Alabama football reciprocates, will put Texas fans, band in upper deck at Bryant-Denny
Texas isn't in the SEC just yet, which means the SEC's regulation for tickets for visitors doesn't apply for the Alabama football matchup vs. the Longhorns this week at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
So, the Crimson Tide doesn't have to meet the SEC requirement of at least 2,000 visiting tickets located in the lower level of the stadium. And Alabama won't. All 5,000 visitor tickets, which include seats for the band, will be in the upper deck.
"We are able to reciprocate a similar seating arrangement to what we had last year in Austin," Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne told The Tuscaloosa News.
The No. 3 Crimson Tide (1-0) will play host to No. 12 Texas (1-0) on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).
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Alabama chose not to send the 400-member Million Dollar Band to Austin "due to the seating location and configuration of the visiting institution's ticket allotment at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium," a statement from Alabama read in fall of 2022.
Texas will be sending a smaller version of the Longhorn Band similar to other out-of-state trips in the past but will not have a halftime performance, a Texas athletics spokesperson told The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The contract Alabama and Texas signed in 2018 for the game in Tuscaloosa said the visiting team will be allotted "4,500 to buy tickets and 500 comps for sale to its followers (including bands)." It does not specify where the seats for those tickets need to be.
The contract signed for the game in Austin also stated the visiting team would be entitled to receive 500 complimentary tickets and could request up to 4,500 additional tickets on consignment.
"The visiting institution band seats, if needed, must come from the visiting institution's ticket allotment," the Texas contract states. "The host institution will provide information regarding the standard location of seats for a visiting institution's band members."
The contract for the game in Austin did not specify where the visiting tickets must be.
Texas offering only upper deck seats to Alabama's band was in tune with what it has done in the past; for example, LSU's band had to sit high up for a game in Austin.