In response to UW-Madison students' demands for a more equitable way to purchase men's basketball season tickets, the Athletic Department and the Associated Students of Madison recently adopted a lottery distribution process based on a student's class standing.
This new method will allow 200 students from each class the opportunity to receive basketball tickets and was designed in accordance with online surveys students completed in March.
In the past, a certain percentage of tickets were reserved for incoming freshmen while the remaining tickets were first offered to students who had purchased them in the past. The rest of the tickets were then available to any student who wanted to buy them, according to Matt Rink, ASM shared governance committee member and UW-Madison sophomore.
The new lottery system will give fifth-year seniors and graduates with a UW-Madison undergraduate degree five chances to purchase season tickets, four to seniors, three to juniors, two to sophomores and one to freshmen, according to a press release.
Additionally, ticket sales will be offered in the fall rather than spring. There are several reasons for this change, according to Hope Wallace, former shared governance committee chair and UW-Madison sophomore. This modification will allow freshmen to be included with all other students in the purchasing process, rather than having to set aside a certain amount of tickets for them, Wallace said.
Also, a list will be available in the fall of students who will be at the university during the basketball season. This list will prohibit students who study abroad from unfairly purchasing tickets for other students, Wallace said.
However, according to Rink, this new system will not allow students who have purchased tickets in the past to buy tickets before other students, as the former system allowed. Rather, only students who bought tickets for the past three years will be given a one-time loyalty purchase guarantee.
\[These students] will have an automatic chance to purchase tickets,"" Wallace said. ""It won't be a reduced rate ... but they won't be put in the lottery.""
Rink said he thinks the new system will be effective. Yet, he said, students who have purchased tickets in the past and do not end up receiving tickets this year because of the new system might be ""ticked off.""
However, Wallace said these students will not feel slighted because Badger basketball has become much more popular over the past two years. And those who have been attending the games for the past three years are truly devoted fans.
""The old system worked well when all the students who wanted tickets got tickets, but that's not the case anymore,"" Wallace said. ""This puts everyone in an even field advantage.""
Ticket sale dates will be released in the fall, according to the press release.
