Final Edit with Pictures

Campus Migrates to Electronic Tickets
By Amanda Duval

ATHENS, Ga.— Whether the University of Georgia football team wins or loses in their first home game of the 2009 season against South Carolina, the true test is how effective the new student ticketing system will be.

For the first time, UGA will not issue paper tickets for the home games to university students. Instead, home tickets have been electronically downloaded onto the students’ UGA identification cards where they can easily be scanned or swiped at each gate.

The new system is a controversial issue for university students. For instance, now that paper tickets are a thing of the past, so too are seat numbers. Now the student section is general admission, which many worry could create a frenzy of students all fighting for the same seats.

“Since the student section is general admission, we’re encouraging folks to come early,” Tim Cearley, director of ticket operations for the University Athletic Association, said.

No longer will the upperclassmen have guaranteed seats in the lower student sections, but rather they will be competing against first year students for the best spots.There is still the same amount of student seats, 18,026, and in the same sections, but now many think that the majority of students will show up hours in advance to ensure that he or she does not have to sit in the upper sections of the stadium.

“I believe the new ticket process has both pros and cons,” Karli Figueroa, a senior advertising major, said. “On one hand I was extremely glad I did not have to wait in the long lines to obtain my tickets, but on the other hand, I do not feel that a freshman should get a better seat than me just because he or she got to the stadium first. I’ve put in my four years and now it’s my turn to get a good seat.”

UGA is not the only university to use the electronic ticket process. The University of Oregon has also implemented an electronic ticket process. However, students purchase their tickets the week before each game rather than buying a season package like UGA students.

“We use the electronic ticket process for all of our men’s sporting events,” said Alex Miller, an intern at the University of Oregon. “The electronic tickets have worked for the past two years so I don’t think we will ever go back to paper tickets.”

Another complaint some students have with the new process is what happens when students are unable to go to one of the games. According to Cearley, those unused tickets will be donated to a ticket bank. Students who did not receive tickets for that particular game can buy those tickets from the ticket bank. However, students who donated their tickets to the ticket bank will not be reimbursed the $8 of the ticket cost, Cearley said.

“I didn’t buy tickets simply because I could not sell them,” Catherine Williams, a junior dietetics major, said. “It is unfair to me if I can’t go to a game to have to donate my ticket and not get my money back. It’s just another way for the university to make more money off of us.”

Cearley anticipates that some students might try to sell their IDs.

“Selling an ID violates University policy. The student judiciary and other offices can be involved, so it’s not the brightest idea,” said Cearley.

Cearley noted that attendants checking tickets have been instructed to verify that the picture on the ID matches the person giving them the ID.

Even though there are many issues that have yet to be resolved in this new process, it will hopefully not deter any die hard Bulldog fans from showing their support at each and every game, rather, Cearley is optimistic that the new process will bring more fans out to cheer on their Dawgs.

“There’s going to be a big effort on our part to make this successful. We will learn a lot, but I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Cearley said.



A vacant Stegeman Coliseum is an unusual sight for students accustomed
to receiving their paper season football tickets. In years past, students have
waited in lines outside the Coliseum for hours to receive their tickets, but
since the University has changed to electronic tickets, the wait is over.
(Photo by Amanda Duval)



Edited by Erin Dilliard