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USF Refining Student Ticket Giveaway

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

TAMPA - With the soaring popularity of the University of South Florida football team named second best in the nation this week box office officials on campus are trying to streamline the student ticket giveaway program.

"We've tweaked the system every game," said USF Sports Information Director Chris Freet. "We're very open and honest, and we know we can make some changes we can improve the process."

After the Auburn University upset on the second week of the season, and the almost-half-mile-long line around the Sun Dome before dawn a week before the West Virginia game, which also ended up in an upset USF win, university officials are looking into distributing more than 12,000 allotted student tickets online.

Any system that is implemented has to be scam-proof and must protect the longtime fan, Freet said.

If distributed online, "tickets could all go in an hour, and fans who are at work or in their car might not have access to them," he said. "The die-hard fans, the ones who have followed the team from Day One, we have to take care of them."

Previously, students had to get their tickets at the box office in the Sun Dome. That meant physically going there, showing a valid student ID card and getting a wristband they could use to get a ticket.

Officials are scheduled to meet with students tonight in a town-hall setting to discuss the issue and how best to proceed, possibly before the next home game, on Nov. 3, when the Bulls play Big East conference rival Cincinnati. However, Freet said, any system decided upon is unlikely to be in place in time for that game.

"In my mind," he said, "that's a lot to get done before the Cincinnati game."

The team plays at Raymond James Stadium, which holds about 65,000 fans.

For the West Virginia game, USF increased the number of free student tickets to 12,501, which sets a Big East record for most student tickets handed out for a football game. Raucous students pack the north end of the stadium's lower levels, spilling over to some of the upper-level seats as well.

The town hall meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today in the Big East Room of the athletics department building.

"Anybody can come," Freet said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or at kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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