Washington State fans who also are members of the Cougar Athletic Fund have a limited time to reserve the best seats possible out of WSU's allotment of tickets to the 2015 Sun Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes -- only up until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
Tickets from WSU's allotment will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday morning.
WSU has been given 6,000 tickets to sell, and they are priced as follows:
Here's a look at our seats for the Sun Bowl. CAF members/ FB Season Ticket Holders buy here: https://t.co/FdeIdvdNFM pic.twitter.com/tJsT2HNxgw
— WSU Cougar Tickets (@WSUCougarTix) December 7, 2015
Tuesday evening will mark the end of the "presale" of the tickets -- which has been going on since WSU became bowl eligible -- in which seats will be distributed based on standing within the CAF (donors receive ranking points based on the size of their gifts to the athletic department).
If 6,000 tickets to sell sounds like a lot, especially for a game that's in the morning on the day after Christmas in a location that's tough for most WSU fans to get to ... it is. If you fly on Christmas morning at 5 a.m. and come back on Dec. 29, Expedia says you can currently get a $650 round trip -- with one stop -- from SeaTac. Yuck.
For that reason, many of you aren't going to the game, and that means WSU is probably going to have a tough time selling all those tickets. And those tickets that are unsold will come directly out of WSU's roughly $2 million payout for the game, which is used to cover the school's expenses. (Any leftover money goes into the conference's pool for redistribution to all member institutions; schools often run into the red for these lower-tier bowls, however.)
Beyond the financial penalty of unsold tickets, WSU's perception as a fanbase that travels well will take a hit -- something that could come into play next season, when the team is hopefully up for a bowl bid. This is how WSU (supposedly) ended up in serious consideration for the Holiday Bowl, which ended up choosing USC.
If you're not going to be able to make it to the game but you want to help out your alma mater, here's how you can do that:
Use the promo code HONOR to purchase tickets that will be donated back to the military for the Sun Bowl. https://t.co/WP9Wh6xQEu #GoCougs
— WSU Cougar Tickets (@WSUCougarTix) December 7, 2015
We're guessing it's part of this program, in which tickets are distributed to active duty soldiers at Fort Bliss, which is a large army installation.
It might be tempting to purchase one of those cheap end zone tickets directly from the Sun Bowl, or to buy some super cheap tickets on the secondary market, given the comparatively high prices being offered through official WSU channels. While it'll save you a few bucks, it definitely won't help your favorite school.