OPINION & EDITORIAL
Football tickets ought to be free
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by Letters to the Editor
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Wisconsin has one of the nation’s greatest football teams. While Wisconsin may be ranked highly in the country, however, our student football ticket policy at Wisconsin may be the worst.
I believe our football-ticket policy is unfair because football tickets should be provided free of charge. A couple weeks ago, I traveled south to De Kalb, Ill., to watch college football on a Tuesday night as the No. 22 Northern Illinois Huskies battled the Toledo Rockets for the MAC West division title.
As I arrived on the Northern Illinois campus, I learned two important things about the school. The first was that Northern Illinois University is surrounded by farmland and desolate nothingness for many, many miles. The second fact was that Northern Illinois gives students football tickets for free!
Wisconsin should emulate Northern Illinois and think of students first. As a student who is paying an exorbitant out-of-state tuition, is it too much to ask for some free football tickets?
Undoubtedly Wisconsin makes a great deal of revenue from football, and therefore would most likely be able to afford giving students free tickets. Evidence of such high revenues can be seen directly in the athletic departments spending of more than $100 million in renovation of Camp Randall Stadium. Moreover, in 2002 Wisconsin ranked seventh in the country in alumni donations with $307,213,842.
While giving students free tickets would take away roughly $2 million in revenue, the gesture would show that the university is not all about profits. The school would be committed to winning — winning not only on the field, but also winning over the student body.
Unfortunately, while Northern Illinois students saw Tuesday’s game for free, their team lost 31-17. After all, winning isn’t everything, and neither is the cost of a ticket.
Marc Levy
marclevy@wisc.edu
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 7:09am):
"I believe our football-ticket policy is unfair because football tickets should be provided free of charge."
Why? So that our already overblown tuition can be raised even higher to finance the football team? At least by selling tickets, the team mostly pays for itself.
"As a student who is paying an exorbitant out-of-state tuition, is it too much to ask for some free football tickets?"
Yes. If you want free football tickets, transfer to Northern Illinois.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 7:35am):
Maybe the tickets could be free if we get a team of all Minnesota players. No one would watch it then because they all blow games when it matters (aka Stocco). Just ask the Gophers how their attendance has been doing
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 8:39am):
Right after we get our free football tickets, we could all watch the teams play each other, but not keep score because there are no winners and losers in this world...then we could all go back to the commune and return to our daily chores and activities.
PONY UP THE $14 FOR THE FRICKEN TICKET OR WATCH THE GAME ON TV...whichever you choose, stop your fricken whining over underpriced tickets. The rest of the crowd is paying $40/ticket, along with a seat licensing fee...WTF?!:?
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 10:03am):
You ever think that NIU may have alterior motives for giving away their student tickets for free? Perhaps the 15,000 attendance average that is required to stay in Division IA? Perhaps they wouldn't have an average attendance of 15,000 per game if people at a school that has a large commuter base of students had to pay for the tickets.
Pay for the freaking tickets.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 10:34am):
Just who would decide who got the "free" tickets? One for every student you say? Could they then sell them? To Whom and for how much?
How would you make up the lost revenue to support the non-revenue sports?
What a moron.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 12:47pm):
Dumbest. Editorial. Ever.
People are already buying student tickets just to resell them for a profit. By making them free you're just increasing the profit for those who have no intention of going to the game. If anything raise the price of the tickets, then those who want to go to the game may still be able to get tickets from the ticket office instead of having to resort to scalpers or ebay.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 4:15pm):
And if the ticekts are free how does the university go about giving them out?
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 4:40pm):
Stupid, worthless drivel...did all of the real writers go home early for the holiday vacation?
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 7:38pm):
"Dumbest. Editorial. Ever"
"Stupid, worthless drivel...did all of the real writers go home early for the holiday vacation?"
It's neither an editorial or a column, folks. Letter to the Editor, from a regular student.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 11:08pm):
Sorry...did all of the intelligent Letter-to-the-Editor writers go home for the holiday break?
Anonymous (November 24, 2004 @ 11:07pm):
I think the article has merit. For all the people making the argument against this article, look at the facts... Most students are die-hards at Wisconsin and would not resell their tickets. Good column!
Anonymous (November 24, 2004 @ 11:11pm):
Take the stick out of your ass people. This is merely a proposal, and albeit a well substanced one at that. Imagine. Free tickets, why are you so against it?
Anonymous (November 25, 2004 @ 11:50am):
It's just not reasonable. There are fiscal issues this letter doesn't address. The guy who pointed out NIU's alternate motive for offering free tickets is dead on. No major D1 would ever consider this, especially when student tickets are already as cheap as they are.
Also, and this is just my opinion, UW students as fans don't fully deserve the credit they often give themselves. I thought for a long time that we were among the best in the nation... then I saw the nation.
The tickets would be scalped, there's no doubt in my mind. Then you have the real fans buying tickets off the scum lucky enough to get them in the lottery -- not a good state of affairs.
-P. Klemz
Herald Sports
Anonymous (November 25, 2004 @ 11:40pm):
"No D1 would do this" as fo two years ago Mississippi State had no cost for tickets.
University of Arkansas charges $1 basically free
Anonymous (November 26, 2004 @ 11:51am):
In a perfect world, tickets would be free.
In a perfect world, there would be peace on earth and goodwill toward all people.
In a perfect world, you could eat whatever you want, not exercise, and never get fat.
In a perfect world, ice cream would grow on trees.
In a perfect world, we would all skip down State Street singing, "tra la la la la."
But it's not a perfect world. Sometimes life hands you a shit sandwich and you can't do anything but take a giant bite. So just deal with it.
Anonymous (November 26, 2004 @ 2:15pm):
also disphits it appears that univerity of virginia also has free tickets
All they have to do is show their student ID card and they get into the game
Anonymous (November 26, 2004 @ 2:16pm):
also disphits it appears that univerity of virginia also has free tickets
All they have to do is show their student ID card and they get into the game
Anonymous (November 26, 2004 @ 2:16pm):
also dipshits it appears that university of virgina also has free tickets
Anonymous (November 26, 2004 @ 2:17pm):
also dispshits it appears clemson university has free tickets for students
Anonymous (November 27, 2004 @ 10:54am):
Nothing is Free! You pay for it when you buy the tickets, or you will pay for it when you pay your tution.
