KHON2
Local Sports
By Sam Spangler
October 13, 2021
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Do you have a golden ticket? The lucky few that do, are just 10 days away from entering the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa’s new football factory.
The kickoff at the new Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex with 1,000 fans in attendance will be a historic evening, but it will come with plenty of changes from a typical Rainbow Warrior football game.
Fans can park in the structure on UH’s lower campus and from there all that is needed to get inside is a phone, the LumiSight app for vaccine information, and a digital ticket.
“There’s going to be two tiers. We’re going to check the LumiSight first — verify that — and then they’ll come in with a digital ticket on their phone and then they’ll enter; for example, there’s gate two, there are three entrances there,” University of Hawaii Athletics Director David Matlin said.
From there, people can take a seat. At first, there will be no seat-back chairs or pads on the bleachers, but UH is working on having them for future games.
With only 1,000 fans allowed in-person, here is a list of who can receive tickets:
- Students
- Player guests
- Visiting team guests
- Corporate tickets
- Suites
- Season ticket holders
No tickets will be sold at the game.
“It’s pretty much a math equation, where you might have four here; two rows back four over you might have four more, so it’s kind of putting a puzzle to make it as distanced as you can,” Matlin said.
Aloha Stadium ran the game-day atmosphere and entertainment in the past. Now, UH is in control.
“Even just the music, everything is going to be programmed but you have to be agile to adjust. Frankly, I’m just fired up that we have the band here,” Matlin said.
The band will not count against attendance and neither will players, staff or the media. Those attending a UH game might want to eat before they head to the stadium. No concessions are allowed, and only bottled water purchased at the stadium can be consumed.
“Hopefully, as we go farther we’ll start opening up for concessions,” Matlin said.
Restrooms will consist of porta-potties, restrooms in the Ching Complex and Les Murakami Stadium. Attendees are allowed to bring in small clear bags.
Despite all of the COVID restrictions and safety stipulations, the UH athletic department will begin its recovery from over a year’s worth of lost ticket sales. Matlin said that UH led the Mountain West Conference schools in ticket revenue before the pandemic.
“It’s difficult right now, but we’ve been good stewards of what we had to try to make it as good a situation as possible, and now with things opening up, some revenues will start flowing in, and you do the best with what you have and then you make some challenging decisions,” Matlin explained.
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