One of the hot topics among LSU fans this week, in addition to the sweltering weather, has been the number of tickets allotted to the school for Saturday's huge game with Texas in Austin.
When the original contract for the home-and-home series was signed back in 2014, the visiting team — LSU in 2019, Texas in 2020 — was supposed to receive 5,000 tickets.
But, according to the contract obtained by The Advocate, the agreement was amended in Dec. 2018 by then-LSU athletic director Joe Alleva and Texas A.D. Chris Del Conte to reduce the ticket allocation to 3,000 each.
When LSU quarterback Joe Burrow committed to Ohio State, he never expected to one day play against Tom Herman, the man who recruited him there, in a game of such importance.
Of course, the demand for tickets is much greater — partly because the flagship schools from bordering states haven't met in the regular season since 1954. Also, LSU is ranked sixth and Texas ninth for their early showdown.
While Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium's official capacity is listed at 100,119, UT broke ground in May on a $175 million renovation/expansion of the south end zone.
That, UT senior associate athletic director John Bianco wrote in a text to The Advocate, called for the elimination of some seats for the 2019 and '20 seasons while the project is ongoing.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger recognized the name K'Lavon Chaisson.
"As a result, we reached an agreement with LSU to reduce the ticket allotment for the visiting school to 3,000 for this year's game in Austin as well as next season's matchup in Baton Rouge," Bianco said.
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Fans are also upset also about LSU's entire allotment being in the upper deck, but executive deputy A.D. Verge Ausberry, who negotiated the original contract, said this week that UT fans will all be in the upper deck at Tiger Stadium for the Sept. 12, 2020 contest.
The contract that was amended last fall also called for an increase in the payouts to each team because fewer tickets are available.
LSU will be paid $1.5 million instead of $500,000 for this game; Texas will receive the same amount in 2020.
Tickets on secondary markets such as StubHub and Vivid Seats were selling for at least $300-plus per ticket.