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USF Task: Streamline Student Tickets

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2007

TAMPA - With the soaring popularity of the University of South Florida football team, ranked second on the initial BCS standings, box office officials on campus are trying to streamline the student ticket giveaway program.

'We've tweaked the system every game,' USF sports information director Chris Freet said. 'We're very open and honest, and we know we can make some changes, we can improve the process.'

After the upset of Auburn in 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, university officials are looking into distributing more than 12,000 allotted student tickets online.

Any new system 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 going there, showing a valid student ID card and getting a wristband they could use to get a ticket.

Officials were scheduled to meet with students Monday night in a town-hall setting to discuss how best to proceed, possibly before the Nov. 3 game, when the Bulls play Big East conference rival Cincinnati. Freet said a change that soon is unlikely.

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

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 set a Big East record for the 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.

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

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