May 17, 2007

BERKELEY - California football fans have achieved another record, purchasing 30,000 Golden Bear season tickets in record time. Last season, Cal sold its 30,000th season ticket on July 15th, while that milestone for the 2007 season was passed this week. Season tickets remain available to the general public by visiting www.CalBears.com or by calling 1-800-GO-BEARS.

Earlier this year, California fans renewed 1,791 football season tickets on the first day they were available, exceeding the previous best opening day by 594 (50 percent increase).

Single-game tickets for 2007 California football games will be available as early as June 1 for various Golden Bear donor groups. The general public will have its first opportunity to purchase tickets on July 15.

The 2007 season features six home games at Memorial Stadium, including the season opener against Tennessee on Sept. 1 and a battle with Pac-10 rival USC on Nov. 10.

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.