November 4, 2004
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Athletics Director
With the football team’s victory over Vanderbilt last Saturday, our football program reached a significant milestone. For only the second time in the storied history of LSU football, the Tigers are going to a post-season bowl game for five years in a row.
That achievement underscores the fact that we are enjoying one of the most prolific eras in the history of LSU football. With one national championship and two SEC titles in the last three years, with attendance at an all-time high and stadium improvements in the works, these are good times for Tiger football.
The heartbeat of LSU’s success is the support of its fans. For decades, the rest of college football has looked upon the Tiger football following with envy. LSU fans have supported their team in great numbers, resulting in one of the country’s largest stadiums.
But a more recent phenomenon has been LSU fan support for road and bowl games. At one time, LSU was perceived to have fans who did not follow their team on the road. We didn’t sell all of our allotted road game tickets, and bowl organizers were doubtful about the willingness of LSU fans to fill their stadiums.
But all of that has changed, and our road following is one of the real strengths of this program. You make a difference with the tickets you buy and the enthusiasm you show at our post-season events.
We need your help to continue this tremendous streak of fan support so, as Coach Saban says, we can be a dominant program on the field and in the stands. This week we began taking orders for tickets to our bowl game. Season ticket holders will soon receive their order forms for the bowl game, or they can go online at www.LSUsports.net.
BOWL TICKET DISTRIBUTION
We believe we have made great strides in meeting the needs of our fans who order bowl tickets, and I want to take this opportunity to repeat our process for distribution of tickets.
At this time we don’t know what’s in store for the Tigers in the post-season, but to expedite your ticketing needs, we are asking you to submit your requests by November 22. You can order tickets to any bowl game in which the Tigers are eligible to play, and your credit card will be charged only after LSU’s bowl berth has been announced.
Initially, we are placing no limits on individual game ticket orders. Please be advised, however, that if the demand for tickets exceeds the supply available to LSU, a priority system will be used.
Tickets for any post-season games involving LSU will be allocated first to players, coaches, LSU students, LSU Athletic Department staff and University official party. Next, the Tiger Athletic Foundation receives an allocation to distribute to their membership based upon the TAF Priority Point System. Remember, for a TAF member to receive tickets, he or she must be a season ticket holder.
The next allocation of tickets goes to season ticket holders who currently are not members of the Tiger Athletic Foundation and/or TAF members who are football season ticket holders who did not receive tickets through the TAF allotment.
The number of ticket requests from season ticket holders will be measured against the number of ticket requests to determine if any limits must be imposed. We will make every effort to accommodate as many of our fans as possible.
A lottery for tickets will be held ONLY if there are more ticket requests than there are tickets available.
Again this year, we will use an e-mail notification system to keep you abreast of our ticket situation, so please fill in your preferred e-mail address in the space provided on the order form. We appreciate your continued support of the Tigers, and we look forward to seeing you at our post-season activities.
BASKETBALL SEASON
The LSU Lady Tiger basketball team opens its season by hosting the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, November 11-12. You will see some of the best women’s basketball teams in the country as Maine, Virginia and Arizona State come to Baton Rouge to challenge our Final Four Lady Tigers. This tournament is not part of the season ticket package and tickets can be purchased for only $25 for all four games.
The LSU men’s basketball team also opens with a tournament, the Louisiana Classic, November 19 and 21, at the Maravich Center featuring Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulane. Tickets are only $15 per day. With LSU playing Ole Miss in football on Saturday, November 20, it’s sure to be a great weekend of Tiger Athletics.
All tickets are available at www.LSUsports.net, by phone at (225) 578-2184, or in person at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office.
We welcome your comments, so write to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. Although we cannot promise a response to every e-mail we receive, please be assured that every letter will be read. Thank you for your continued support of Tiger Athletics.