As the summer calendar quickly turns toward August, University of Wisconsin-Madison students are gearing up for the new football season.
Camp Randall Stadium, home of the Badgers, is one of college football’s cathedrals and best atmospheres in the sport. Madison puts on an even better performance before games, hosting tailgates and get-togethers for Badgers across the world. UW-Madison students are situated right in the middle of this gameday experience, but many cannot fully enjoy it unless they’re able to secure tickets for every home game.
The process for securing season tickets at Wisconsin is anything but a nice fall breeze.
By now, students either got season tickets or they didn’t. They had to wake up early and log in to a virtual queue where their hopes of getting tickets had as much luck involved as a slot machine. Once students logged in, they were among thousands placed in line, anxiously waiting to be let in. Other than using every electronic device available in one’s house to increase the chance of leaving the queue, there is not much more one could’ve done to get season tickets.
Regardless, thousands of students missed out on season tickets and the right to experience their Badgers host powerhouse programs like Alabama, Penn State and Oregon during a season capped by the annual battle against Minnesota for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. This is perhaps the best season to have a year-long pass in decades, but many unlucky students left the virtual queue empty-handed.
What if you didn’t get your hands on season tickets?
While this might sound like a total bummer to those who struck out, there is still hope. While season tickets are a stress-free guarantee of getting you into games, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to get into a game at all.
Students who didn’t get season tickets should first make sure they’ve joined the Snapchat story dedicated to their graduating class. This feature shrinks a massive class into an online community where students who can’t make a game are looking to make some money for their troubles. While it’s frustrating having to buy tickets game-by-game, there will always be plenty of students selling before a game.
This method runs the risk of being scammed, so you should use caution. When purchasing tickets through someone else on Snapchat, you will want to confirm that person actually has season tickets. Before buying, you should ask for them to send information like their school email and a screenshot of their tickets and student account.
Another option is to request to meet with the seller in-person to do the exchange in the most secure fashion possible. These deals can also be facilitated through Facebook Marketplace, but Snapchat will always have interested sellers too.
It's possible single tickets could be too expensive for students, especially for higher-profile games. In that case, there are definitely other options on campus to experience the passion of Wisconsin sports.
Students can try to purchase season tickets for men’s basketball and men’s hockey. They can also check out the AreaRED Card Sports Pass, which only costs $50 but gets students into a bevy of sporting events on campus, including volleyball, women’s hockey, women’s basketball and more.
The Red Card is a great deal and allows students to get into other sporting events on campus without worrying about the hassle of tracking people down on Snapchat. While football is surely the sport that has the most pageantry on campus, volleyball and women’s hockey are the school’s two most successful programs. There are many ways to see Badgers sports this year, even if you struck out in the maddening virtual queue.
