Freedom Bowl Gives Small Boost to SDSU Budget : Finances: Payout would have been larger had the Aztecs made the Holiday Bowl.

He knows the figures. He has thought about them. He has told himself he will forget about them.

San Diego State’s 52-52 tie with Brigham Young--and failure to win the Western Athletic Conference championship--meant the difference between the Freedom Bowl and the Holiday Bowl for the Aztecs. And by the time all of the money is divvied up between WAC members, Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director, figures the school will make between $325,000 and $350,000 less than it would have made from the Holiday Bowl.

Still, for a program used to swimming in red ink, Miller will take it.

“All of our debt is paid off and we should have a modest reserve going into next year,” Miller said.

SDSU should receive about $650,000 for its participation in the Freedom Bowl onc. 30. By the time all expenses are paid and the money is shared with the WAC, Aztec officials have budgeted for a surplus of about $150,000.

Jim Herrick, SDSU associate athletic director for business affairs, said the Aztecs should realize that surplus if they sell 7,000 of their allotment of 11,827 Freedom Bowl tickets. By late Thursday afternoon, according to ticket manager Vickie Larson, the Aztecs had sold about 6,000 tickets.

SDSU officials already have ideas regarding how they would like to spend any Freedom Bowl leftovers.

“We have to improve the physical plant, we have to improve our reserves and we have to improve our endowments for scholarships,” Miller said. “All are in the mix.”

Miller’s long-range plans at SDSU include bringing four facilities to a Division I level:

* A baseball stadium.

* A track/soccer stadium.

* A tennis stadium.

* A softball complex.

Although he declined to say what would be first priority, Miller has talked about a tennis complex for years.

One of the biggest problems in selling Freedom Bowl tickets, though, is that an area supermarket chain is selling them on a two-for-one basis for $15. SDSU and the Freedom Bowl are selling them for $28 each. Miller has addressed the problem with both the Freedom Bowl and with the NCAA. The Aztecs think they should get credit with some of the tickets the supermarket sells in San Diego County.

“Our feeling is, (the Freedom Bowl) is cannibalizing its own marketplace, and it’s unfair,” Herrick said. “But in their defense, I’m sure they concocted the deal with (the supermarket) long before they anticipated hurting one of the teams in their own marketplace.”

But since the amount of money they make is in part directly related to how many tickets they sell, Aztec officials are keeping the heat on. Herrick said they normally give away about 3,000 complimentary tickets for each home game. For the Freedom Bowl, though, he said that has been limited to between 700 and 800.

Even SDSU Coach Al Luginbill has not found the complimentary supply limitless. He paid for 32 bowl tickets the other day.