Communication breakdown

Thursday, October 11, 2007

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The e-mail from Ticketmaster said the USF-UCF football game this Saturday was canceled.

TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- All the hype about the USF football game this weekend against University of Central Florida (UCF) came to a screeching halt for about two hours Monday afternoon.

It had to do with an e-mail that should not have been sent.

The e-mail came from Ticketmaster customer service stating the game at Raymond James Stadium this Saturday had been postponed. The new date was to be announced.

For a student body experiencing football fever, the e-mail caused Assistant Athletic Director for communications Chris Freet to have a busy afternoon.

"I had phone calls from everybody - from fans all the way to the media and everybody in between," Freet said. "I feel sorry for our secretary at the front desk. She had a lot of phone calls and had no idea what was going on. It threw everybody for a loop."

Bogus E-mail

Turns out the e-mail to the Bulls was sent by a Ticketmaster representative by mistake. It was deemed a programming error.

Another e-mail was later sent clarifying the matter, saying the game is still on for Saturday at noon.

The Ticketmaster spokesperson said a limited number of ticket holders received the email. However, anyone who was a season ticket holder and a Ticketmaster customer was fair game.

The Bulls are ranked fifth in the nation after defeating Florida Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale this past Saturday.

Tickets are still being sold for the UCF game.