The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/15/08
So you want to watch Georgia and Arkansas play today for the SEC tournament championship?
You'd better have an in with one of the schools — or a chair in front of a television.
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Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum seats 9,191, but the SEC plans to let far fewer people in the doors for today's 3:30 p.m. game. Each participating school got about 400 seats for Saturday's sessions, and those seats were intended mostly for players' and coaches' families and athletics department personnel.
"We'll probably do a few more [tickets for the final] because we only have two teams left," SEC executive associate commissioner Mark Womack said. "It could be 800-1,000 or so. The intent is not general public sale of the tickets."
Georgia athletics director Damon Evans knows he'll have more fans wanting to see today's game than tickets to distribute. He said his hands are tied.
"We need to abide by what the SEC allows," Evans said after Georgia's semifinal victory over Mississippi State.
The problem is that the SEC already has sold more tickets to the Georgia Dome than it has seats at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the tournament moved after wind damaged the Dome.
What do you do if you have SEC tournament tickets but can't qualify for one of those seats? Hold onto your tickets until the SEC decides on a refund policy. Despite reports that the league would issue refunds, Womack said no decision had been reached.
Will people get their money back, and if so, would refunds cover people who held tickets for the second quarterfinal session, half of which was played at the Georgia Dome? There were a lot of questions but no answers.
"It's too early to say," Womack said when pressed about how and if the league would compensate fans. "That's a discussion we'll have."



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