A ticket to more seating: Students must fill the stands before more tickets are allotted

As expected, the new student ticket policy for men’s basketball has motivated more students to show up for games against big-name opponents. But in some instances, the demand has been higher than the supply.

While recent surges in student attendance are encouraging, they’ve exposed some weaknesses in UNC’s ticket policy. Because it’s nearly impossible to predict student attendance at games, determining how many tickets to allot for students at each game is an inexact science at best.

But students do have some power to mitigate this disconnect. By showing up more consistently and in greater numbers, UNC students can help guarantee that more tickets will be allotted for them at future games.

The problems with inconsistent student attendance were illustrated particularly vividly at the UNC-Texas game on Dec. 21. Some forty-odd students were denied entry to the game, which didn’t have a student ticket lottery because it occurred over winter break.

The Texas game wasn’t an anomaly. This season, there have been three games — University of Texas, Long Beach State University and Appalachian State University — where students in the standby line were denied entrance to the game.

If students object to being turned away, they must first prove they can fill the stands before critiquing the current ticket policy.

Regardless of objections to the policy’s limited student seating, the onus is on the students to prove they can fill the seats. Only then can the ticket policy be reevaluated to accommodate student demand.

And, to be fair, the policy has come a long way since the one-ticket-per-person policy of the 2009-10 basketball season. This policy was both unpopular and impractical, and it was reflected in that season’s abysmal student attendance.

On Feb. 24, 2010, a meager 18 percent of students used their lottery tickets for a home game against Florida State University.

In response to that season’s poor showing, the total number of tickets allotted to students was reduced by 34 percent the next season. Students who don’t get tickets this year can partially blame that season’s poor attendance.

According to Clint Gwaltney, associate athletic director of the ticket office, only 248 students attended the Nicholls State game on Dec. 19, a fraction of the sellout crowd at the Texas game.

Though it’s hard to say exactly what causes these dramatic swings in attendance, a number of changes, like a simpler “turn it back” system and the @UNCStudentTix Twitter account, have catalyzed student attendance. Not to mention the fact the basketball team’s promise this season is considerably greater than that of the 2009-10 team.

If attendance isn’t consistent, students can’t complain about being turned away. Supporters should show up regardless of the opponent UNC plays.

With the “turn it back” line a day before a game and the standby line the day of the game, no student can complain about not winning the lottery. Gwaltney said there is almost always a surplus of student tickets, but few students consistently take advantage of them.

If there is a trend of a number of students being turned away from basketball games, Gwaltney said the ticket office will reevaluate its policies to accommodate the crowds. The ticket office needs to follow through if students answer the call.

There may never be enough student seating, and the ticket policy may never be perfect. But the basketball team still deserves student support, so students should fill the stands come game time.