Even though the first home game is five months away, 25,000 fans, alumni and students are expected to watch football Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium, according to director of ticket operations Josh Berlo.
Kickoff for the 76th annual Blue-Gold Game is 1:35 p.m. local time and is preceded by a free interactive fan fest from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Joyce Center South parking lot.
Excitement for the game is evident through high demand of ticket sales. According to senior associate athletic director John Heisler, all special ticket packages were gone within a day.
One hundred fifty press box seats sold out in an hour Monday morning. By 1 p.m., 1,000 seats for a Saturday morning brunch with members of the team were all sold. Thursday morning, all 1,200 seats in the gold sections were gone.
However, general admission tickets are still on sale. Students just need to bring their ID to Gate E for free entrance.
"We'd love a great student turnout," Berlo said. "They make the atmosphere."
"The Blue-Gold game is a vehicle for alumni players to connect with the current team," Heisler said. He credited coach Charile Weis for getting Joe Montana, Joe Theisman, Tim Brown and Chris Zordich together to coach the spring game.
More than 100 other Irish football alumni are expected to be at the game. About fifty will be participating in a flag football game in the stadium at 10:30 a.m.
Once the costs are covered, all additional revenue goes toward the St. Joe Valley Alumni Club Scholarship Fund. The scholarship winners for the local alumni chapter will be announced at the game.
