UCF officials pleased with progress

The Knights' season ticket sales are up by nearly 2,600, adding $800,000 in revenue.

Take a glance around the UCF athletics department this summer, and it's easy to notice an avalanche of happenings.

It started with the long-awaited groundbreaking of a new on-campus football stadium and the announcement of its christening with a game against Texas in 2007. The hiring of former Orange Bowl chief Keith Tribble as athletic director quickly followed. Finally, football Coach George O'Leary signed a 10-year contract extension.

But the one thing that may delight UCF officials the most might be the one thing its football supporters won't fully appreciate until this fall. With just under 21/2 months to go before kicking off its 2006 season, UCF has added 2,581 new season-ticket holders, Assistant Athletic Director John Marini said.

In 2005, about 2,600 people had season tickets, accounting for about 10,000 seats. The new additions push the total number of seats accounted for by season-ticket holders to more than 11,000. And all of those new ticket-holders either already have paid or committed to pay for season tickets for '07, Marini said.UCF's total ticket revenue in 2005 was just over $1 million. Marini said that figure has risen to $1.8 million.

That is promising news for UCF as it prepares for its final season at the Citrus Bowl and works to draw a fan base to fill a new $50-million 45,000-seat stadium.

In January UCFAA took back control of the ticket office from Global Spectrum, a move that acknowledged some past shortcomings. Among them included the school struggling to get season tickets out on time in 2005.

To combat that mishap, UCF announced a partnership with Tickermaster to help give fans more control of the ticket-buying process. Ticket buyers now have the flexibility to renew existing accounts, and fans also will be able to add more seats or become a season-ticket buyer for the first time. The new system also lets current ticket-holders pay invoices online and gives them the ability to print out their own tickets.

But all this doesn't come without a few changes.

While he contends it's "not necessarily a policy change," Tim Leonard, vice president for athletics development, confirmed that the Golden Knights Club will announce a new priority seating plan that will be sent out sometime after July 4. He said the plan has been in the works for a while and currently is being "fine-tuned." It also is being presented to several smaller groups within the UCF family to gather opinions.

"I wouldn't say it's anything dramatic," Leonard said. "It's pretty consistent with most schools out there. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel.

"Priority seating plans can be very confusing because you want to reward long-term donors. But people also need to be able to look at it and say, 'I want to sit here. What will it cost?'"

In other football news, UCF coaches received three oral commitments this week, running the number to four.Defensive tackle Patrick Hanse (6-3/260) of Miami Pace picked the Knights over Western Michigan and linebacker Jackie Carter (6-2/221) of Miami Coral Reef jumped at his first offer. Tight end Adam Nissley (6-6/230) of Cummings (Ga.) South Forsyth was the other commitment. (Via Orlando Sentinel)