should alumni be ashamed? Should it be a requirement of team fanhood to be willing to drop almost a thousand dollars per person to see an entirely meaningless exhibition game between two 7-5 teams in a remote, cold climate? Suffering economy or no, that's a tough sell for any but the highest income fans. It certainly seems like much more an indictment of how flawed the bowl system is than anything else.
  5. Danny R
    5. Posted by Danny R Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:02 pm EDT

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    Seeing the blue field up close is well worth the 18 dollars
  6. Chris
    6. Posted by Chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    Disagree. The blue field almost blinds me on TV; in person it may well be fatal.
  7. pharpe
    7. Posted by pharpe Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:26 pm EDT

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    having grown up in maryland ,i can tell you that most people in that state don't give a crap about um football. it's pathetic but it is.what it is. when i moved to baton rouge to attend lsu i was amazed at how much better the fans were. i can't imagine, even in a down year, not selling out a bowl game.
  8. DawgFAN#1
    8. Posted by DawgFAN#1 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:20 pm EDT

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    But will they sell more tickets than the ACC Championship game? It looks like a close race to the finish.
  9. Kim Number 2
    9. Posted by Kim Number 2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:41 pm EDT

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    Does the Humanitarian Bowl ever sell out when Boise State isn't in it?
  10. Mark Potter
    10. Posted by Mark Potter Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:27 pm EDT

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    The H-Bowl almost always comes close to selling out. Boise has great sports fans. According to KTVB, around 18k tickets have been sold so far, with two weeks to go (the stadium seats 30k). To be honest, the H-Bowl is fun to attend. The games are usually close and one can walk a short distance down to the nice bar district following the game. Plus, you never know what you'll get during the game: Freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, or the occasional sunny 50-degree weather. And as much as I hate Nevada and their little troll coach, Chris Ault, I, like most everybody else who attends, will become Wolfpack fans for the game.
  11. JROCK # 22
    11. Posted by JROCK # 22 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

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    LMAO @ "Wolfpack fans".
    - Go Terps!

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