Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Is It Basketball Season Yet? 14,000+ People Think So

Posted By on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:00 AM


Arizona's football team is off to its second straight 3-0 start, albeit against a lineup of opponents this year's Salpointe Catholic varsity team might contend with.

But even with that strong start that hasn't stopped the annual September ritual of UA sports fans eagerly anticipating the start of the men's basketball season. This year is no different, considering how quickly the Wildcats' instrasquad scrimmage has sold out.

That's right, all 14,545 seats in McKale Center have been sold for the Oct. 12 game, which is the unofficial start of five months' worth of hoops obsession in Southern Arizona. Granted, the tickets were only $8 for adults and $5 for kids, but that's pretty damn impressive.

Good news, though, for all you ticket-buying stragglers: There are still season tickets available, including ones in the "non-priority" areas (read: you can touch the McKale ceiling), for the low, low price of $421 apiece. There's also spots left in priority areas; that is, if you first donate at least $5,000 toward the school's latest capital improvement plan ... and that's before you pay the $421-$607 per-seat amount and the $100 to $1,500 "priority" surcharge.

(Hey, you want Arizona athletics to remain self-sufficient and not have to rely on funding that's controlled by our Legislature, right? Then pay up!)

For those a little less ... financially solvent, there's always the single-game route. Those tickets run between $21 and $130, depending on the location and opponent.

Meanwhile, it appears that PLENTY of seats remain for Arizona's remaining four football home games, considering the vast amounts of empty seats at Saturday's game. And for all you complainers that get mad at having games at 7:30 p.m. ... and then again when they're at 11 a.m. or 12:30 p.m., think about that when you fork over big bucks for hoops games that tip off at 8 p.m. On a weeknight.