Advance ticket sales for the 2008 Texas Bowl are approaching 50,000, it was announced on Wednedsay. With the announcement of the teams still more than a week away, over 25,000 tickets have been sold to the Houston community. The 2008 Texas Bowl will be played Tuesday, Dec. 30, at Reliant Stadium.
Texas Bowl ticket sales are ahead of last year's pace at this point. Total paid attendance for the 2007 game between the University of Houston and TCU was 62,097.
"We are thrilled with the way ticket sales have gone so far," Texas Bowl manager Heather Houston said. "One of our main goals is to create an entertaining and engaging experience for the fans that keeps them coming back year after year, and this is an indication that we're on the right track."
Tickets went on sale to the general public on Nov. 8 following an exclusive pre-sale window for those who bought tickets to the 2007 Texas Bowl. Tickets, which start at just $15, may be purchased online at TicketMaster.com, on the phone at 832-667-2390 or in person at the Reliant Stadium box office inside Budweiser Plaza. Game tickets will also grant fans admittance to TexFest, a Texas-sized pregame party featuring a number of well-known local and national Texas music artists as well as "team spirit walks" when the teams arrive.
The Texas Bowl is partnered with the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA. The game will be televised live nationally on NFL Network for the third consecutive year. The game will also be broadcast nationally by Westwood One radio and can be heard locally on KTRH 740 AM.
The inaugural Texas Bowl was played on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006, at Reliant Stadium. Rutgers defeated Kansas State, 37-10, before a crowd of 52,210, the largest crowd to witness a bowl game in Houston not involving a Texas team since 1972. Last year, TCU topped Houston 20-13 in front of the third-largest crowd ever to see a college bowl game in Houston.
