According to student ticketing manager Adrienne White, every USC request period for a USC football game is “like a Beyoncé concert every weekend.”
The USC Student Ticketing Office held a forum on Monday to gauge student’s opinions on all aspects of the ticketing system, from distribution, loyalty points and paying to secure tickets. Students could submit anonymous comments throughout the forum, as well as participate in polls.
Thirty-eight of the students who attended the forum had attended all four of the football games, and most of them said they were able to get a ticket on their first try.
One of the biggest issues discussed at the forum was whether or not students should have to pay for tickets. USC and Vanderbilt are the only two universities in the SEC that do not charge students for tickets, and Vanderbilt charges graduate students.
The USC Ticketing Office wanted to see if students would be willing to pay four or five dollars per ticket or a set amount at the beginning of the season. Ten students posted in the poll that they would, while 16 said they wouldn’t.
“There are a lot of students who want to go, but for some students, unfortunately, that could be the difference between going and not going,” graduate student Steven Nicholson said. “I don’t see a reason to exclude those students, especially if they’ve been loyal.”
One argument was that this option could add value to tickets and potentially prevent large numbers of cancellations, when the USC Ticketing Office receives almost double the ticket requests for the 9,350 seats available. USC has the second or third lowest number of student seats in the SEC.
Another big issue that was addressed was the lack of emphasis for winter and spring events. Many students in attendance were disappointed with the policy that only 10 percent of loyalty points carry over from previous years.
“If you go to say 20 winter or spring events, you only have two points rollover. The first soccer game of the season is worth two points,” third-year civil engineering student MC Smith said. “The person who was loyal or the upperclassman who attended the events could be passed by a freshman easily.”
According to USC Ticketing, this policy is in place in order to prevent inflation of loyalty points. Without this policy, loyalty point numbers would be much higher. There were a total of 211 of home games students could get points for last year, not including the opportunity to earn extra points.
Members of the Ticketing Office also encouraged students to build up as many points as possible in the spring to get a jump on freshmen.
While the USC student ticketing staff was hesitant to consider changing this policy, they did say they were considering giving additional points to graduate students who did their undergraduate degree at USC and returned for another degree.
Some students expressed the opinion that students should be punished for leaving football games early, unless there are extenuating circumstances. White said that there is no way to track students, and that this is not a policy that is feasible.
The vouchers for staying until the end of a football game were intended to alleviate these concerns, although usually no more than 2,000 students turn in vouchers.
In response to issues of students selling their IDs online as student tickets, White and other staff members mentioned the talks the Ticketing Office had with security guards about checking IDs better.
CarolinaCards for last year’s Clemson game went for around $150, but the Ticketing Office checks online to find students who are selling their IDs. These students, if they are discovered, will have their account suspended, and could possibly be sent to the Office of Student Conduct.
The on-demand period was another point of discussion for students at the forum. White said that there is no way to decrease the wait for the Student Account Manager, but never to wait on the system for more than 10 to 15 minutes without refreshing the page or calling their office.
“Patience is a virtue, and I know you’re going to learn that through life. It’s going to take time,” White said. “There is no reason for anyone to sit online for anything for three hours, whether it’s clothes, shoes, tickets, whatever.”