It’s that time of the year again when everyone, veteran fans and freshmen alike, are awaiting the sale of men’s ice hockey season tickets.
This year the ticket sale process will encompass two days. Starting Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m., line number assignments and ticket pre-payment will begin on a first come, first serve basis. Students will be allowed to line up behind the Ramin Room in Bartels Hall prior to the 1 p.m. line number assignments, but there will be strict rules being enforced by the athletic office staff. Students are not allowed to hold places in the line for someone else, nor are they allowed to leave the line at any time with the only exception being a 15-minute bathroom break monitored by the overnight staff.
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, students in line, with a valid Cornell ID, will be issued one line number that will enable them to purchase up to two season tickets. After the line numbers have been given out there will be random line checks, but one student may hold the line number for one other student at that point. If a line number is not present at the time of the random line check, which will be announced five to ten minutes in advance, then that line number becomes invalid.
The line number and pre-payment process will continue until the 11 p.m. deadline on Saturday night when all students holding line numbers are required to prepay for tickets. The cost of tickets for the 2002-03 season are 90 dollars per seat and cannot be paid using personal checks or bursar charges.
Seat selection and ticket pick-up begins on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. and will run until completion. Students must bring with them their completed line number forms and a validated paid receipt in order to select their seats. The seat selection times, according to line number, are already designated and posted in front of the ticket office window. Refunds will be given to students who later choose for any reason to not become season ticket holders.
This year the athletic office decided to revert back to the process that was used two years ago, after an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the mayhem that is usually associated with season ticket sales.
Last year, instead of giving a specific time for line numbers to be given out, the ticket office only gave the date in which the numbers were to be distributed to try and avoid massive lines from forming and students from camping out overnight. But due to the advancements of communication, hordes of students rushed the ticket office as soon as ticket sales began as people used cell phones and e-mail to alert their fellow fans that the ticket process was underway.
The strategy this year is to try and prevent the congestion that ensued from previous years by implementing structure and enforcing rules — such as no holding spaces and no cutting the line — on those that choose to camp out.
“We realize that students are going to wait all night regardless. We are just trying to make this year more fair to the students that wait on the line,” said Gene Nighman, the Cornell ticket office manager.
He hopes that the new rules will prevent students from lining up too early, but he is prepared for the crowd that may come by offering to open up the Ramin Room for students that come prepared to wait in line overnight.
For fans that are not Cornell University students, their names will be placed on a waiting list and season tickets will be given out after all the student tickets have been given out and seats have been finalized. For people that are only looking to watch a particular game, individual game tickets will be given out on Oct. 16 starting at 10 a.m. on a first come, first serve basis.
The key for everyone, as usual, seems to be get there as early as possible.
Archived article by Danielle Nicholson