SEC Tournament tickets among hottest in Nashville

By Chris Echegaray, The Tennessean

Most SEC schools sold all of their 2010 tournament tickets before the first tip-off.

But there are a few choice seats available - for a few thousand dollars.

As Thursday's games approach, fans who missed their chance to buy last year are at the mercy of private dealers working through Web sites. A book for the entire four-day tournament went on sale July 1 as low as $275. On Wednesday, a single upper-level seat for one game was going for $125 online.

And center court for the whole show? A cool $4,500.

It makes the couple hundred bucks that Kentucky fan Robyn Williams set aside for tickets seem paltry. So now she is going to her default strategy - she will get off work in Franklin on Thursday and drive to Bridgestone Arena to search for losing teams' fans. She hopes one of them will sell the rest of his book.

"I may have to wear an Arkansas or Auburn sweatshirt, and maybe someone will pity me," Williams said, only half in jest. "I'm a Kentucky fan from the womb. It's a birthright."

SEC fans learn the tough principle of supply and demand each spring. There are about 17,000 seats available in Nashville, fewer than some other SEC tournament sites. Each of the 12 schools could sell around 1,100 tickets apiece, leaving only a few thousand for the public.

The location presents other challenges for would-be ticket holders.

"The schools in closest proximity to Nashville have all had great seasons," said David Knight, an official in charge of tournament tickets. "I think SEC fans really enjoy coming to Nashville for the tournament."

Schools give season-ticket holders, donors, sponsors and alumni first crack, and offer them to students as well, SEC tournament director Craig Mattox said. "We don't dictate how the schools distribute them or sell them," he said. "It is a tight ticket to get."

Beware of counterfeits
Mattox warned that the tickets' popularity could make counterfeiting a problem. The real ticket has a seal that looks like a foil on the front.

The SEC allotted Vanderbilt University about 1,200 tournament tickets, said Brock Williams, Vanderbilt's associate director of student athletics. Those are long gone.

"The tickets are at a premium," he said. "I do know fans are creative, and people have bought from other schools."

At the University of Tennessee, the tickets went first to basketball season-ticket holders and athletics donors, said Mark Ingram, associate athletics director for development.

"We sold out our tournament tickets by tip-off of the first game,'' Ingram said. "When you beat Kentucky and Kansas, it spikes interest. We've had a steady stream of phone calls for tickets, and we continually have to say, 'I am sorry.' "

Tickets for the public sold out almost instantly.

Kentucky drives market
The successes of Vanderbilt and Tennessee are driving up the costs, but it's more about Kentucky, said Frank Senna, owner of ticket resale company 5 Star Ticket out of New York City.

After UCLA, Kentucky is the most popular team nationally for tickets. Senna said he gets his supply from alumni and others. He is selling the entire tournament book, with lower-level seats at center court, for $4,500.

"The SEC tournament, along with the Big East, is a hot ticket," Senna said. "There is a lot of hype with Kentucky. I have a lot of callers from their area code."

Wildcats fan Doug Spann said he posted an ad on Craigslist looking to buy tickets but couldn't find anything affordable.

His Plan B?

"I'll sit at home and watch it on TV," he said.