UNC students vote on new basketball ticket policy

Two tickets per person and fewer phases are all part of this year’s new basketball ticket policy.

Results from an online survey conducted last month by the Carolina Athletic Association indicated that the two-ticket-per-student general admission policy has student support. It won by 1,140 votes.

Students received an e-mail Thursday from the UNC Athletic Ticket Office, which announced the policy for the 2010-11 men’s basketball season.

Of the 5,561 students who took the survey, 47 percent voted for the winning ticket policy.

The other options included two-tickets-per-student with reserved seating and a one-ticket-per-student policy with a group option. The one-ticket-per-student policy option received the fewest votes — accounting for 11.5 percent of the vote.

While the ticketing policy is usually changed under each CAA president, current president Brandon Finch said he hoped the democratic process of choosing the policy will satisfy students.

“Ultimately it was the decision of the student body,” said CAA ticketing chairman Tucker Idol.

Idol said students likely came to appreciate the success of the two-ticket policy in 2008-09 after witnessing the controversial 2009-10 policy. He said the Smith Center was rarely filled to more than 85 percent capacity under last year’s one-ticket-per-student system.

“First and foremost, we want to fill the seats,” Idol said.

The entrance will also change this season due to an ongoing construction project. Students will enter Gate C, as opposed to Gate D, which served as last year’s entrance.

Finch, who serves as the student voice to the ticketing office, wrote in an e-mail that he wasn’t surprised with the survey results.

“We knew many students were unhappy with last year’s policy,” he said in the e-mail.

Finch added that he hopes all students familiarize themselves with the new policy so they don’t miss out on applying to the ticket lottery, which closes at the end of each month of the basketball season.

Junior Isaac Kaufman said he didn’t vote for the winning policy, but was still pleased with the survey’s outcome.

“It’s a better policy than last year,” Kaufman said. “It’s easier to go with your friends.”

He said he disliked last year’s one-ticket policy because he often had to wait for a later phase if he wanted to sit with people he knew.

He added that the change to three phases from five was well-advised.

“Five phases seemed a bit excessive,” he said.

Idol said extra changes will encourage filling the Smith Center. These include guest passes and a live Twitter feed that will post the number of seats left for standby. He said he would update the Twitter feed himself so that students would be encouraged to come to the game knowing seats were still available.

Idol said the new guest pass policy — which allows students to purchase guest passes for family and friends — has direct advantages for graduate students, who often want to bring family members to games.

The guest passes are limited and the amount available is dependent on the game’s popularity, Idol said.

The guest passes went on sale Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. and range from $25 to $50 per ticket. The guest tickets will have seat assignments.

Idol said current students were not likely to be displaced from seats since so few guest passes are offered per game.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.