A new ticketing system for Jackrabbit athletic events is drawing mixed reviews from students.
The athletic department recently sent an email to students that read, “All full-time SDSU students score free admission to every home, regular-season events. All you have to do? Claim your ticket by logging into your student account.”
Under the old system, students tapped their SDSU IDs on card readers and walked into events. They could decide just minutes before the game if they wanted to attend.
The new system requires students to do some planning because they have to reserve the tickets (which show up in their digital wallets) days before the game. For example, students could begin reserving their tickets for Saturday’s game against Mercyhurst this past Monday.
Emily Peters, a junior from Sauk Centre, Minnesota, said that the new system requires more “planning and thinking.”
“You no longer have the freedom to up and go to games with your friends because the tickets might be sold out,” Peters said. “You have to plan a week in advance, and with a group, that can be very difficult.”
Madison McCollum, a junior advertising major from Omaha, said it was difficult to help her friends figure out the full system.
“I personally think the ticketing system makes it difficult for people to figure out if they want to go to the game or not because it has to be done in advance and it makes less people come to games,” McCollum said.
Athletic Director Justin Sell talked about the new ticketing system at Monday’s Students’ Association meeting. The system has been contentious, and Sell admitted to “growing pains” that come with implementing a new system.
He’s optimistic the athletic department can turn things around for this week’s game that starts at 2 p.m.
“This week should go really well,” Sell said.
Sell said redemption rates for tickets at football games is around 70%.
“We need that way higher, or we need to come up with a system to turn tickets back.”
As long as there is room, students will be let in, Sell said.
“But when we call games a sellout, some people aren’t coming, because they think they can’t get in,” Sell said. “So there’s a couple things we still need to probably work through. But I think by and large, that system’s going to help us a lot.”
Jordon Boe, assistant athletic director of development, said that on average about 3,500 students are admitted to each football game. Officials expect the new ticketing system to process students into the stadium faster.
“We have the ability to have more scanners scanning students at one time than we had card readers,” Boe said. “So, the volume that we can move through that gate will increase.”
By Friday, Aug. 29, close to 3,000 students already had claimed their tickets for Saturday’s season opener against Sacramento State, Boe said. Final student attendance for the game was 3,297.
For that game, a line began to develop at the student gate by 4 p.m. The gates opened at 5 p.m., and at that time, there was hardly a line at all. Students could walk right into the game within a few minutes.
By 5:30 p.m., the line stretched back by the Wellness Center, but processing students through seemed to be happening smoothly.
Security procedures for checking bags, boots and hats did seem to add some time to the wait, but not significantly. Some fans reached out through social media to complain.
Kyla Andvik, a junior journalism major from Fargo, said she had no problem with the new system.
“I kind of like it. It makes the student section less crowded, and you have a spot to sit,” Andvik said.
“It was pretty easy. Claiming a ticket wasn’t hard,” said Blair Atteberry, a freshman animal science major from Barnesville, Minnesota.
