Tickets to Georgetown-Florida on an aircraft carrier won’t be cheap
Unlike other games on naval ships that have been closed to non-military personnel, fans of Florida and Georgetown will be able to watch their teams square off in person Nov. 9 on an aircraft carrier stationed in Jacksonville.
That's the good news. The bad news is tickets won't come cheap.
Anyone who wants to attend the game will have to buy ticket packages that cost between $1,000 and $50,000 for the privilege. OnlyGators.com has the details on what each package includes.
The $1,000 package includes two tickets to the game and six tickets to the NFL game the night before between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts, four of which will be donated to military personnel.
The $50,000 sponsor's package enables a company to donate 240 tickets to the Jags-Colts game to military personnel. The company would have its logos placed on printed materials, TV ads and websites promoting the game and receive 50 passes and eight VIP parking passes to the basketball game and 20 VIP tickets to pregame hospitality and concerts.
There are also ticket packages priced at $2,500, $10,000 and $25,000, the more pricy of which are probably aimed more at companies or alumni clubs than at individual families.
[Related: Academic power Caltech runs afoul of NCAA for its class scheduling policy]
It's possible that Georgetown and Florida fans will be willing to pay exorbitant prices to support the military and have a one-time-only chance to see their teams play at sea, but the marketing strategy seems questionable.
Why tie ticket prices to the basketball game to the NFL game? Are Gators and Hoyas fans going to care enough about the rebuilding Colts or struggling Jaguars to pay four or five figures to see a basketball game?
One of the most memorable aspects of last year's Michigan State-North Carolina game aboard the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego was the all-military crowd waving American flags and clad in various uniforms.
Florida-Georgetown probably won't have quite that same atmosphere. Let's hope it doesn't have empty seats as well.
Fantasy advice from the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Minute:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Anthony Davis ready to fill Blake Griffin's role for Team USA in Olympics
• Tim Brown: Matt Kemp's return, trade talk bring sunshine to dour Dodgers
• Big Ten and Pac-12 end their scheduling collaboration before it begins
• Y! News: Watch as dog tries to bite oncoming traffic
