Local Baton Rouge bars and restaurants won’t be the only places packed with LSU fans this weekend for the men’s and women’s Final Four games. There will be a strong presence of purple and gold at both Final Four arenas.
All tickets to the Tigers and Lady Tigers Final Four games sold out this week. LSU received 3,750 tickets for the men’s game in Indianapolis – 300 of which were allotted for students.
Jon Britton, a student employee in the University’s ticketing office, said all student requests for tickets were filled for the men’s game.
“The number of students was right at 300,” Britton said. “But demand exceeded supply on the season ticket holders.”
The ticketing office distributed the remaining 3,450 tickets to season basketball ticket holders in accordance with Tiger Athletic Foundation’s priority list.
All the tickets were sold, but if they had not, the tickets would have been available for season ticket holders of other University sports, Britton said.
Tickets sold quickly, leaving interested sports fans at the mercy of online ticket purchasing, scalping and other methods of fan desperation.
Students were allowed to request only one ticket, but basketball season ticket holders could request as many tickets as they wanted – but Britton said there was no guarantee that they would receive the number of tickets requested.
Brant Domangue, biological sciences senior, bought a $170 student ticket for the men’s Final Four game this weekend. Domangue said he is traveling with a large group of friends to the game – all of whom had no trouble getting student tickets.
“I am going to support the school, baby,” Domangue said. “I am sure there will be a lot of LSU people there.”
Domangue said his greatest struggle was booking a hotel on short notice, Domangue said.
Domangue said he has also heard of the possible value that his Final Four ticket could pack.
“I heard tickets were going anywhere from $200 to $2,000,” Domangue said.
The ticket office received and sold 800 tickets for the women’s Final Four game in Boston this weekend. Britton said the number is much smaller than the men’s because Boston’s arena is smaller than the one in Indianapolis.
No student tickets were available, and interested student attendees had to contact the arena, Britton said.
The ticket pack for the remaining three men’s games, including the national championship, is $170, while the women’s is $140, although online prices and ticket resale is much higher.
Britton said confidence in the women’s team to make it to the Final Four caused the office to set up a post-season ticket sale during the actual season.
“We had a post-season form they filled out,” Britton said.
After the LSU men beat Texas, orders for the Final Four tickets opened immediately. The ticket office sent a broadcast e-mail to students and season ticket holders, stating that they could make requests for tickets until 5 p.m. this past Monday and that ticket distribution would begin after the Monday deadline.
Domangue said he received an e-mail from TAF over the weekend and requested a ticket on Sunday. By Tuesday, Domangue said, the ticket office notified him that he had a ticket.
Britton said the short notice of the men’s ticket distribution did not cause problems for the office.
“There were no problems – we anticipated they would come. Our primary goal was first for season ticket holders,” Britton said.
Britton said he is not surprised students are shouldering the expense and traveling to the Indianapolis Final Four on such a short notice.
“It’s the first time in 20 years for the team to go – it’s kind of a big deal,” Britton said.
 
Contact Rachel Flarity at [email protected]