Computer Will Decide Recipients of Superdome’s Final Four Tickets

A computer will choose at random the recipients of the 143,464 tickets already ordered for the 1987 NCAA Final Four at the Louisiana Superdome, which seats 62,000 for basketball, said a spokesman for the world’s biggest indoor arena.

About 20,000 of those seats are nine stories up and a block away from the court--roughly the same seating arrangement used the last time the Final Four was in the Superdome, said Bill Curl, marketing vice president for the firm that runs the Superdome.

There were 20,000 preferred seats at $50 each, another 20,000 for $35 each that are less desirable but still in the neighborhood, and 20,000 for $20 apiece that enable fans to be under the same roof with the game.

Patrons who wound up with the $20 “Distant Vision” seats for the 1982 Final Four here were warned twice that they were far off and high up. The top row of the “Distant Vision” section is 90 feet above the floor and more than 100 yards from the court.

“In the order forms for 1982, the people who drew the last 20,000 available tickets were given a second chance not to buy them, and more than 90% took advantage of the opportunity to buy their tickets. Even though they were twice warned, they decided to come,” said Curl.

“We had all of the ticket order forms organized into 18 file cabinets in alphabetical order. If a fan indicated he was dissatisfied, we could show him that he had been warned in advance--twice.

“We fielded eight complaints in the two days of the tournament.”

More than 41,000 order forms requesting 143,464 tickets were received by the NCAA. Most of the requests--133,018--were for the $50 tickets.