Price is up for a touchdown

Parents and students upset over a lack of tickets for the Edison High School versus Fountain Valley High School “Battle for the Bell” game got angrier when tickets showed up online.

The high school football game is a long-standing rivalry and regularly sells out, but now that both schools are 3-0 in the Sunset League, 8-0 overall, the rivalry has reached a new level. The tickets sold out in record time and then quickly showed up online for nearly five times the price, sources said.

“There has never been anything like this. We have always sold out but after a week’s time,” said John Elliott, Edison’s vice principal of athletics and activities. “We had no idea of the interest.”

The history of the Bell Game is varied, but goes back to 1969 and has taken on a life of its own, Elliott said. The schools compete yearly to keep the bell on their campuses. The schools themselves have a strong rivalry, partly because they are similar academically and athletically, Elliott said.

“It’s such a big rivalry. It goes back to the first year Edison opened,” said Greg Leonard, a Fountain Valley alumnus. “This year is really something special. That’s why it’s in such high demand.”

Tickets for the Bell Game sold out in only two hours after Edison opened sales to the public and in six hours at Fountain Valley. Edison had opened ticket sales up exclusively to students the day before. The tickets then turned up on Craigslist for as much as $55. The school sells adult tickets for $8. Officials said the tickets were sold on Craigslist by both parents and students. Both schools said it was unfortunate, but it isn’t illegal for someone to sell them there.

“We technically have no jurisdiction on Craigslist,” said Jessica Krimker, the Fountain Valley vice president of activities.

The schools can only take action if the tickets are being resold on campus, officials said.

“It’s truly unethical and very, very said,” Elliott said.

Elliott said he has had parents call him with problems after buying tickets from scalpers. Parents bought tickets on the Fountain Valley side and wanted to get them moved to the Edison side, or to exchange student tickets for adult tickets.

Tickets sold at each school are for exclusively that school’s side. Fountain Valley and Edison students are not allowed to mix during the game for security reasons.

After the first round of tickets sold so quickly for the Bell Game, the schools decided to move the game from Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium to Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium. The move allowed an additional 2,400 tickets to be sold.

For Leonard, who doesn’t have children currently at the school, but whose son played football and father coached at Fountain Valley, the only way he could get tickets is on Craigslist.

He bought two tickets online for $20 each and has another ad looking for two more tickets before the big game. Leonard said it’s not fair, but he agrees with Fountain Valley’s new ticket policy that allows students first dibs.

After what happened, the school reevaluated its ticket sales, Krimker said. Fountain Valley implemented strict ticket sales guidelines for the second round, which gives students first shot, starting with seniors. Parents are then allowed their chance, and today everyone is allowed to purchase tickets — if there are any left. As of press time, Fountain Valley still had tickets available.

“We’ve never sold out on the first day. We’ve never had to moderate it like this,” Krimker said.

Edison opened up additional ticket sales to exclusively students Tuesday and then to parents of current students Wednesday with a two-ticket limit. When tickets went on sale at 7 a.m. Wednesday, about 500 people were lined up hoping to get tickets, and they sold out.

“We had quite a line,” Elliott said.

Kimberly Bonham, the mother of an Edison varsity football player, said she got in line at 6 a.m. Bonham already had seven tickets from the first round of sales, but was short six tickets. Her family had already made arrangements to attend the game from out of town when she realized she couldn’t get the tickets she needed.

Bonham posted an ad on Craigslist offering to buy tickets for $20 each, but had two friends, who already had the tickets they needed, wait in line Wednesday. Bonham said she was appalled to see the tickets selling for so high online.

“I think it was really a wrong thing to do,” she said. “It was just the worst feeling to see them for $55.”

Despite the 2,400 additional tickets, the increased interest this year means not everyone will get to attend, said Elliott. He said despite the situation, people have generally been understanding.

“Emotions run high in this kind of game,” he said.