Early tickets are available but only if you join “The Rabbit Den” and for a cost.

By Shane Koob

Assistant Sports Editor

The SDSU student I.D. card is a ticket to many events on campus thanks to the activities fee paid by every student each semester. However, if a student wants to attend either the men’s or women’s basketball game against USD, it won’t work quite that way.

Students looking to support the Jacks against the in-state rival Coyotes will need to have a ticket in advance, instead of just showing up at the door like every other game.

With the USD men coming to Frost Arena for the first time since the 2003-04 season and the USD women since the 2009-10 season, limited tickets are available for the general student body. A way to secure a seat is by joining the official fan club of SDSU Athletics, the Rabbit Den, which was designed for SDSU students who are die-hard Jackrabbits fans.

The cost to join the club is $10, which includes a t-shirt and early entry to basketball games along with a shot to claim an early ticket to the big rivalry games, with the men’s game on Jan. 12 and the women’s game Jan. 16.

“There’s a lot of people who want to see this game that aren’t going to be able to go,” said senior Joey Hertz. “Die-hard SDSU fans who hate USD and want to see it, but they don’t have 10 extra bucks or don’t get a ticket before they’re gone.”

Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing and Promotions Justin Swanson said students do a great job supporting SDSU, but the system was set in place to ensure high student attendance.

“Basically we wanted to make sure that we have 6,000-plus screaming Jackrabbit fans in Frost Arena for those two games,” said Swanson. “We know what the student numbers will look like heading into to the game and also so we can allow a fair chance for any Jackrabbit fan around the community or state to purchase tickets as well.”

Joey Brown, another SDSU senior, thinks that all students should automatically get the first crack at getting seats for the big games.

“It should be just like any other game … I just think we pay enough, we shouldn’t have to pay another 10 bucks to get priority. We (students) should be first priority. I just think it’s ridiculous

Swanson said students create a positive atmosphere, so getting students to attend is important.

“They’re the ones who excite the rest of the crowd, so whatever we can do to get more Jackrabbit students there, it’s something that we’re really going to push,” Swanson said.

Instead of handing out hard copies of tickets, the ‘ticket’ to the USD game(s) will be loaded onto the student’s SDSU I.D. card which will be swiped at the gate, just like a normal game.

But time is running out to claim an early ticket. The Rabbit Den will have a table set up on Main Street of The Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Dec. 9. There, students can join the club and have their tickets loaded onto their I.D. cards.

Without joining the Rabbit Den, students wanting to attend one or both of the USD games will need to show up to Frost Arena on Dec. 10 during the basketball doubleheader to claim one of a limited number of tickets available to the general student body. Student ticket loading will begin at 4 p.m. on Dec. 10.