THE GOLDEN TICKET 13,283 400 ≈1,400 102,455
Tennessee facing student ticket shortage Tanner Hancock News Editor
IT’S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE! SEE PAGE 1B FOR ALL THINGS VOLUNTEER FOOTBALL
Volume 130 Issue 17
The Volunteers are ranked for the first time since 2008. Bob Stoops is once again downplaying the SEC. Tennessee football is (for the moment) undefeated. The hype surrounding Saturday’s game is real, and the students can feel it. All that’s left is to go to the game. But with the record-breaking 13,283 student ticket requests received for the Saturday’s matchup, many volunteers have been left either confused or bitter over the current ticket system. Katie Clay is in her fifth year at Tennessee and prides herself on the fact that she didn’t miss a single game last year. Despite that, Clay was initially denied a ticket for the Oklahoma game in the first round, despite her long attendance record and seniority. That’s because Clay, like every other student at Tennessee, is subjected to a weighted lottery system for the first round of student requests. Students with more “loyalty points” have a higher chance of
being chosen in the first round, but are not guaranteed tickets, granting younger students and students with fewer loyalty points access to Neyland. If student demand for tickets exceeds the allotment for the first round, as was the case for the Oklahoma game, those students denied tickets in the first round may request another in the second, which is arranged in order of loyalty points. Dean of Students Melissa Shivers said the current ticket system rewards students who frequently attend athletic events without completely excluding those who don’t. “It’s incredibly important for our students to have the opportunity to participate during their four-year experience,” Shivers said. Students receive loyalty points when they attend games with a student ticket, but for every loyalty point accumulated over the year, only one-third of the sum carries over to the next year — meaning going to multiple athletic events last year doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a spot in Neyland Stadium this year. Further, loyalty points for other athletic events, such as basketball or women’s soccer, are not applicable for football games and do not carry over.
See TICKET on Page 4A
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Student tickets requested for the Oklahoma game
Tickets allotted for the Florida game
Tickets requested for the Florida game
Fans inside Neyland stadium
Friday, September 11, 2015