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December 8, 2006 > Opinion > Subsidize Bowl tickets

Subsidize Bowl tickets

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

For the first time in more than 40 years, Rice football is going to a bowl game. And for the first time in our memory, students lent their support to the team in impressive numbers throughout the year. The Rice Athletic Department could return that support by helping to cover the $40 cost of tickets to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Dec. 22.

Subsidizing tickets is not something new to Athletics. Tickets to this year’s Rice vs. Texas game at Reliant Stadium, a $52 face value, were provided free to Rice students. And the year before, when the game was played in Austin, the tickets were reduced to $20 for students. There is certainly precedent for subsidized tickets to offsite sporting events, and given the rarity of an Owl bowl appearance, Athletics should help cover the price of tickets to the New Orleans Bowl.

While $40 may not seem like a hefty sum in comparison to traveling expenses and lodging costs, it would be nice to have some leftover cash for the victory party on Bourbon Street. Besides, students have stood alongside the Owls through this roller coaster year, and getting a quarter back — or fifty percent back — on their tickets would bolster fans through the finish.

We constantly hear that fan support can make or break a game. Well, Rice Athletics, send a message to fans that you want them at the Superdome cheering their hearts out, and subsidize tickets.

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