Breaking down the ticket lottery

The obnoxious chants and the bobbing heads, the waving arms and the sea of gold ‘mdash; all Pitt… The obnoxious chants and the bobbing heads, the waving arms and the sea of gold ‘mdash; all Pitt men’s basketball fans are familiar with the sights and sounds of the Oakland Zoo. For those familiar with the current student ticketing system, however, there have been a few changes to the plan for the 2008-09 season. This year, for the first time, fans may earn loyalty points for attending any Pitt women’s basketball home game. All women’s tickets are free of charge and are worth two loyalty points. But, a few games will be worth four points. These games are Nov. 11 vs. Penn State, Dec. 7 vs. Maryland, Jan. 30 vs. Marquette and Feb. 21 vs. Cincinnati. ‘I think it’s just a way to get more people to the women’s game and get people to the Pete and enjoy the events here,’ said David Villiotti, the coordinator of ticket operations. Students will not be penalized for not using a women’s basketball ticket if they print it out. Other events, such as a Pitt women’s volleyball game and a swimming and diving meet, will also be worth loyalty points, Villiotti said. Students who have e-mail addresses in the Panthers’ ticket office will receive e-mails notifying them of such events. But, for those out of the loop, the question remains: How to get tickets for the men’s games? The student-ticketing process for home men’s basketball games follows a system of loyalty points rewarded on a game-by-game basis. Most brochures tell students to go to pittsburghpanthers.com and click on a bunch of links to find the student-ticketing page. But simply logging in to the my.pitt.edu page, clicking on ‘Student Services’ and then on ‘Student Tickets’ will bring you to the same page, minus the extra clicking. First-time students must create an account when they first enter the page. Students receive three loyalty points just by doing this. After creating a profile, students can request, claim and cancel tickets for basketball games as well as view their history of attendance using the toolbar on the left side of the page. Registering for a ticket usually takes place about two weeks prior to a home game and lasts for two days. During that time, students must log in to their individual page and put in a request for a ticket. There is no advantage to being the first person to register, nor is there a disadvantage to being the last person to register. If they are granted a ticket, students have a two-day window from midnight on the first day until 11:59 p.m. on the second day to claim their ticket. For students not awarded a ticket, an additional one-day claim period takes place after the first claim period. If demand for tickets exceeds the supply, then tickets are awarded based on a loyalty points system. A student’s loyalty points total equals the amount of entries into a random number generator the ticket office uses to award tickets. Thus, the more loyalty points, the greater chance of receiving a ticket. The final method of buying a ticket is an on-demand scenario. These are tickets left over from all the claim periods that can be purchased and printed immediately. After students purchase their $5 tickets and print them out, they must bring their Pitt ID with their ticket to the arena to gain access. The name on the ticket and the name on the ID must be the same. ‘You bring the ticket and ID, and security gives you a wrist band to get into the lower bowl,’ said Villiotti. If a student prints a ticket but decides not to use it, he must cancel his ticket online no later than noon two days prior to game day. If the student does not cancel in time, he loses the $5 and is penalized one loyalty point. One loyalty point is awarded to students attending a game where the demand exceeds the supply. This happens in most Big East matchups. But, mostly for out-of-conference games, if the supply still exceeds the demand, students are awarded two loyalty points for attending the game.