Ute Sports

 Utah athletic director Chris Hill held a casual lunch gathering for some members of the media Tuesday to air his thoughts on several issues, there were a few things that came out of it that fans will be interested in knowing.

 Here are the highlights: 

 Hill is an advocate of conference expansion, with Boise State being discussed as a logical team. While some are worried the Broncos couldn't compete in sports other than football, Hill is of the mindset the other teams would rise to the quality of their competition.

 He is about as happy with the league's TV deal as fans are, which is to say not very happy, saying at one point he had both Comcast and DirecTV so he could watch games. To him, getting the games in HD is almost as important as getting the games on a variety of channels, but noted it costs about $30,000 more to broadcast a game in HD.

 Fans should be prepared to start paying more for football and gymnastics tickets because of rising costs for athletic departments. No increase is expected in men's basketball tickets because the demand isn't there, he said.

 Right now, midfield chair seats are $610 including the $400 required minimum donation. Hill said there is a need to raise those ticket prices, but is also mindful some seats need to remain at a lower cost for fans who have limited funds.

 Sticking with football, Hill said the success of the Utes has made it harder to find opponents and said the Utes were "lucky" to get a series with Pitt in 2010 and 2011. 

 He is considering looking at more 2-for-1 series in the future and more 1-shot games for basketball if the opponents are of high enough quality to warrant such a deal.

 He also mentioned the possible Florida-Utah matchup that ESPN looked into setting up didn't get very far. But if he truly is interested in some 2-for-1s, I wonder if the Gators would be among the big traditional powers to take that deal?

 Canceling the popular Fan Fest in August was a mistake and he is very committed to bringing it back next season.

 "I got too carried away with what it costs and just thought it was a way to save $20,000," he said.

 He knew it was a popular event with fans, but said he underestimated how much the student-athletes enjoyed it too.

 Speaking of saving and spending, Hill said he didn't know the Utes were putting a fence around the practice field until the day it was going up, explaining the money came out of a football fund that coach Kyle Whittingham can use at his discretion. 

 He said he doesn't like the fence but understands coaches are becoming more and more paranoid about limiting access.