Holiday Bowl Ticket Sales Meet Expectations

Holiday Bowl fans are being advised to carpool and arrive at least two hours before today’s 5 p.m. kickoff.

The 34th annual game, featuring the California Golden Bears and Texas Longhorns, has already sold 57,000 tickets.

“The ticket sales are where we expected them to be,” said Bruce Binkowski of the San Diego Bowl Association. “We're hoping to approach 60,000 when all is said and done.”

Parking is limited at the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl. With 14,000 spaces for 66,000 seats at Snapdragon by Qualcomm Stadium, the parking lot is expected to be full one to two hours before today’s game. The parking lot opens 8 a.m. 

Attendance topped 60,000 for five years in a row, from 2003 to 2007 and
again in 2009. Last year, for a match between Nebraska and Washington, the
crowd count dipped to 57,921, the lowest since 57,118 showed up in 1999.

Cal and Texas were each given an allotment of 11,000 tickets.

Binkowski said fans of the Bay Area school, known as UC Berkeley outside
of its athletic endeavors, bought most of their tickets. Texas supporters
purchased about half of theirs and are donating the rest to the Marine Corps,
Navy, YMCA and Star/PAL, he said.

With fuel prices relatively high, Binowski said he understood that the
costs of driving to a game added to the overall price. City officials urge
locals to take trolleys and buses to games, and use the shuttles that serve
Qualcomm.

The following areas also can be used for event parking, and will serve as overflow lots in the event the Snapdragon Stadium lot fills up:

San Diego State University: From I-8, exit College Avenue and go south. Paid visitor parking is available in designated campus lots. Parking rates vary by location. Take the San Diego Trolley from the SDSU Transit Center to access the Stadium.

Mission City Corporate Center (2365 Northside Drive, adjacent to the stadium): Take Friars Road west to Northside Drive. Parking is $30.

Marriott Mission Valley: Take Friars Rd. and exit Qualcomm Way to Rio San Diego Dr. Parking is $15. Take the San Diego Trolley to access the Stadium from the Rio Vista Station.

Town and Country Hotel: Continue on Friars Rd. West past Fashion Valley Mall and exit Fashion Valley Rd. Parking is $15. Take the San Diego Trolley from the Fashion Valley Station to access the Stadium.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting Ticketmaster.com. 

–  Taken from City News Service and a press release from the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl