LSU student football tickets can be accessed by downloading them onto mobile devices instead of through students Tiger Cards.
LSU Athletics assistant ticket manager Garrett Thibodeaux said these changes were mainly made because of students losing Tiger Cards on Friday night between the time the Tiger Card office closed and Tiger Stadium gates opened Saturday morning.
“Even with all of the lost Tiger Cards, people still managed to keep up with their phones.” Thibodeaux said. “We wanted to try and be there on the phone.”
Thibodeaux said a big issue in years past was students forgetting their Tiger Cards at home or even losing them on Saturdays at tailgates and not being able to get into the game.
“It allows us to be a little more flexible with how students can get in,” he said.
This year, students could buy general admission tickets to all home football games for $84, while Greek seating was $126. Students who purchased tickets received an email with links to all of their home game tickets, which they could then add to their Apple Wallet on their phone.
Communication disorders junior Sarah Leblanc said it’s easier to access her tickets through her phone versus her Tiger Card.
“I think the downloadable tickets are more convenient,”
Leblanc said. “I don’t have a phone pocket on the back of my phone, and I don’t carry a purse because it’s too expensive to buy a clear purse. Having it on my phone is kind of convenient.”
One of the biggest concerns among students about the update was the fact that phones die, especially after a long day of tailgating.
“I dislike the new downloadable tickets,” kinesiology junior Julia Savoie said. “I think everyone’s phone is going to die, and the lines are going to take much longer to get through. It’ll just be a hassle.”
However, the LSU ticket office has ways to combat this problem. Thibodaux said there will be two charging stations at the student ticket gate and 1,000 portable chargers were given out to the first 1,000 students who arrived at the game.
Another problem that has arisen in previous years was students giving other students their Tiger Cards in order to get into the game.
Biological sciences junior Martha Town believes fewer students will be able to use other students’ tickets to get into games now that tickets must be downloaded onto students’ phones.
“I think these downloadable tickets are going to be a lot more convenient,” Town said. “I think it’ll be harder for people to use each other’s tickets to get into the game. I think it’ll prevent that, which is cool for LSU.”
Thibodeaux said the downloadable tickets don’t use a barcode, so if a student were to try and screenshot their ticket and send it to a friend, the screenshot would not scan at the gate.
“I think we’re going to have a lot less ID misuse, and a lot less people having to go visit Student Advocacy, which I think is a good thing,” Thibodeaux said.