The ticket trade aspect of athletics at the University of Wisconsin is a unique and integral part of the college experience. While you may see students sleeping outside the Kohl Center assuring their spot in line for basketball season tickets, it was still only a few years ago when this first became a common activity.
Up until the 2000-’01 season, the ticket office issued students their seats for basketball and hockey via a lottery system, making waiting in line obsolete.
The people running ticket operations did this to prevent the complications of camping out in line for tickets and to make the issuing of tickets a random process.
When the 2000-’01 season approached, UW basketball was becoming increasingly popular among students and the community. The ticket office decided to get the opinion of the students on the method of the season ticket trade. They met with the Badger Student Fan Club and several student focus groups to listen to what the students wanted in terms of the ticket trade.
The students expressed their ideas and overwhelmingly agreed that they wanted tickets to be issued on a first come, first serve basis, the same as it was with football.
“Students preferred the ‘first come, first serve’ sale of tickets, so we changed it,” assistant director of ticket operations Corbin Hunt said.
This change made the ticket trade of basketball more like the ticket trade for football.
“The only difference between basketball and football is that football is on a game-by-game basis and with basketball you get your tickets for the whole season,” Hunt added.
Hearing the students out, the ticket trade for basketball changed to accommodate the students’ opinions.
Non-season tickets are still issued in a lottery style, but the recent change in the ticket trade for basketball can be witnessed simply is by looking at the Kohl Center a couple of weeks before ticket exchange begins.
“Three years ago students camped out the night before, last year students started camping out a week before, this year there are students out now two weeks before,” head of basketball operations Saul Philips said. “The demand has evolved and students are more interested and excited.”
UW juniors Jina Pignotti, Adam Kindschy and Ryan Connors arrived outside the Kohl center ticket office weeks in advance, equipped with extension cords, a TV and many blankets.
“We were just going to come out a week before, but then we saw this guy,” Pignotti said, pointing to a man reading a book wrapped up in a sleeping bag in line in front of them.
Camping out with tents or tarps is not allowed, but students say they have not had any problems with administration or the Kohl Center.
“We haven’t even seen or talked to anyone from the Kohl Center,” Connors said.
The juniors heard about ticket trade methods at Duke University and expressed enthusiasm regarding students being equipped with Internet ports and campgrounds.
“That’s awesome, we should take a page out of their playbook,” Kindschy said.
