Talking Points: Coupons aid sellout

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The University of Oregon, in an effort to keep alive an 82-game streak of sellouts at Autzen Stadium, this week made available through Groupon.com about 3,000 unsold tickets for Saturday’s season opener against Arkansas State.

No doubt Duck haters will point to this as a sign that Ducks fans are spoiled front-runners. Others will complain that Oregon ripped off its season-ticket holders by selling discounted tickets at the last minute.

But, considering that this is the first of four consecutive Saturday home games for the Ducks, and that Arkansas State isn’t Kansas State (the team that backed out of this schedule spot), many a reasonable fan will spend the last three-day weekend of summer elsewhere, and catch the game on TV.

Also, don’t blame Oregon for trying to sell every ticket it can. That is better than asking a donor to purchase all those unsold seats just to keep some sellout streak alive.

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On the other end of the ticket spectrum, Portland State is giving away one free general admission ticket for Saturday’s game against Carroll College to any fan showing a ticket for the postponed Oregon State opener against Nicholls State. A good promotional move for a program that is hoping to make an imprint in the market and improve on the 7-4 record last season.

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Just in case you think some of us get our priorities out of whack during football season, we point you to Allen, Texas. This week the Dallas suburb opened a $60 millon stadium that seats 18,000 for its high school football team.

It includes a 38-foot HD video scoreboard. Because there’s nothing more fun than watching teenagers fumble in high definition.