Ticket Line Procedures

[dsr11]

so after all these issue with line forming times, i'm thinking back to some of the bigger concerts the concert commision has put on.  i remember, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, dave matthews performed at cornell.  people began to line up FIVE DAYS before they gave out ticket numbers.  there was no "official" line forming time, nor did anyone die from being outside, not going to classes, etc.  people got tents and camped out.  people policed themselves (shocking, i know) for 5 days.

if they are going to continue to do the hockey sale in early september while the weather is warm, why not just let people camp out?  i understand there is some liability issue for the school, but if we can do it for concerts, why not for hockey tickets?  set a time for line numbers to be handed out, but don't set any "official" line up time, because as we've seen for the past few years, this flat out doesn't work.

i'm also surprised that no one (at least this year) has paralled the hockey sale to Duke basketball ticket sales (or any other major sport at another university).  people camp outside and wait in line for tickets.  i think someone from the athletic department at Cornell should get on the phone and call up someone at Duke and find out how Duke handles the basketball season ticket sale.  there are MANY schools across the country that have wildly popular athletic teams, and i can't imagine that they all have the problems that continue to plague Cornell's hockey ticket sale.  Call up Duke and ask about bball season ticket sales.  Call up PSU and ask about football season ticket sales.  Call up Michigan and see how they handle hockey season ticket sales.  Come on Cornell, get with it and fix this problem.

[melissa]

ok. maybe i'm a sucker for punishment but ... i like this idea!!!:-D

[Dave]

Invalidating the line numbers now is just going to lead to a riot. Even though I assume most of the people with the good line numbers don't deserve them at all, they are complete jerks and thus will completely go beserk if they announce that the numbers have been invalidated and that everything will just happen again next week.

What I just thought of now is.... why is it that when tickets for a concert or lecture event go on sale at Willard Straight, they go on sale at 9 AM on a school day? Isn't that contrary to the mission of Cornell University? I've seen the line for such tickets extend all the way from the Straight to around the library entrances. I'm sure that at least some people in line are sacrificing a class or 2 in order to get the tickets they want. I know that obviously the demand for concert tickets and the demand for hockey tickets is different, but if Cornell lets concert tix go on sale at 9 am, they ought to let the official line for hockey tickets form during the school day. You don't have to call it the "official" line, but patrol it well, make sure it's fair and not being cut into, and all will be well. It's a student's right to skip class if he/she chooses. 1 day of missed class in the long run is insignificant.

Gene, if you somehow keep your job after this mess, I suggest you take a field trip and call up any big school with a high-demand sport (for example, Duke men's basketball) and study what works there and how it could be applied here. Maybe I'll do that for you and include it in that complaint letter I'm gonna send to you and the AD.

And let me copy and paste a direct quote from you that was in the Cornell Daily Sun:

"I'm going to have totally strict security behind Bartels. No one is coming in and out. There's not going to be any cutting in line this year."

You're going to do this with ONE policeman? That's what you call extra security??? I think there are hundreds of Faithful ready to put their feet in your mouth.

[Dave]

Ah Dan, you got many of my points posted as I was writing mine... great minds think alike.

[am243]

I am sorry to see that some of the forum's most faithful contributors have been shut out of tickets from this year's system.  I can tell you that a lot of people I have talked to in the Ramin Room are buying a second ticket with the intention of selling it.  If you guys really want to get tickets, I would recommened going to the Ramin Room and asking around.  You may have to pay a little more for the tickets, but you can definitely get them.

[Section A]

I've heard the same thing about people selling their tickets around the Ramin room today; ask around - you may be pleasantly surprised. (The most shocking sale I witnessed yesterday, by the way, was when a girl paid 500 dollars for a line number of about 220.)

Furthermore, I didn't have season tickets my freshman year, but I went to 11 games anyhow; now I know that was a different season with different circumstances surrounding it, but all I'm saying is that it will be possible for some of you to go to games this year. And whenever I myself have an extra ticket or when I hear of a friend of mine having an extra ticket, I promise I'll post it here before anywhere else. Also - single game tickets go on sale (I believe) on Oct. 15. That may be an opportunity to buy some seats for several games, albeit at a little higher of a price.

[Adam \'01]

I have an idea.  Make Lynah bigger or build another rink.  Sure, I've been a loyal fan for years and I love Lynah and it's tradition.  But clearly demand outpaces supply here and THERE'S NO REASON FOR THAT.  Just build a rink with 1,000 or so more seats and you'll never have these issues.

[Dave]

One thing is true... you can't have a bigger rink and have the same asinine procedure as you had this year...

500 dollars for a line number??? If it's some frat boy jerk that is *profiting* from this now, that's beyond belief.

[jessica]

when the guy came past us and told us all to go home he said that the rule was never enforced and no one was sent home thursday or friday... he said "people came on wednesday, what were we supposed to do?"... to me it sounded like there was never any attempt made to enforce the rules.

[judy]

Every year, they say:
1. We'll dispurse any lines that start forming before this time.
2. The area will be heavily patrolled before that time.

What happens:
1. People start forming unofficial lines anticipating the official line
2. There's a couple of security people on hand who don't send the people in the unofficial line home
3. People who follow the rules get screwed.

So lessons learned:
1. People in charge of ticket distribution keep saying that they're tinkering with the system and have a better system than last year but there really hasn't been a change in the posted rules or how tose rules are really enforced
2. Just show up as early as possible and keep trying back if you want those tickets.

Have I missed anything?

[atb9]

I can confirm the one guy holding a place for 30.  He got a mouthful but even the people yelling at "the guy" were letting their friends cut them while they were yelling at him.  Did that last sentence make sense?  I've been in a daze since yesterday.

That line was a disaster.  The waiting list is basically line numbers 760-800, and they are hoping that Gene kicks out enough people during the next 24 hours.  I have so many friends that won't be getting tickets for the first time because they were afraid of being punished for showing up early.



Post Edited (09-13-03 12:46)

[Mark \'04]

Ok, hear me out here, because just like most of you, I got totally fucked by this line bull jazz, but considering just the sheer number of people who showed up yesterday, wouldn't there be a good chunk of people who got screwed regardless.  Maybe, we just need more seats.  If CU hockey is more popular, maybe there should be another answer; maybe more seats for students, less for townies perhaps.  And I'm not an expert with fundraising or the athletic department's budget, but is there even an effort to build us a bigger hockey rink so Cornellians won't have to deal with this disappointment for decades to come.  I mean, come on, we had a number one ranking last year; let's get a fuckin rink that can hold more than 2500 (or whatever it is) people.

[Baby_Fan]

I'm pissed too.  Here is a copy of the letter I sent the AD.  I attended all home games last year, the frozen four, and 3 away games (North Country in a snow storm, Colgate). This year I will be listening to the games about 300 yards from Lynah.

Hockey Ticket Screw-Up:
Needless to say I'm very upset at the way the ticket sales were run this year.  A friend of mine came into our lab at 3 and said there was already a long line outside and so we gathered our things and ran over there.  When we showed up there was about 300 people in front of us.  By the time they handed out line numbers, somehow 600 people had "cheated" and cut in front of us so that we can't get season tickets to the hockey game.  And I'm not alone, there were at least 500 more people behind me---all of which showed up before the "official" start time.  Obviously I'm deeply disappointed in the students who felt it was "ok" to cheat and cut into a line in a place where they did NOT deserve to be, but I'm disappointed that the AD did not have a way to prevent this temptation by the students.  All that you would have needed was some rope so that the line was single file instead of a big group of people. That way, if some people walked up to the line (or even 20 people like yesterday) it would be really obvious that they were cutting in line as they would have to duck under the rope and the people in this presumably tight line would have to make room.  And then all you need is 3-4 police or "officials" to watch the line so that this doesn't occur.  I'm convinced that this would have prevented the biggest travesty of yesterday--people who are not dedicated enough to sit in line from getting ahead of those who are.

[dsr11]

There is one problem with building a bigger rink.  With the exception of the Harvard game, there are empty seats in Lynah.  Granted, those tickets have been sold, but if you build a bigger rink, you have more empty seats.  

I haven't been to Lynah in a couple years, and I know this was always the case when I was in school.  This may have changed with the success of the team in recent years.

This all being said, I'm all for enlarging Lynah.  There was another thread on this board saying the waiting list for townie season tickets is years.  I don't think there would be any problem selling the tickets to fill a rink twice the size of the Lynah (~6000 seats total, if i'm remebering the size of lynah correctly).  Getting people's butts in the seats, thats another problem.  But they could sell the tickets and make their $$$.  

One potential problem I could see is parking.  I'm not sure how you'd handle the increased attendance at the games.  Not too many places to put another couple hundred cars up there.

[rhovorka]

Dan '01 wrote:

One potential problem I could see is parking.  I'm not sure how you'd handle the increased attendance at the games.  Not too many places to put another couple hundred cars up there.

An average crowd for a CU football game is about 6000.  Homecoming is usually over 10,000.  It's the same location.

Everyone calling for a bigger arena wasn't there for '92-'95 when having 75% capacity crowd was pretty good.  Even last year, we didn't have 1000+ students being turned away in the ticket line.  Obviously, I hope that we become a Frozen Four regular, but chances are that we won't enjoy 2003-level success every year and the number of fair-weather faithful will decrease.  Lynah has proven to be a good size for the campus and the community.