Students won’t have to alter their ticketing plans much as basketball season Thursday according to Director of Ticket Operations Brian Kelly who said the lottery system for basketball will work much the same as it did during football season.
As in year’s past, students will have a certain period of time to request tickets online followed by a time period to claim tickets they are awarded.
To request tickets or for more information, visit ticketreturn.com/ncsu.
“The system will be run as a lottery, but if more students request tickets than what we have available we will award tickets straight off loyalty points,” Kelly said. “Loyalty points are given based on seniority and can also be earned by students that swipe in 45 minutes early to games.”
The current lottery system has worked well for many students during football season, especially those with seniority and those that know students older than they are.
“Students are able to sign up in groups if a group leader gives them permission,” Kelly said. “The tickets will then be awarded to the entire group based on the amount of loyalty points the group leader has.”
Jeffrey Johnson, president of the Student Government Athletics Commission, said his group is looking at the system for revision because many students believe it is still unfair.
“We are considering changing the group system so that the number of points a group has is an average of all the group members points, instead of only the leaders’ points,” Johnson said.
Chris Whitman, a senior in biochemistry, said the lottery system has been good to him the past two years.
“It has been much easier for me to get tickets as I have gained seniority and the lottery system has been revised,” Whitman said. “I am the leader of a group, and I go to every football and basketball game and swipe in early, so my group almost always gets tickets.”
Claire Lucas, a freshman in engineering, said she likes the lottery system the way it stands.
“So far, I’ve always been able to get a ticket to a football game because I join a group with a leader who has more points than me,” Lucas said. ” I really like the option to join a group because I’ve been lucky enough to always get a ticket and I don’t have to wait in line at 6 a.m. I really want to attend the basketball games this year so I hope the ticketing system works out in my favor like it does for football.”
Samantha Hinson, a freshman in biochemistry, said she’s worried about her chances of getting basketball tickets this season.
“I would love to go to the basketball games, but I never got a ticket through the lottery for football so I don’t think my chances are very good,” Hinson said.
Kelly said the outlook for basketball ticket sales is positive at the beginning of this season.
“Basketball tickets are a little more expensive than football, and the economy has weighed in negatively somewhat so far this year,” Kelly said. “There is some excitement surrounding the start of this season, but we will have to see where it goes from here.”
