On one hand University of Hawaii officials would do handstands around Varney Circle if the Aloha Stadium stands could be packed — or even three-quarters full — at every home game.
On the other it wants to have a steady stream of subscribers for its pay-per-view TV package and the lucrative rights fees it brings.
Balancing the two has annually been something of a Catch-22 for UH, and this year the situation is further complicated by the fact that both numbers waned last year.
Which is why UH and its cable outlets face the biggest challenge in the 12 years of offering a PPV package as they prepare to launch their 2013 sales campaigns.
Oceanic Time Warner Cable and Hawaiian Telcom are due to announce their lineups and PPV pricing shortly. Soon after, on July 8, UH is scheduled to begin its drive for new season ticket sales.
Football tickets and PPV rights fees are two of the athletic department’s prime sources of revenue. Combined they are worth more than $8 million — or about a fourth of the athletic department budget — in the best of years. Last year, however, was not among them, adding up to less than $6 million and much concern.
The combination of fewer dates (six) for football, which has been the backbone of the package, a lackluster schedule and a slow start leading to a 3-9 season contributed to the decline.
Turnstile and tickets distributed averages were the smallest since 1998. The number of season package PPV sales was said to have been the fewest since PPV was introduced in 2002, although Oceanic has declined to reveal or confirm numbers.
This year with a larger offering (seven games are expected to be made available), a more palatable lineup of opponents and expectations of an improved team, UH and cable officials say they are hopeful of significantly raising sales.
But raising one revenue stream without taking away from the other is the trick to this equation.
“We don’t want to end up competing against ourselves,” said Ben Jay, who tackles the task for the first time as UH athletic director. “That does us no good. We have to work that out.”
Oceanic, which plans to seek an extension of its agreement with UH when renewal talks open in November, says it is sensitive to the situation.
“Ben has some thoughts, and their wishes have to be taken into account,” said Dan Schmidt, Oceanic’s general manager and executive producer for UH sportscasts. “We’re trying to make it possible for the greatest number of people to enjoy UH football without making it such that there is nobody showing up at the stadium,” Schmidt said.
“So, we’re going to do this with some thought as to what works out best for everybody involved,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to be as considerate a partner as we possibly can and maximize (this) for both parties, as well as the fans.”
That could be an assignment every bit as challenging as what UH faces on the field.
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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
