Tiger Stadium is one of the largest stadiums in the world, hosting over 102,000 people any given gameday, but finding a seat to watch the Tigers play in Death Valley can still be a hassle for students, even with their own ticket.
On gameday, students line up outside the stadium hours before the gates open to sit in the student section, which offers about 14,000 seats in sections 201-205 and 218-235. However, if you don’t plan ahead you might be left without a spot regardless of what your ticket says.
Students that arrive closer to kickoff are often seen standing around, leaning on railings or sitting on the edge of the staircases, finding anywhere to squeeze in.
However, changes have been made by LSU in order to improve the student gameday experience.
“In recent seasons, we faced overcrowding issues in the student section, so we reduced ticket allotment minimally to prevent overcrowding,” said LSU Associate Athletic Director and Chief Brand Officer Cody Worsham over email. Due to high demand from returning students this year, we created two separate three-game packages that were offered to incoming students only, which allowed us to get all students the opportunity to attend at least three games.”
Typically, student ticket packages include tickets to all home games of the season. The last time separate packages were available was 2012, according to Worsham.
Of course, students aren’t limited to the student section and can purchase tickets in other areas of the stadium. However, this has led to people entering the student section who had bought tickets elsewhere in the stadium, something LSU Athletics has taken steps to address this season.
“Because we allow students to purchase in other sections of the stadium, they and others were coming and sitting in the student section. As a result, we’ve started wristbanding the student section this season to ensure students who have purchased a student section ticket can access the section,” Worsham said. “Those with student section seating can only enter through Gate 7, and no other tickets are allowed to enter this gate. Students are given a wristband when they enter the stadium with their student section ticket, and only students with wristbands can sit in the student section.”
There are currently no plans on expanding the student section seating area for the next few years, as well as, no current additional health protocols or procedures related to capacity, Worsham said.
“I think at the bigger games like Alabama, Auburn, or any of the SEC schools, it can be very overcrowded,” computer science sophomore Samuel Bustamante said. It’ll always be hard to find some great seats if you do not show up right when gates open but I don’t think it’s a problem for now.”
This article has been updated to remove a source.
