Proud of 107,000 - Why change that?

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Here is some info...

Student ticket allotment is about 21k.

There isn't a "lottery". Student tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis. When kids were still allowed to sell to whoever they wanted to, tickets were selling out too quickly, some that bought them were turning around and trying to sell them immediately for a huge profit, and you had a lot of pissed off kids and parents who didn't get tickets. So, the athletic dept switched it up and took control of the resale market to eliminate the scalping.

You can sell your tickets for games that you don't want to attend (assuming that someone wants to buy them). The complains that many have is that you need to do it by the day before the game, and that there is a "floor" on the price (ie you can't sell it for $5 or $10 like you could in the old days for crappy games).

There wasn't an issue with student not "flagged as passing external security". The issue is that they got into the stadium without an actual ticket (usually, they swipe IDs and are given a ticket to their seat). Because of opening the gates to relieve the pressure, the students didn't stop to get a ticket, and thus weren't let into a section because they didn't have a ticket for that section.

And it's not about "multiple security checkpoints". It's all about the wanding. The "wanding" is a slow process, and they don't have enough "lanes" to handle volume like 10k students showing up within 20-30 minutes of each other.

It's complete horse$hit that they "regulate" the resale market - students should be able to freely exchange their tickets to other bonafide ID-baring students. Claiming that a student buying a SINGLE season-ticket for "scalping / profit" purposes is beyond ludicrous and would be equivalent to PSU telling general season-ticket holders that they are not free to exchange their tickets as they see fit! (actually worse, as season-ticket holders can purchase entire blocks of tickets if they wanted to do it for scalping / profit purposes!). Essentially students are buying a "restricted class" of ticket, but there is NO REASON whatsoever that PSU needs to be a "middle-man" when a student (who only controls one ticket) wants to exchange their ticket-right to another bonafide student.....complete horse$hit that the University gets in the middle of this "exchange". If they have such massive "excess demand" in the Student Section, they should sell more student tickets, not restrict the rights of the limited tickets they sold!!! That or sell unlimited student season tickets and make them worthless if unused (i.e., non-transferable) and limit seating to the first 25,000 students that present credentials on any given gameday (it would also encourage students to find their seats earlier)......if you are going to effectively make their rights worthless if they aren't going, this would be a far better way to do it.

 

[BlueBand]

Agree, however apps like Uber could solve this but it might be quite expensive. Part of the reason I don't want to stay out of town is because I plan on drinking most days I'm there, and I want to be able to easily and safely get home without driving myself.


Also agree. Since I have to fly in I tend to arrive on Thursday so I can enjoy Friday in town, Friday evening reliving the old days at the Skellar, and Saturday in the tailgate lots and downtown afterwards. A long drive to some hotel out of town definitely impacts this. Surely other remote college towns have the same issues, but maybe PSU just has fewer hotel rooms because I never hear about this from alumni of other schools. The hotel pricing in town on event weekends is outrageous and basically you have 2 options: pay it or stay farther out which for me means a less enjoyable weekend.

This is what I have trouble understanding: the number of hotels in State College has grown exponentially compared to the 80's. So why are prices still outrageous? Is it because the hotel room growth was still outpaced by the stadium growth? Or they're just gouging because they still get 90% and up occupancy rates anyway?

 

[Erial_Lion]

If they have such massive "excess demand" in the Student Section, they should sell more student tickets, not restrict the rights of the limited tickets they sold!!! That or sell unlimited student season tickets and make them worthless if unused (i.e., non-transferable) and limit seating to the first 25,000 students that present credentials on any given gameday (it would also encourage students to find their seats earlier)......if you are going to effectively make their rights worthless if they aren't going, this would be a far better way to do it.

Think that thru for a minute...You think the solution is to sell more tickets than seats available, and then when students show up to use their ticket, turn them away at the gates once you're reached capacity? So for a game like last Saturday night, you could have thousands of students outside of the gates trying to get in and being turned away? Holy crap, if you think that things were bad for the Ohio State game, I can only imagine the scene if those same students are fighting trying to get in knowing that the "doors will be closing" soon and many of those in line will be shut out. Talk about something that could turn into a riot. And how much goodwill would you build up with future season ticket holders when you don't let them into the stadium for an Ohio State game when they've already purchased a ticket for it.

 

[PSUSignore]

This is what I have trouble understanding: the number of hotels in State College has grown exponentially compared to the 80's. So why are prices still outrageous? Is it because the hotel room growth was still outpaced by the stadium growth? Or they're just gouging because they still get 90% and up occupancy rates anyway?

My guess is that everyday demand for State College hotels is quite low by comparison. So the hotels are likely out maximize their revenue when they can: football weekends, Arts Fest, graduation, etc. This likely covers their slower periods. They probably charge as much as they can provided the rooms are still getting booked up for the popular weekends.

 

[BlueBand]

My guess is that everyday demand for State College hotels is quite low by comparison. So the hotels are likely out maximize their revenue when they can: football weekends, Arts Fest, graduation, etc. This likely covers their slower periods. They probably charge as much as they can provided the rooms are still getting booked up for the popular weekends.

Well, that used to be the case, but if you look, there's a lot more going on in State College during the rest of the year than it used to be. It's not unusual for many hotels to be sold out, or only have a couple of rooms left for weekends when you wouldn't think anything is going on, but the university is hosting something. I've learned not to expect to plan a trip on Memorial Day weekend, for example. Big high school volleyball playoffs or something. Still, how that evens out over the year, I don't know.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Think that thru for a minute...You think the solution is to sell more tickets than seats available, and then when students show up to use their ticket, turn them away at the gates once you're reached capacity? So for a game like last Saturday night, you could have thousands of students outside of the gates trying to get in and being turned away? Holy crap, if you think that things were bad for the Ohio State game, I can only imagine the scene if those same students are fighting trying to get in knowing that the "doors will be closing" soon and many of those in line will be shut out. Talk about something that could turn into a riot. And how much goodwill would you build up with future season ticket holders when you don't let them into the stadium for an Ohio State game when they've already purchased a ticket for it.

This is effectively what they did anyway! They let students past the "Wanding" security checkpoints without wanding them because the "crush" was so great AND THEN REFUSED TO GIVE THEM TICKETS so they could get to their seats!!! Yea, think about that for a minute......they screwed thousands of $$$$ Paying ticketholders and refused to let them go to their seats because they weren't wanded despite the security people allowing them to pass unchecked to relieve the crush at the Wanding Gates!!!

 

[BlueBand]

This is effectively what they did anyway! They let students past the "Wanding" security checkpoints without wanding them because the "crush" was so great AND THEN REFUSED TO GIVE THEM TICKETS so they could get to their seats!!! Yea, think about that for a minute......they screwed thousands of $$$$ Paying ticketholders and refused to let them go to their seats because they weren't wanded despite the security people allowing them to pass unchecked to relieve the crush at the Wanding Gates!!!

So you're saying hundreds or thousands of students NEVER got into the game?

 

[mn78psu83]

So you're saying hundreds or thousands of students NEVER got into the game?

No. Hundreds of thousands.

 

[Erial_Lion]

This is effectively what they did anyway! They let students past the "Wanding" security checkpoints without wanding them because the "crush" was so great AND THEN REFUSED TO GIVE THEM TICKETS so they could get to their seats!!! Yea, think about that for a minute......they screwed thousands of $$$$ Paying ticketholders and refused to let them go to their seats because they weren't wanded despite the security people allowing them to pass unchecked to relieve the crush at the Wanding Gates!!!

Unfortunately, the police felt that there was a potential for something bad to happen, so they made the call to open the gates and get some kids in quickly to relieve the pressure from crush outside the gates. It was hundreds (a few hundred from my understanding) that got thru without swiping IDs and getting tickets, not thousands. And once they got inside and everyone was alerted to the issues at the gates, they were allowed to either go fill in the upper East/West side sections, or go back to the gate and get a ticket. No one was "refused" a ticket. No one "refused to let them go to their seats" (especially since they didn't have seats yet) because they weren't wanded.

Not sure how you equate that to what would happen if you have students outside the stadium that already paid for a seat but are being denied entrance due to Bushwood's new ticket rule where even though you paid for a seat, you may or may not actually get one. What you'd have instead is an even worse issue than you had last Saturday night outside of the gate.

 

[21Guns]

Game vs Iowa not sold out. Can't wait for the excuses.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Unfortunately, the police felt that there was a potential for something bad to happen, so they made the call to open the gates and get some kids in quickly to relieve the pressure from crush outside the gates. It was hundreds (a few hundred from my understanding) that got thru without swiping IDs and getting tickets, not thousands. And once they got inside and everyone was alerted to the issues at the gates, they were allowed to either go fill in the upper East/West side sections, or go back to the gate and get a ticket. No one was "refused" a ticket. No one "refused to let them go to their seats" (especially since they didn't have seats yet) because they weren't wanded.

Not sure how you equate that to what would happen if you have students outside the stadium that already paid for a seat but are being denied entrance due to Bushwood's new ticket rule where even though you paid for a seat, you may or may not actually get one. What you'd have instead is an even worse issue than you had last Saturday night outside of the gate.

Laughable, now they "paid for a ticket" but PSU won't let them transfer that ticket to another bonafide student without PSU's intervention? You're talking out of both sides of your mouth as to the "value" and "rights" they are entitled to in regards to this ticket that "they paid for" - LMFAO, why am I not surprised that you see the absurd "logic" of your own unfair system that you clearly have a vested interest in defending??? Again, LMFAO that now suddenly these "paid for tickets" have great value, but you erase that "value" with your absurd policies that severely restrict how a bonafide ticket holder can transfer their ticket even to another bonafide student (i.e., they have to turn them back into PSU at a severe discount so PSU can resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice.....again LMFAO!).

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Game vs Iowa not sold out. Can't wait for the excuses.

Really??? The ticket websites are only listing 650 tickets available which is nothing and will disappear before Saturday.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Again, LMFAO that now suddenly these "paid for tickets" have great value, but you erase that "value" with your absurd policies that severely restrict how a bonafide ticket holder can transfer their ticket even to another bonafide student (i.e., they have to turn them back into PSU at a severe discount so PSU can resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice.....again LMFAO!).

Yet again, you don't get the process. PSU doesn't "resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice". The money goes to the student that sold the ticket.

I also love the humor in the fact that last week, I was a "Michigan troll", and this week, the PSU ticketing policy is "my process" and I have a "vested interest" in the Athletic Department's policies.

 

[21Guns]

Really??? The ticket websites are only listing 650 tickets available which is nothing and will disappear before Saturday.

I'll take your word then. Over on 247 they are claiming it isn't sold out. Good, nice to see.

 

[BlueBand]

Laughable, now they "paid for a ticket" but PSU won't let them transfer that ticket to another bonafide student without PSU's intervention? You're talking out of both sides of your mouth as to the "value" and "rights" they are entitled to in regards to this ticket that "they paid for" - LMFAO, why am I not surprised that you see the absurd "logic" of your own unfair system that you clearly have a vested interest in defending??? Again, LMFAO that now suddenly these "paid for tickets" have great value, but you erase that "value" with your absurd policies that severely restrict how a bonafide ticket holder can transfer their ticket even to another bonafide student (i.e., they have to turn them back into PSU at a severe discount so PSU can resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice.....again LMFAO!).

Ummmm... you're lecturing someone on the value of a ticket, when you suggested PSU sell more tickets than there are seats for and then only allow in the first 25K who show up? So what's the value of the ticket a student buys but then is denied entrance because he/she didn't show up early enough? You think they won't want their money back, get into arguments with security, etc.? Doesn't denying a bonafide ticket holder entrance "erase the value" of their tickets? You're really talking out of both sides of your mouth.

In the illustrious history of bad ideas on this board, yours has got to be one of the worst, IMHO.

 

[BlueBand]

Yet again, you don't get the process. PSU doesn't "resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice". The money goes to the student that sold the ticket.

I also love the humor in the fact that last week, I was a "Michigan troll", and this week, the PSU ticketing policy is "my process" and I have a "vested interest" in the Athletic Department's policies.

He's like Barry... he's not happy unless he's railing against any and everything the Athletic Departmtmt does.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Yet again, you don't get the process. PSU doesn't "resell the ticket again and make $$$ on the ticket twice". The money goes to the student that sold the ticket.

I also love the humor in the fact that last week, I was a "Michigan troll", and this week, the PSU ticketing policy is "my process" and I have a "vested interest" in the Athletic Department's policies.

Huh??? I thought you just said the selling student is LIMITED in what they can receive for the ticket (and specifically limited by PSU's INTERVENTION in the free market). So essentially you're providing an incentive for people not to buy ticket's and buy them from student ticket holder's at a discount to their "open-market value" despite the fact that the selling party may have a legitimate reason why they can't attend??? Why is it necessary at all in the exchange??? If their is this much "excess demand" for STUDENT TICKETS don't limit the sale of Student Tickets - it's there football team for Pete's Sake, sell as many student season tickets as the market demands rather than limiting the number PSU will sell to only half the student body!.....ever thought of that one???

 

[21Guns]

He's like Barry... he's not happy unless he's railing against any and everything the Athletic Departmtmt does.

He's 100 times smarter than Barry. Barry does nothing but character assassinations on people. Franklin does research and has educated, knowledgeable opinions. His manner is argumentative, but his knowledge is solid. Don't compare the two.

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

Ummmm... you're lecturing someone on the value of a ticket, when you suggested PSU sell more tickets than there are seats for and then only allow in the first 25K who show up? So what's the value of the ticket a student buys but then is denied entrance because he/she didn't show up early enough? You think they won't want their money back, get into arguments with security, etc.? Doesn't denying a bonafide ticket holder entrance "erase the value" of their tickets? You're really talking out of both sides of your mouth.

In the illustrious history of bad ideas on this board, yours has got to be one of the worst, IMHO.

You're the one arguing out of both sides of your mouth - first you way under-sell the STUDENT DEMAND FOR TICKETS, than you erase the "open market" value of that ticket even between bonafide students! But somehow, you think this is a better idea than really making it a "first come, first serve" system by actually selling tickets to all students who want a ticket (a ticket that effectively has no economic value if not used by the purchasing party).....then requiring the student to really be the "first come, first served" with their valueless ticket outside their own use on a per game basis. How is this "devaluing their ticket" any more than the asinine system currently in place which devalues their ticket if they don't use it themselves??? At least this system puts a PREMIUM on the student that puts themselves at the gate and a seat first - doesn't get any "fairer" than that for each student and is certainly much fairer than "first come, first served" on limited tickets that have no real open market economic value due to PSU's intervention in the market!

 

[Erial_Lion]

Huh??? I thought you just said the selling student is LIMITED in what they can receive for the ticket (and specifically limited by PSU's INTERVENTION in the free market). So essentially you're providing an incentive for people not to buy ticket's and buy them from student ticket holder's at a discount to their "open-market value" despite the fact that the selling party may have a legitimate reason why they can't attend??? Why is it necessary at all in the exchange??? If their is this much "excess demand" for STUDENT TICKETS don't limit the sale of Student Tickets - it's there football team for Pete's Sake, sell as many student season tickets as the market demands rather than limiting the number PSU will sell to only half the student body!.....ever thought of that one???

A student can sell their tickets for a game from anywhere between $10 and $60. Or, you can transfer it to another student for free. PSU has decided that they don't want the student tickets that they're already selling at a discount to end up being scalped. Is that really such a terrible thing? Scalping was a HUGE issue back in the 2006/2007 time frame before this new policy went into effect, and in eliminating it, they did create some other issues (which I believe are minor when compared to the complaints they got about the price of tickets on the secondary market).

As for selling an unlimited number of student tickets...In the "real world", you do need to figure out how big the student section will be before you start selling tickets, or else you end up with more students than seats (or you don't know how many seats to hold, hence you have to hold some number of them and not make them available to season ticket holders). PSU has in the past oversold the student section on occasion, but that just opens up new issues if enough kids show up for the big games, and something that I doubt they'd intentionally do again due to the potential problems it creates. Plus, I believe that the number of students that wanted tickets this season and were turned away was extremely small.

 

[BlueBand]

You're the one arguing out of both sides of your mouth - first you way under-sell the STUDENT DEMAND FOR TICKETS, than you erase the "open market" value of that ticket even between bonafide students! But somehow, you think this is a better idea than really making it a "first come, first serve" system by actually selling tickets to all students who want a ticket (a ticket that effectively has no economic value if not used by the purchasing party).....then requiring the student to really be the "first come, first served" with their valueless ticket outside their own use on a per game basis. How is this "devaluing their ticket" any more than the asinine system currently in place which devalues their ticket if they don't use it themselves??? At least this system puts a PREMIUM on the student that puts themselves at the gate and a seat first - doesn't get any "fairer" than that for each student and is certainly much fairer than "first come, first served" on limited tickets that have no real open market economic value due to PSU's intervention in the market!

No, I'm not arguing out of both sides of my mouth. I just pointed out your solution is dangerous and idiotic.

Let's say there are 20K student seats. Let's say 25K students want tickets, so they sell 25K. Ohio State or Michigan come to town. 23K students try to get in, 3K get turned away. But they paid for their tickets. You don't think that won't cause a scene, fights, chanting, etc.? You think they'll just go home and say, "My bad, I should shown up earlier." No, they're going to be pissed off and create a scene.

On the other side of the spectrum, you'll have those student showing up not knowing where the cutoff is. They want to get in the game, they don't know how many people have already been admitted. They will be crowding the gates, pushing people from behind to make sure they get in. Because their ticket, which they paid for, doesn't guarantee them to even get in the stadium. That's a recipe for people getting hurt.

Of course, there's also the legal aspect... can you take money from someone and not provide the product? It's one thing for someone not to show up and use their ticket, or to show up late. It's another to show up and be denied entrance after you've already paid. Lawsuit, anyone?

The issue sounds like it's scalping. You're so concerned about the right of the individual to sell their ticket. Well, they are allowed to. Yes, PSU has created an exchange that prevents price gouging. You may say that's unfair. On the other hand, is it fair for a student with no intention of going to a game, to buy a ticket with the intention of scalping it, thus denying the opportunity for someone who wants to go to every game the ability to buy a ticket. Since demand outstrips supply. What PSU has done is created a system that allows students to sell tickets for games but prevents them from price gouging other students. Now I'm not going to argue the plus and minuses of that system and if it's the best solution. I don't know enough about how it's working. But it doesn't take a genius to see the inherent problems with your solution.

 

[BlueBand]

He's 100 times smarter than Barry. Barry does nothing but character assassinations on people. Franklin does research and has educated, knowledgeable opinions. His manner is argumentative, but his knowledge is solid. Don't compare the two.

Sort of like your hours of film study of Moorhead's offense? Sorry, that was too easy.

 

[21Guns]

Sort of like your hours of film study of Moorhead's offense? Sorry, that was too easy.

I noticed you have nothing for my actual point, but another lame attack.

Game, set, match.

 

[BlueBand]

I noticed you have nothing for my actual point, but another lame attack.

Game, set, match.

If you think selling thousands more student tickets than they can seat, and telling them that only first 20K get in, is an educated and knowledgable opinion...

Mic drop.

 

[kgilbert78]

One other reason for the gaps in the student section: At that age, many students are more fit than the adults in the rest of the stadium--thinner anyway. Given that the seating is essentially GA, at least within the section, the students can and do pack in tighter to be closer to the action.

 

[bjf1991]

This is effectively what they did anyway! They let students past the "Wanding" security checkpoints without wanding them because the "crush" was so great AND THEN REFUSED TO GIVE THEM TICKETS so they could get to their seats!!! Yea, think about that for a minute......they screwed thousands of $$$$ Paying ticketholders and refused to let them go to their seats because they weren't wanded despite the security people allowing them to pass unchecked to relieve the crush at the Wanding Gates!!!

With apologies to 21 Guns:


If every Dumbshit, in every town, got together and created their own town ........a "Town of Dumbshits", if you will.

In THAT town.....Sandy Baby would be the Town Dumbshit

 

[LafayetteBear]

Fair enough. As I said, I'm not defending Sandy... I just asked for examples of her failure. While not disputing your assertions, I would suggest that they may be examples of less than desired results as opposed to "unmitigated failure". Maybe the jury is still out.

I like Barry, and I have no particular interest in defending Sandy Barbour, but Barry's reports of Cal's financial demise are greatly exaggerated. I can assure you that the school is still doing well. (Not so well in football, but that has always been the case, both before, during and after Sandy's tenure.)