More than half those requesting Rose Bowl tickets are out of luck

IOWA CITY — Start checking your inbox to see if there's a Rose Bowl ticket coming your way.

On Monday, officials with the University of Iowa Athletics Department began sending email notifications to the fans who were approved to get tickets through the department to the New Year's Day matchup in Pasadena between Iowa and Stanford.

With 22,000 tickets available through the department but 54,381 requests, there is a huge chunk of Hawkeye fans who won't get any.

A point system for distributing tickets, in place for years, rewards fans for the length of time they've held season tickets, their level of giving to UI athletics and whether they are alumni or letterwinners. Those with more points get higher priority and are eligible for more tickets. Top- tier members — Kinnick Gold and Kinnick Society members — can get up to eight tickets.

Iowa's sports information director Steve Roe said in an email Monday that about 27,500 of the requests were made by season ticket holders or I-Club members.

A week ago, less than 24 hours after Iowa's place in the Rose Bowl was announced, officials with the UI Alumni Association said they already sold all available travel packages. The association's land-and-air bowl package — for roughly $3,900 — includes a charter flight, four nights in a top-end hotel, a ticket to the game and travel between the airport, hotel and stadium.

The organizations expects to send between 1,700 and 2,000 people to Pasadena on travel packages.