Should it be easier for students to attend football games?

[18IsTheMan]

At many schools, most larger P4 schools I imagine, there are ticket lotteries. Just heard about one person I know whose kid is at a P4 school as an undergraduate. Entered the ticket lottery and got a ticket for one home game. OSU has an enrollment around 67.000 but allotted 500 student tickets for the national title game (0.7%) of the student body. I suppose there's no way to fix the situation since revenue is king. To be fair, students have played a role in schools cutting the # of student tickets with some schools having a high no-show rate for games.

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

Where are going to put 67,000 students? I understand the lottery angle.

 

[will110]

I got a ticket at USC for every game when I was a student. I can't speak for other schools, but if you want to attend USC games you can get a ticket. Just go to other sporting events to build up your loyalty points.

As far as championship games go, I'd argue that season ticket holders and those who have invested financially in the success of a program over the years should get priority. Should there be more than 500 student tickets available? Yeah, probably so. But it's not a home game, so the teams playing aren't going to have near the ticket allotment they'd normally have.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I got a ticket at USC for every game when I was a student. I can't speak for other schools, but if you want to attend USC games you can get a ticket. Just go to other sporting events to build up your loyalty points.

As far as championship games go, I'd argue that season ticket holders and those who have invested financially in the success of a program over the years should get priority. Should there be more than 500 student tickets available? Yeah, probably so. But it's not a home game, so the teams playing aren't going to have near the ticket allotment they'd normally have.

When did you attend?

 

[18IsTheMan]

Where are going to put 67,000 students? I understand the lottery angle.

Well, of course nobody ever has or ever would argue that you should have 67,000 student tickets.

 

[Lakemurraycock]

My daughter graduated last year from USC. She did not have a problem getting tickets to every home game. She did work the system by attending other sports to get points. Way back in the 80s when I attended I attended all the games. Some away games did require us sleeping in line at the coliseum. When I was a sophomore I ran for student government and got on the athletic committee. Worked well for tickets especially when I made it to chair of the committee. Student tickets worked differently then. Frats and sorority had block seating. Student government had 2 rows on the 50. So I could turn in my buddies IDs for those seats. Most in student government were in frats or sorority so low demand.

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

Well, of course nobody ever has or ever would argue that you should have 67,000 student tickets.

Of course. I understand the lottery bit. Never attended Carolina so don't know, does Carolina have a lottery for football games or is demand being met? At least for the first half?

 

[18IsTheMan]

Of course. I understand the lottery bit. Never attended Carolina so don't know, does Carolina have a lottery for football games or is demand being met? At least for the first half?

I do not know. I just know from some larger schools that it’s becoming extremely difficult for students to actually get tickets to games. USC is not that large of a school so it may not be that much of a problem.

of course, I understand the simple economics that the people who fund the thing through donations and ticket prices should get priority as well.

 

[will110]

When did you attend?

2013-2019

 

[will110]

Of course. I understand the lottery bit. Never attended Carolina so don't know, does Carolina have a lottery for football games or is demand being met? At least for the first half?

There's no lottery at USC. Students request tickets, then tickets are assigned based on a loyalty point system. Loyalty points are earned by attending sporting events, with a percentage of points earned each year rolling over to the next.

If you want football tickets as a student, go to volleyball, soccer, and other games. It's actually a really good system.

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

There's no lottery at USC. Students request tickets, then tickets are assigned based on a loyalty point system. Loyalty points are earned by attending sporting events, with a percentage of points earned each year rolling over to the next.

If you want football tickets as a student, go to volleyball, soccer, and other games. It's actually a really good system.

That answers that. Thanks!

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

I do not know. I just know from some larger schools that it’s becoming extremely difficult for students to actually get tickets to games. USC is not that large of a school so it may not be that much of a problem.

of course, I understand the simple economics that the people who fund the thing through donations and ticket prices should get priority as well.

But of course.

 

[Uscg1984]

When I was in law school, I never had any trouble getting tickets. If I remember correctly, there was a lottery for the Clemson game, but I and everybody I knew was able to get one.

I don't remember a "loyalty system" for those who went to sporting events, but I suppose that's a good idea.

Wasn't there recently a thread about Carolina adopting a $500 per semester athletic fee for every student. If a student can't opt out, then it sure seems they are entitled to _some_ tickets.

 

[will110]

When I was in law school, I never had any trouble getting tickets. If I remember correctly, there was a lottery for the Clemson game, but I and everybody I knew was able to get one.

I don't remember a "loyalty system" for those who went to sporting events, but I suppose that's a good idea.

Wasn't there recently a thread about Carolina adopting a $500 per semester athletic fee for every student. If a student can't opt out, then it sure seems they are entitled to _some_ tickets.

When were you in law school? The loyalty points system's been a thing since at least 2013, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't brand new then.

 

[jchild76]

Not really on topic so my apologies but if any parents/fans are looking for a place to stay for football weekends below is a house on Lake Wateree that will hold multiple families. It is 45 minutes to the stadium but great place to hang in the fall if not into hotels.

https://www.vrbo.com/1576403?dateless=true

 

[Uscg1984]

When were you in law school? The loyalty points system's been a thing since at least 2013, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't brand new then.

Back in the stone age. Mid/late 90s.

 

[PeeCock78]

I was there from 1974 - 1978. Ticket priority was based on the last number of your Social Security number. Example: For the first game, on a designated day, those with SS#s ending in zero or one had first pick-up between the hours of 8 and 10AM. SS #s ending in two or three picked up between 10AM and noon, etc. For the second game, it would rotate down and those with SS #s ending in two or three had first pick-up, and so on. So for a game like Clemson, if you had one of the late pick-ups, chances are there would be no tickets available. Ticket pick-ups were done by presenting your University ID card and what at that time was referred to as a “fee receipt” which showed that you had paid all of your fees and tuition for the semester. A late pick up could be circumvented by using someone’s fee receipt who wasn’t going to go to the game and had an early pick-up. They never cared that the name on the ID didn’t match with the fee receipt because they checked off the name on the receipt to prevent multiple pick ups.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

There's no lottery at USC. Students request tickets, then tickets are assigned based on a loyalty point system. Loyalty points are earned by attending sporting events, with a percentage of points earned each year rolling over to the next.

If you want football tickets as a student, go to volleyball, soccer, and other games. It's actually a really good system.

It is a great system. It also boosts attendance at smaller sports like soccer.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

USC has done really well at giving students tickets. The student section at Williams Brice is a lot bigger than it was pre 2009 (including 2 sections in the East upper deck).

It’s also common for them to add sections for basketball when the game isn’t sold out but the student ticket demands exceed the regular allotment.

Honestly I was most impressed in 2017 when men’s basketball played the first round of the NCAA tournament in Greenville. The school was only given 400 tickets but they still gave 10 percent of them to students.