So you want those BCS and Super Bowl tickets?
Jim Williams, The Examiner
Nov 11, 2006 5:00 AM (3 hours ago)
Current rank: # 9 of 5,154 articles

OK you are now convinced that Maryland is going to make it to a BCS bowl or that the Ravens will be in the Super Bowl and you want tickets. But how do you get them without selling the farm?

Well the Ticket Reserve is a fascinating new concept that assures that the fans can buy tickets at face value for investing some cash in their favorite team’s chances of making it to a big time bowl game.

It works like the stock exchange in many ways the better the team the higher the buy in for instance right a Maryland fan could buy for $10 per ticket a FanForward pass assuring you the chance to purchase up to eight tickets at face value should Maryland make a BCS Bowl game, if they don’t you are out your $10 per ticket investment. Right now the Ravens are at $100 per ticket and growing fast.

Here is the key; Let's say that Maryland wins out and the Ravens are a shoe-in for the playoffs. Well, just like the stock market the buy in goes up the better the team plays.

For example a fan of Ohio State bought the FanForward at the opening price of $156. The team's victory over Texas pushed prices over $600 and the most recent check of the site saw the buy in at $595.

For the fan who bought the right to purchase the tickets at $156 over face value he can either choose to do that or make a profit like the stock market and sale his FanFoward to someone else on the web site. It is all perfectly legal and is very much fan controlled.

“The goal is to allow Joe Fan better access to prominent sporting events, said Andy Leach who is the company's executive vice president.”The average fan gets locked out of these games," Leach said. "Ticket prices just keep going higher and higher as ticket brokers buy up the seats."

TicketReseve.com has agreements with all the BCS Bowls and a number of other major non BCS Bowls to serve as the official online sales arm of the games.

“The online market's users qualify as your typical fan looking for a seat at the big game, Leach said. “A very small percentage seems to participate more for investment purposes.”

Well worth watching…

CSTV will air the Notre Dame at Air Force game Saturday at 4pm and Comcast in the entire area will have the game on digital cable for free on channel 274.

CSTV also will debut "From Ballfields to Battlefields: Stories From Iraq," a compelling one-hour show hosted by acclaimed actor Matthew Modine. It's about college athletes whose lives and athletic careers will forever be affected because of combat injuries. The show premieres Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Much of the interviews were shot at Walter Reed Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital and it worth watching.

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. E-mail him at jwilliamsexaminer@gmail.com.