Incoming freshman are used to dealing with non-existant parking, class scheduling catastrophes and mystery dorm meat. But now, they will have to swallow something worse: Ohio State has decided to deny them the chance to get season football tickets. Freshman won't be able to purchase season tickets to Ohio State football games this year; instead they can purchase one ticket for a single game. They also have the option to buy tickets for the two games held before the start of fall quarter. "My daughter went to a Michigan vs. Ohio State game two years ago and is a sports fanatic," said Dan Gray, the father of an incoming freshman. "Getting tickets is almost a deciding factor in attending Ohio State. This is a kid who lives and breathes sports, and now she is shut out of going to games." The game assignments were made according to the first letter of the student's last name, said Kevin Gorham, assistant ticket director. The letters were put into four groups and then randomly assigned to a game. "It's not fair that my friend got the Michigan game and I have the Michigan State game," said David Anderson, an incoming freshman. "Just because my name begins with a certain letter it means that I can't see a game I want to go to." The policy in past years has been to limit the number of seats to freshmen, but give them season tickets. "In the past it has always been first come first serve, this year we are giving more students the option to see a game," Gorham said. This spring, ticket sales for upperclassmen were higher than usual. In the past, 18,000 to 19,000 student season tickets were sold. This year, 23,000 to 24,000 student tickets were sold, which leaves fewer tickets for incoming students, Gorham said. Incoming students are upset with the ticket office because of this new policy. "We don't understand. The stadium seats so many people and there are not enough tickets available for freshman," said A. J. Vaughan, an incoming freshman. "My sister came here last year and got to see all the games, and I only get to go to one." There are 93,000 tickets sold for each game and 25,000 are sold to students. A large portion of the tickets sold are for faculty, Buckeye and President's Club members. Also, the general public eats up large amount of tickets to Big Ten games. "I thought that most colleges encouraged students to attend games. It doesn't seem fair that we only get to see one," said Leslie Cron, an incoming freshman. "They should at least give us two tickets to go with a friend." Big Ten games have always been sold out, but this year there has been higher demand with the more competitive games played at home, said Gorham. "Going to the football games is one of the best things about Ohio State, especially this year's season," Anderson said.
Season ticket deficit leaves freshmen short
Published: Monday, August 3, 1998
Updated: Sunday, June 21, 2009
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