Monday, June 22, 2009

How should UWBadgers.com conduct football ticket sales?

Obviously UWBadgers.com does not have the server power to withstand the current rush to sign up for football tickets. I still think this is better than last year's lottery, but the athletic department obviously needs to work out more kinks for next year.

What do you suggest? Leave your comments here.

13 comments:

Sena said...

Stagger it like they do for signing up for classes, or by grade standing. Or by any simple way to divide it up so 20,000 kids aren't on at the same time.

penzy21 said...

I like the idea of the die-hards camping out for tickets. The online system would work great if the server could handle it. Maybe they should do it at some ridiculous time like 4 a.m. on a saturday morning to see who wants the tix most.

Charlie Gorichanaz said...
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Charlie Gorichanaz said...

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, since UW alone obviously can't handle it.

I like the 4 a.m. on a Saturday idea, too.

Unknown said...

As you know, I've done a lot of thinking/writing/proposing on this matter. I would make the argument that what's going on right now is not a terrible thing, as I think the diehards will sit through it as long as it takes and the casual fans will eventually flake out...kind of like the old campouts.

Obviously it'd be preferable to avoid the stress of waiting without knowing, so there are a few solutions.

Increasing the size of the server is the easiest solution if they are able to do it.

I also really like the idea of staggered sign-ups. Allocate maybe 5,000 tix for seniors/5th years, 4,000 for juniors, 3,000 for sophomores and 2,000 for freshmen and have four separate sign-up dates.

Penzy21, I've always been in favor of bringing back campouts. Really separates the men from the boys. A ridiculous order time, like 5 a.m. on a Sunday, would accomplish this as well.

Eric Levine and I have a radical proposal to eliminate season tickets and instead admit the first 14,000 students to swipe their Wiscards each Saturday. Would certainly guarantee a full student section at kickoff!

Either way, their task is not an enviable one...the demand for tickets seems to be insurmountable and, for reasons best saved for another time, the supply is low.

Lars Von Olafsen said...

I understand this never happen...... but a publicly funded university should never turn down students who want tickets. Its a shame that college sports have been turned into a business and unpaid amateur athlete have been turned into pawns. Although I do think it is possible to benefit financially while giving students more rights towards tickets. Example: Lets say Alverez gives any student who wants tickets, tickets for football and gives the students the best sideline seats for basketball similar to Duke or Michigan State. Of course anitally Bucky is going to loose some money on season tickets and support from some upset boosters....But I would predict that a 30,000 person student section in camp randall and 8,000 students on top of the opposing team in the kohl center would led to a more prestigious reputation, which would led to a larger demand to come to the university, which would eventually lead to higher academic standards. Athletically crazier student sections would lead to better records, and possibly this new and improved theme would lead to more media exposure, which would eventually lead to what it is all about .......MORE MONEY.


-Students on the sidelines at the Kohl center would give Bo Ryan 1-2 more wins a season.

Brett Bielema said...

If people knew how to use the internet, they wouldn't have a problem getting tickets

Lars Von Olafsen said...

Since their is more demand for tickets then actual tickets available that argument is invalid.

Charlie Gorichanaz said...

One more thing...

It's fine to think this process works fine because diehards will keep trying till they get in... if only everyone had an equal chance of getting in.

I wasn't able to access the site beginning around 8:10 a.m., and by 9, I found a friend who said he could get through while I couldn't. I had him use my ID and password to purchase tickets on my behalf, but I kept trying to get in to see how long it'd take. I gave up around 9:45.

I don't know what criteria the server might have been using to let people access the site, but clearly not everyone had an equal shot of getting in.

AJ said...

It's pretty simple, guys. There's two choices:
- increase the size of the server and make it a reliable free-for-all, or
-go back to campouts, and let the diehards win their own tickets

I'm not sure it's fair to allocate x amount of tickets to seniors, juniors, etc. And as interesting as Jacob's "first 14,000 at the gate get in" idea sounds, the material ramifications of having the Camp swarmed like that would be chaotic beyond reason, and such a stunt would be nipped after a week or two. But you're using your noggin with the WisCard thought; the vouchers simply have to go. You've got to use student IDs to admit kids; that puts the kibosh on scalpers for sure, and saves money on printing tickets AND vouchers every Saturday.

Finally, Andrew's got a nice utopian sentiment in letting all students get in. But it'd be a hard sell to the university that more students = more wins = more money, and as you did mention, you're replacing general season ticket holders that pay thousands a year for the rights to those seats, with drunk students paying $140 a year and may not care that much about the game to begin with. Besides, you're talking about a university's student body that largely can't find its way to Camp Randall by the end of the first quarter. Why in the world would you sell MORE student tickets when your general public is there at kickoff?

Either figure out your online problems, or camp out. And no matter what, ditch the vouchers and wristbands, and use student ID scanners. End of story, problem solved. Except knowing our athletic department, they'd find some way to screw with it.

Tyler Mason said...
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Tyler Mason said...

Who gets to write the annual football ticket column for the BH?

Anonymous said...

Make it an auction. It would mirror our free enterprise system -- sell high, buy low, all that. Oh, and worship the rich.