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With 20,000 Tickets Unsold, ACC Championship Could Be City's Last

POSTED: Tuesday, November 27, 2007

For the third year in a row, the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship game will be played in Jacksonville, with Boston College taking on Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Four days before the game, 20,000 tickets remain unsold, which has city leaders concerned about the future of hosting the game.

"It's really predicated on how many people are in the stadium for us," said Rick Catlett, president of the Gator Bowl Association, which handles arrangements for the ACC Championship game.

Catlett said the game is not only a fun event for the city, fans traveling to the city spend lots of money at hotels, restaurants, shops and gas stations.

"That money is premium revenue, and it's new money coming into our community," Catlett told Channel 4's Ashley Townsend.

"We'll be going this year," said Ellen Powell, a devoted ACC fan who would like to see the game stay in Jacksonville.

"Jacksonville needs it, and I love it," Powell said.

The first game in Jacksonville -- FSU vs. Virginia Tech -- sold out. Last year's matchup between Wake Forrest and Georgia Tech, did not.

The Gator Bowl Association is seeking to renew their contract with the ACC and keep the championship game in Jacksonville, but at least two other cities -- Tampa and Charleston -- have shown interest in hosting the game.

Catlett said that if this year's game is not a sell-out, the chances of it returning next year are slim.

"I don't think there's any doubt that it doesn't stay here," Catlett said. "It'll go to another city."
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