March 16, 2007

BERKELEY - The California football team will certainly be enjoying a home field advantage this season in Memorial Stadium thanks in large part to the record number of season ticket holder renewals that began in February, and now a new one day record of 2,857 tickets sold in the first day of sales to the general public on Thursday, as announced by the Cal athletics department.

The 2,857 tickets sold more than doubles last year's first day ticket sales of 1,123. Moreover since February 27, the department estimates that there is an average of 500 season ticket renewals per day.

For further information or to purchase season tickets, visit www.CalBears.com or call 1-800-GO-BEARS.

The Bears open the 2007 season on Sept. 1, hosting Tennessee in a rematch of last year's season-opener. Other games on the Cal home slate include USC, Arizona, Oregon State, Washington State and Louisiana Tech.

Since the arrival of Jeff Tedford, California's season-ticket count has been on a steady climb. The Bears sold 16,200 season passes in 2002, Tedford's first year. His second season resulted in sales of 22,500. In 2004, the number again jumped substantially, up to a then-school-record 34,100, but that record was short-lived as California set another mark with 40,134 season tickets sold in 2005. Then last season, the record fell yet again as the Bears upped their total to 40,262.

In addition to season-ticket records last year, the Golden Bears established a new record for average attendance with 64,318 fans per game. Including three sellouts in 2006, California had a total of 450,223 fans at seven home games. The previous record for the Bears was in 2004 when they averaged 64,019.