WarTiger 3,909 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 It seems a lot of students were denied entrance to the game wednesday night. Well, those students took to twitter and facebook and voiced their displeasure and they were heard. Great job by the Auburn athletic department. Jay Jacobs Responds to Basketball Student Ticket Issue Auburn beat LSU 68-63 in basketball last night in front of a raucous student section and half-full old folks crowd. It could have even been more raucous, but students who had already been granted their (free) admission were turned around and led out the door. The 1500-seat free student section was full. An Auburn official responded to these reports on Twitter stating that the policy has always been that the first 1500 students are let in free, while the remaining students can purchase $5 tickets if Auburn Arena is not sold out. Some of the students that were shown the door said they were told no such price, prompting them to leave instead of paying for the $15 ticket. Tony Barbee was asked about the situation after the game, and his response was basically "Don't tell me that. We've got to change the culture around here." Today he tweeted that he would handle it. Moments ago, Jay Jacobs emailed the students with a newer policy. I guess Barbee handled it. Dear Auburn students, I am pleased to announce changes to our student admission policies for men’s basketball games. I instructed our staff to make the changes this morning based on your input following last night’s home opener against LSU. Thank you for the feedback you provided through social media. It was instructive and helpful in our efforts to allow as many students as possible to support our basketball team. We will continue to admit the first 1,500 students free of charge for all home games. We are now making an additional 500 free drink rail tickets available to students for the upcoming game against Kentucky, which we expect to be a sellout. On a game-by-game basis moving forward, we will admit all students free of charge until the arena is filled to capacity. We will no longer charge $5 to students for admission after the student section fills up. This was a policy we put in place before the 2010 season as an incentive for students to show up early and support the team. Until last night, it worked well and did exactly what we intended it to do. It is important to remember that prior to opening Auburn Arena, only the first 500 students were admitted free of charge at men’s basketball games. After hiring Coach Barbee, we changed our policy to admit the first 1,500 students free of charge. That change was made to enhance the atmosphere at Auburn Arena and increase student attendance. I hope this new change makes it clear that student support at basketball games is of the utmost importance to our team and to me personally. We designed Auburn Arena to put you as close to the floor as possible. A student-only entrance and student concessions were added to make your gameday experience as good as it can possibly be. I want to thank the 2,000 students who helped create a great atmosphere for last night’s win over LSU. As the games get bigger, I would encourage you to become a member of The Jungle, the official student section of Auburn basketball, so you can get into the arena 15 minutes prior to the gates opening. You can join The Jungle by visiting www.auburntigers.com/jungle/. Thanks again for your support. Let’s keep Auburn Arena rockin’ the rest of the year. War Eagle! Jay Jacobs Director of Athletics It's good to see the Auburn administration respond to an issue in a positive fashion. There are many other issues with the way basketball ticketing is handled, but I'll save that for a later blogle. So now students you have no excuse. The team appears to be the best in years and the school is making it easier for you to go the best they can. Go to the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,433 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Good move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmboom7 0 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 First thing that I have agreed with JJ on in a long, long time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Did a little checking and seems AU has a very lenient student ticket policy. Duke allow 1200 tickets, and most of the "basketball schools" (Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky for example) have lotteries that allow a limited number of students to buy game or season tickets. It was embarassing to read that some students walked away rather than pay a nominal $5 for a ticket to an SEC game. I hope AU's program grows to the extent that it's necessary for a lottery system to allocate tickets...and that having a chance to attend a home game is something to treasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarAJEagle 5 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Did a little checking and seems AU has a very lenient student ticket policy. Duke allow 1200 tickets, and most of the "basketball schools" (Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky for example) have lotteries that allow a limited number of students to buy game or season tickets. It was embarassing to read that some students walked away rather than pay a nominal $5 for a ticket to an SEC game. I hope AU's program grows to the extent that it's necessary for a lottery system to allocate tickets...and that having a chance to attend a home game is something to treasure. My 24k a year should provide a ticket to a basketball game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 If you are referring to tuition,etc. there are 25,000 doing that too. And you would think a Duke student paying 50K a year wouldn't have to camp out to get a ticket..but that's the way it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUtiger98 24 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Did a little checking and seems AU has a very lenient student ticket policy. Duke allow 1200 tickets, and most of the "basketball schools" (Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky for example) have lotteries that allow a limited number of students to buy game or season tickets. It was embarassing to read that some students walked away rather than pay a nominal $5 for a ticket to an SEC game. I hope AU's program grows to the extent that it's necessary for a lottery system to allocate tickets...and that having a chance to attend a home game is something to treasure. If you read closely it says they were asked to pay $15 instead of $5. At any rate, there must have been a major screw up to let them all in free in the first place. Customers (Paid or Free admission) don't like to be told one thing and then be told we screwed up, you now owe us $15 dollars or go home. In business, you are much better off just eating your loses than to piss off customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 It's great to see that the problem was handled promptly. Coach Barbee is the best thing to happen to AU basketball in years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'76 Tiger 108 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Fill the Arena first. Cash in second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoALtiger 3,867 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 ^^This^^. Whatever it takes to get the students there. A seat filled with a screaming student who didn't pay is better than just an empty seat. Ha! Edit: Kudos the the administration for seeing this need and making a correct and swift decision. Credit given where credit is due. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustache eagle 2,406 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Even if money was the issue, a free student will buy concessions and an empty seat will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp4au 2 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I am happy with the response but even happier that students are showing up and are excited about AU basketball! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUTUmike 79 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Fill the Arena first. Cash in second. Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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