Would Utes Sell Out a Title Game?

With the Pac-10 ready to talk seriously about the coming Pac-12 and the divisional alignments, another subject is emerging: Where to stage the conference championship game.

Some of the sites that have been tossed around are San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix and the Bay Area. But one possibility is to have it at the campus of one of the teams.

The assumption is that a sellout is a must, and the only way to do that is to play it at someone’s home field.

Which raises the question of whether Rice-Eccles Stadium would sell out if the Utes played in such a game.

That’s not a guarantee.

It has taken the Utes a long time to get to the sellout stage. Even as recently as 2003, when Urban Meyer led the Utes to a 10-2 record and a conference title, they only averaged 41,478 – about 4,000 below capacity.

Granted, if the Utes were leading the Pac-10, there would be plenty of interest. But it’s debatable if 45,000 would pay to see a conference title game, especially if some were saving up to attend the bowl game. Tickets for a conference title game could be pricey. A lot of fans might afford regular season tickets and leave it at that.

The Pac-10 is a different thing than the WAC or MWC. A big stage brings more fans. You can tie to attendance to wins and losses at most schools, so a great year like that would almost certainly make a difference. But considering the fact Utah didn’t average a sellout until the last two years, you have to wonder. If basketball is any indicator, when the WAC tournament was in the Delta Center (now ESA), a lot of seats went unsold.