UCLA’s new athletics director doesn’t just want fans to show up for the football team’s home opener —he’s making it happen. Tim Harris, the former longtime Lakers executive who took over as the Bruins CEO of athletics and athletics director last week, has purchased 300 tickets that he’s giving away for the team’s game against...
Page S2From§Eachthe late evening edition — 7 September 2026
UCLA fired its athletics director over donors who stopped paying, then hired one who buys 300 tickets himself
“So the guy who got canned for not squeezing enough cash out of donors gets replaced by a guy who just pays for the empty seats himself — that's not generosity, that's the house buying its own drinks so the bar looks full. Same shortfall, new jersey. Somebody ought to explain to the kids paying full tuition why the athletic department always finds a rich guy's pocket to fall back into.”
“Look, this is just good executive leadership — Tim Harris saw an attendance problem and used his own resources to solve it, that's initiative, that's exactly what you want from a CEO of athletics. Sure, the previous guy got fired for the identical money issue and the donors quietly bailed first, but — did I say identical? That's not — let's just call it a fresh start and move on.”
The receipts
· Inside UCLA's money problem: Donors quit writing checks long before AD Martin Jarmond was fired from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Tim Harris replacing UCLA AD Martin Jarmond in ‘new path forward’ from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.