Students who want a change in the Priority Point and football ticket distributing systems dished out their ideas Thursday at a forum with the Athletic Department and Student Government. The Athletic Department and SG held the event to allow students to present ideas to improve the football ticket program. Students attending the forum shared personal experiences with football tickets and suggested improvements to the system. Brian Broussard LSU ticket manager led the discussion. One of the key issues discussed was the Priority Points system used to reward students for attendance at football games and other athletic events. For the 2007-2008 season, students received 20 points for home football games, five for away games and two for other designated events like gymnastics meets and soccer games. Students attending postseason games like the Southeastern Conference Championship received five points to go toward eligibility for tickets to the Bowl Championship Series National Championship. Students could have requested up to two tickets, and those who had the required points had their requests filled. Students at the forum expressed concerns about giving points to their student guests at the game. Some students said since student guests are helping to fill the stadium, they should receive points as well. “They’re putting out the same effort to get to the game; they should get the same reward,” said one student. Students who buy the tickets are awarded the points with their purchase of the ticket through the Athletic Department. But, if a student receiving tickets gave his/her guest ticket to another student, the student who used the guest ticket did not receive Priority Points. Broussard said it is very hard to reward guest students for going to games when “they are not part of the [purchasing] process.” Broussard also said he thinks this is not a fair way to distribute points because the ticket buyer decides who gets the points. “We don’t think it’s fair for someone who has two tickets to decide which person gets points,” Broussard said. Another issue brought up at the forum was freshmen’s opportunities to purchase season tickets. Upperclassmen currently receive tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis, and freshmen are given a window where they request tickets online. Broussard proposed changing this to a lottery system. “We’re looking to have freshmen enter their names in over a two-day period and putting them in a lottery,” Broussard said. Broussard said the current method of seeing “who has the fastest computer” is a disappointing method of distributing tickets. He said if all students who entered their name at least had a chance to get season tickets, they would be happier. “We don’t want their first experience at LSU to be a bad one,” Broussard said. When asked what other schools in the SEC do to distribute tickets to students, Broussard said they look to LSU for ideas on which policies to implement. “Other schools are calling us,” Broussard said. The Athletic Department and SG will continue discussing amendments to their current ticket policy and make revisions before next season.
—-Contact Ben Bourgeois at [email protected]