The Red and Black

Issue date: 6/18/09 Section: Opinions

Media Credit: WAITES LASETER Football tickets will be loaded on IDs.

Staying skeptical

Last fall's complaints of waiting in line at Stegeman Coliseum for home game tickets will never be heard again. The University is implementing a new system for distributing football tickets. Rather than stand in the heat for what feels like an eternity, the tickets you receive will be loaded on to your ID card to be scanned before entering Sanford Stadium. This system is a big change for the University and it comes complete with a myriad of pros and cons.

Pros:

1.You cannot lose your ticket. If you misplace your ID, you can purchase another one and your tickets will be reloaded onto it.

2.With the elimination of scalping home game tickets, there is a chance more students will be able to receive full packages.

3. If you are lucky enough to secure one of the donated student tickets, you get to go for free.

4. If the visiting team does not use all of its allotted tickets, they will be available for students to purchase for $45. However, students will have to sit in the visitor's section.

Cons:

1. You absolutely must bring your ID card to the game. If you forget it, you won't get in.

2. Since the student section is now first-come first-seated arriving early is necessary to escape sitting in the nosebleed sections.

3. If you are unable to go to a game that you've been awarded a ticket for, you can choose to put that ticket into a pool to be given out for free. You will have paid $8 for someone else to cheer on the Bulldogs.

4. You will no longer be able to bring friends from visiting schools to games as there will be no way to buy tickets for them. (This could be considered a pro as we weren't supposed to do this in the first place.)

5.Getting into the stadium will take even longer as each student will have to have their ID scanned.

The long and short of it is this: don't bother finding a parking space if you didn't bring your ID, get there early enough to have a decent seat, and visiting friends won't be able to sneak in using scalped student tickets anymore.

Eliminating student scalping does seem to be the University's main goal behind this change. However they have not ruled out students selling their ID's, or at least renting them out for game day, something administrators said is and always has been against University policy.

Students who are awarded away game packages will still have to stand in line at Stegeman to pick them up.

Though it is great that the University is aiming to streamline the process of ticket distribution, The Red & Black editorial board is doubtful they will witness success, at least not for a few seasons. Hopefully the kinks will be worked out soon. Yet realistically, we expect this change will be met with confusion, resentment, and - in a few cases - acceptance.

So we'll keep our fingers crossed in hopes that this new way of distributing tickets works out in the end, while still reserving the right to remain skeptical.

-Megan Otto for the editorial board.

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