The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Megan Reynolds The new basketball ticket policy will make waiting in long lines for tickets - something these students did in 2005 - a thing of the past.

With basketball season less than two months away, many fans are beginning to wonder when they'll be able to buy their tickets, and more importantly, what they'll have to go through to buy them. Luckily for these fans, the Department of Athletics unveils the new student ticket lottery plan for the 2007-2008 season today.

Bidding farewell to last year's infamous wristbands, the Department of Athletics has chosen to use a new online weighted lottery system to determine who is eligible to purchase tickets.

The new lottery plan, which applies to both men's and women's tickets, was developed over the summer by a working group of representatives from the department of student activities, the division of athletics and the presidents of USG, Ryan McHardy, and SUBOG, Carlton Jones.

"There's no perfect system," said Neal Eskin, executive associate director of athletics. "But we've tried to make this process as convenient, safe, and fair as possible."

According to the new plan, students will receive an e-mail today inviting them to enter the ticket lottery at uconnhuskies.com. Registration for the lottery will continue until 12:30 p.m. Friday. Over the weekend, a computer program will choose the winners who will be notified by e-mail Monday morning. After receiving notification, students will have to return to uconnhuskies.com to purchase their tickets online. If all tickets are not sold out by Wednesday, a new batch of winners will be chosen.

Students can buy a full season of Gampel Pavilion and/or Hartford Civic Center tickets, which are $5 per game.

In the past, the department has tried a variety of gimmicks to determine who can buy men's tickets. Prior to 2004, tickets were sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Students traditionally camped out in front of Gampel waiting for the box office to open. The event became a social cornerstone to the UConn experience, with athletes themselves often serving pizza to the waiting fans.

In 2004, the ticket system was still first-come, first-serve, As a result, hundreds of students outside in the rain overnight and some were told there weren't enough tickets when they finally made it to the box office.

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