Greg Wilson
Students gather outside the PNC Arena student entrance in anticipation for the home game against UNC Chapel Hill.
If you have been to a game at the PNC Arena this year, you surely have dealt with the numerous long student lines. It seems to be a bigger issue this year than in years past, probably due to the improvement of the N.C. State men’s basketball team.
Before the Pack’s home game against Duke, students began to line up almost 12 hours before game time. The PNC staff normally prohibits students from lining up on the property prior to five hours before the game to prevent students from missing classes. With the game being on Saturday, that wasn’t a problem.
Two weeks ago against UNC-CH, students lined up along Trinity Road during the broadcast of College Gameday and then sprinted over to the Arena at 2 p.m. when they were allowed on the property. During the stampede a couple of students were trampled and the seating was determined by how fast you can run and not when you arrived at the arena.
I believe that this is a serious issue, and I have come up with an idea to fix it.
Reward students who attend most games and show up early, prevent mob scenes which can lead to unnecessary injury to students and eliminate cutting in line.
Bring back the group system with some modification. Student would create groups of between three and eight people.
The group leader would apply for a specific section in the arena, baseline, lower level, upper level and the tickets would be awarded to the entire group based on the cumulative loyalty points of everyone in the group. As part of this process the lottery system would try to rotate different groups through the baseline and lower level seats so that everyone gets to chance to be seated down there.
It would be nice if NCSU Athletics added more seating in the lower level to bring students closer to the court. Students would still print off a generic ticket and receive an actual ticket once inside the Arena. The generic ticket would be marked with the section that the group was assigned for that game.
At the Arena, there would be separate lines for each section and students will be directed to the correct lines by signs and the PNC staff. It still will be advantageous to arrive as early as you can to secure the best seats in your section and receive the extra loyalty point which will help you get the best seats possible at the next game.
I believe that the modified group system would improve the entire basketball game experience for students and give them more energy to cheer even louder during the games.