With Auburn's 2011 season-opener against Utah State this Saturday, students who weren't able to snag a season package are trying to find a way into Jordan-Hare Stadium in time to see the Tigers in action.
According to the Auburn Ticket Office, 14,500 full- season student tickets and 1,000 mini-season student tickets were made available to eligible students.
Tickets were made available to students based on the number of semester hours they've completed at Auburn University.
The full-season package includes tickets to all home games, including face-offs against Utah State University, Mississippi State University, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida, the University of Mississippi, Samford University and the University of Alabama.
The mini-season package includes one lower-level reserved ticket to six home games including Utah State, Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, Florida, Ole Miss and Samford. The Alabama game is the only home game not included in the mini-season package.
According to the Auburn Ticket Office, student season tickets are sold out, and no more will be made available to students for either home or away games.
Although a good number of Auburn students willingly choose to sell their tickets to those eager to attend, prices can become inflated and the quantity still limited.
Ken Porter, junior in journalism, said the University was unsuccessful in making an appropriate number of tickets available to students for the coming football season.
"I think they should expand the student section, so every student can get tickets," Porter said. "We are the ones who are paying to go here."
Porter, a transfer student from Alabama, suggested a different route the ticket office could take in regards to student ticket distribution.
"The ticket office here should set up a program like Alabama does," Porter said. "While I was there, everyone was able to get tickets, but if you sold your ticket or didn't use it you got penalized. If you got so many points by the end of the year, you couldn't get tickets for the following year."
Porter isn't the only one who is disappointed with Auburn's ticketing system.
"My personal opinion is that there isn't enough student tickets available for the people that actually attend Auburn University," said Jay Spence, senior in business management. "I think that more tickets should be issued to students so that they can show their school spirit instead of having to order a ticket online or risk getting taken advantage of by a ticket scalper."
Kimberly Carroll, senior in communication, feels the University is doing the best it can.
"I think that student affairs makes enough tickets," Carroll said. "They actually tend to oversell the student section every year."
The Auburn Tigers' success generated an increased amount of hype last season, causing even more fans to attend games. According to Carroll, the student section overflowed several times last year.
"Many freshmen complain that they did not get tickets or that they got a miniseason, but I think it's a rite of passage," Carroll said. "If every freshman were able to get tickets, there would not be enough seats for season-ticket holders in the student section."
Underclassmen typically miss out on a full season.
"I had a miniseason as a freshman and though I was not entirely happy, it just made me appreciate it that much more the next year when I was able to get season tickets," Carroll said. "I honestly do not think it is the best idea to make more student tickets available unless the student-section seating expands."
*In this article posted on Sept. 1, it was incorrectly stated that the mini-season football package includes tickets to Utah State and Florida . The mini-season football package only includes Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss and Samford. We regret the error.
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