Taylor Robinette noticed more and more of his friends complaining about forgetting to sign up for UNC Men’s Basketball ticket lotteries — and he thought he could solve that problem.
Robinette, along with Jack Wolhfert, both freshmen business and computer science majors, launched Tuesday what they consider a solution: UNC “Auto Lotto.”
Through the Auto Lotto, students can securely enter the UNC email address and their ticket center password, along with paying a $3.95 fee to be automatically entered into every student ticket lottery.
Robinette said that he’s gotten a lot of good feedback since the sight was launched.
Connor DeHaven, freshmen mathematical decisions major, is a fan of the system.
“I think as a college student its hard to think a ahead and by the time you realize its usually too late,” said DeHaven.
Some students, on the other hand are not so enamored with the new system.
Austin Norwood, a freshman, feels like the system takes away from the competitive nature of the student ticket lottery.
“I’m more concerned about people that don’t really care about going to the games ending up with the tickets and then the student section not being filled to capacity,” said Norwood.
“That would be a problem.”
In the past, students were allowed to register for the entire lottery in one sitting, said Tim Sabo, the assistant director of ticket operations.
“We’re now registering closer to games,” he said.
“You have better sense if you can go to the game if you win. You make that decision individually based on your need.”
With the old system, the no-show rate was higher and it made it less likely for each student to get tickets.
Among concerns about attendance, the security of the system has also been called into question.
When the site was first launched, it required you to enter your PID in lieu of your UNC email address.
Robinette said that the site is entirely secure.
“It is encrypted with SSL sockets. It’s the same thing Google and Facebook uses. We will never actually be able to see the PID (now email) and password,” he said.
“It just automates the same process you would do manually.”
Robinette said their purpose wasn’t to work around or exploit the system, just to level the playing field and help everyone get in on the lottery.
“We think it will help the student body and we don’t really see any negatives at this point.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
