IS STOCKPILING DEFENSEMEN
The Philadelphia Sports Congress just announced that 1,500 standing-room tickets for the Army-Navy Game are going on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The ticket price is $45.
This 109th edition of the game and the 81st to be played in Philly is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6. Gametime is scheduled for noon at Lincoln Financial Field. The Navy march-on will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the Army march-on will follow at 10.
Tickets can be purchased at all Philadelphia-area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 215.336.2000. Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. There is a limit of six tickets per purchase.
Next year's game will be back in Philly, only on the second Saturday in December, following a recent announcement. Moving the game back a week will ensure that it doesn't conflict with any conference championships. Organizers are hopeful it will give the game more visibility. Indeed, it will become the final regular-season college football game.
That's the final year of the current contract. At some point discussions will start on 2010 and beyond. Organizers do know that the game will continue to be aired on CBS; the academies and the network recently extended their contract through 2018.
Paul Vigna still has the seat he wrestled out of the concrete at Connie Mack Stadium parked in the finished basement, a 1980 Phillies championship mirror hanging above it. Now, why he’s kept an autograph of former Flyer Bruce Gamble on a sheet of Hockey Hall of Fame paper is another story. A native of Philly who grew up in Lansdale, he’s an assistant sports editor at the Daily News in charge of special projects who has written two columns related to sports and consumers: View From the Seats and Savvy Consumer.
ABOUT THIS BLOG:
Athletic contests were, for a long time, simply fun and games. Nowadays they’re just a small part of a sports entertainment industry that puts billions of dollars into play and a number of issues into motion. Moneyball indeed. You might be closer to the action than ever before, but that privilege comes at a price - and often it’s beyond what you can afford.
With that as the backdrop we’ll use this blog to dig out stories and swap advice about how the fan experience is changing and what it’s costing you now and in the future. Some of it will educate, some will let you vent. And in a sports panel format, it should allow for a consensus of opinion that can carry some weight.
