A little rant about the freshmen ticket lottery

[colinreturn]

I have been a lifelong OU fan, and its been my dream to attend the University of Oklahoma ever since i can remember. Last Friday, i received an email telling me I will not get OU Football Season Tickets for this season. So while me, and many other dedicated fans I have met will have to go to the scalpers on gameday to see our favorite team win, there are hundreds of freshmen sorority girls running around their dorms with season tickets, and know nothing about OU football and will never truly appreciate what they have.

I know most will say, "well, thats life buddy". But it just simply sucks. I also cant get any away game tickets either. Which I found out after I was already on soonersports at 7am this morning ready to buy away game tickets.

If anyone else on here is in the same boat. I feel for ya.

[PurcellSooner23]

I am pretty sure the students who got them last year have first dibs. It sux for incoming freshmen!

[OUDoc]

How do student tickets work these days? Is there still a physical "student ticket" or is it on your student ID now?

[badger]

Colin -

I know it sucks that you don't have a ticket today, but there are many other ways besides being a student that you can get into Sooner games this season.

(1) Away games. I know it's not the same thing, but Sooner football is Sooner football and some of the most important games aren't in Norman - bowl games, Big 12 championship games, RRS, etc. I know you said you can't get them through OU, but there are other ways to get tickets than the university that will often result in saved money... like your new friends here at sf.com, for example.

(2) Crappy non-conference games. Did you know that the first home game of the season is against (gasp!) Idaho State?! There won't be a section in the stadium that will have tickets available for resale at fairly cheap prices. Just check our Ticketcity site sponsor to see what I mean. You will get a ticket and will get it on the cheap for this game!

(3) Make friends with these sorority girls who don't understand football. Use what makes you dislike the fact that they have tix and you don't to your advantage. You might be able to get them to give up their ticket by telling them how hot gamedays are, how crowded the student section is, how important weekend laundry is, etc.

(4) Consider joining a student organization that gets into games in subsequent years. I do not know much about the Ruf-Neks, except that they are at every OU football game and that they are now run by the athletic department. If you play an musical instrument and can walk straight while half drunk... I'm not going to finish that sentence. Just consider it!

So, I hope that makes you feel better. Don't give up on getting into Owen Field or to an OU football game this year! You can still do it!

[OUstud]

How do student tickets work these days? Is there still a physical "student ticket" or is it on your student ID now?

You order online, beginning at 7 a.m. sometime in August for freshmen and 7 a.m. sometime in April/May for everyone else. On Sunday of each home game week they email you and tell you that you have until Wednesday to claim your ticket off of soonersports.

As for away tickets and Texas tickets, again it's 7 a.m. online, and you're basically at the mercy of ss.com's bush league server and your own connection. I was lucky to snag what I think was one of the last BYU tickets this morning, but some friends weren't so lucky.

Oh and Colin: I had some friends who lost the ticket lottery. You'll have no problem finding tickets, trust me. Some people just buy them to sell them, plus not everyone can go to every game, etc.

[OUMallen]

I have been a lifelong OU fan, and its been my dream to attend the University of Oklahoma ever since i can remember. Last Friday, i received an email telling me I will not get OU Football Season Tickets for this season. So while me, and many other dedicated fans I have met will have to go to the scalpers on gameday to see our favorite team win, there are hundreds of freshmen sorority girls running around their dorms with season tickets, and know nothing about OU football and will never truly appreciate what they have.

I know most will say, "well, thats life buddy". But it just simply sucks. I also cant get any away game tickets either. Which I found out after I was already on soonersports at 7am this morning ready to buy away game tickets.

If anyone else on here is in the same boat. I feel for ya.

Don't sweat it dude; there will be plenty of tickets to be had.

I feel you, too. I've missed out on the OU/tx lottery the last two years with my "adult" season tickets...where my best friend who sits next to me, donates the exact same amount, and has had tickets the same amount of time (i.e.- our points are exactly the same), has gotten a pair the last two years. It's frustrating, but it's not like I deserve them any more than he does (nor do you deserve it more than the sorority girls...)

[yermom]

some people just buy them so they can get Texas tickets to sell too

as a student, talk to other students the week of the game. i can't tell you how many student tickets i bought over the years. sometimes people will just give them away

[tru2ou]

Arent we all supposed to have equal access to everything now? Just because I don't have as much money as the next guy doesnt mean I shouldnt be able to go to the OU/TX game. I should have the right...its a moral issue! I want to be able to buy tickets at face value just like the guy who donates thousands of dollars!!!! :-)

- Tru

[illinisooner]

Yeah, it sucks not getting season tickets in the lottery...there was one my freshman year but not any of the other 3 years I was in school, from what I understand. But there are upsides, as I discovered last year when I lived in the area but didn't have season tickets! Games you don't reaaaally want to go to (Hello, Idaho St!), you won't spend money on and can watch at home without losing 20 pounds just sweating in the student section. Seriously though, you will have NO problem finding tickets: There are tons of signs posted in the dorms or on facebook from people who want to sell their ticket for the game. Some you'll pay face for (Tulsa) and some you'll pay more than face for (OSU).

Texas tickets: You can't get those as a freshman anyway, not through the school at least, but go down to Dallas anyway and partake in the craziness that is the West end.

Away tickets: Since you can't get them via OU, get them from your friends if they go to that school (or your friends' friends) or check that school's ticket site. If all else fails, and you really want to go, check the ticket brokers. And sadly, I don't think you can buy tickets from other students who have away game tickets but can't go...when you pick up your tickets at Kyle Field or wherever, you have to show your ID.

Bottom line is, don't let this ruin your season: You can also go to the ticket office at the ungodly hour of 7 AM on Thursdays before games and get a ticket for face value! Now, this is only if tickets are available, which happens when students don't pick up their ticket between Monday and Wednesday. You should be able to do this every week...except for OSU. That's probably your best bet for getting tickets, if you don't mind getting up early.

[badger]

^^^listen to this guy

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Uh, waiting for a letter to say whether you won or lost the ticket lottery is nothing... You should have been a student in the day were we had to camp out in front of the will call window on the north end of the stadium for the night (or a couple of nights before) Freshman tickets sales and then wake up at 2 am and stand in line until the window opened just because some one yelled "line rush". Good times...

[colinreturn]

btw its only a freshmen lottery. the next 3 years I can get tickets.

[colinreturn]

Colin -

I know it sucks that you don't have a ticket today, but there are many other ways besides being a student that you can get into Sooner games this season.

(1) Away games. I know it's not the same thing, but Sooner football is Sooner football and some of the most important games aren't in Norman - bowl games, Big 12 championship games, RRS, etc. I know you said you can't get them through OU, but there are other ways to get tickets than the university that will often result in saved money... like your new friends here at sf.com, for example.

(2) Crappy non-conference games. Did you know that the first home game of the season is against (gasp!) Idaho State?! There won't be a section in the stadium that will have tickets available for resale at fairly cheap prices. Just check our Ticketcity site sponsor to see what I mean. You will get a ticket and will get it on the cheap for this game!

(3) Make friends with these sorority girls who don't understand football. Use what makes you dislike the fact that they have tix and you don't to your advantage. You might be able to get them to give up their ticket by telling them how hot gamedays are, how crowded the student section is, how important weekend laundry is, etc.

(4) Consider joining a student organization that gets into games in subsequent years. I do not know much about the Ruf-Neks, except that they are at every OU football game and that they are now run by the athletic department. If you play an musical instrument and can walk straight while half drunk... I'm not going to finish that sentence. Just consider it!

So, I hope that makes you feel better. Don't give up on getting into Owen Field or to an OU football game this year! You can still do it!


oh, dont worry im going to every game. its just i would have liked to not worry about it every week. plus i have no access to tickets for the 3 away games i planned on going too....

[virginiasooner]

Ah, the ticket campout. I remember that! There were about 200 Texas tickets available when I was a freshman, and my roommate and a couple of her friends got in line at 7 am THE DAY BEFORE to get tickets. And she was lucky. And I did go for some of the revelries, because it was a great party! But things got out of hand, and by the time I graduated, they changed how tickets were allotted to freshman.

[TopDawg]

Sorry you didn't get them, but look at it this way...at least there is high demand. It was easy for me to get tickets when I was in school, but we went 9-13 at home during my first 4 years. Luckily Stoops brought that to 14-13 during my Super Senior year.

[illinisooner]

And don't worry too much about the away games...the only real "experience" this year would be at Nebraska (I doubt you'd planned on making the trek to Miami) and it does suck about not being able to go to that one. But Kansas? Eh, save it for basketball. Lubbock isn't exactly a grand experience, but if you have your heart set on going, we'll be there in 2011 so you'll still get to experience a game there. I'd say do what you can to attend the NU game, maybe spend the money on that that you had planned on spending on the other two away games.

[SeattleOUstudent]

Go to the Nebraska game. Do Kansas. Beautiful university. Also, do Lubbock. They will be on fire to upset us....Tech is the only away school I have not hit yet. I may do it this year.

[Jacie]

Wait'll you've graduated and in order to maximize the earning potential of that expensive degree you've taken a job someplace a thousand miles from Norman. Then the lottery will be does any television station you can receive play the Oklahoma game or a Big 10/Big East/Pac 10 game . . .

[StoopTroup]

btw its only a freshmen lottery. the next 3 years I can get tickets.

Dean has always bought SoonerFan.com Freshmen a ticket.

Just show up to the tailgate and ask for Dean. :D

[yermom]

meh, it's not that expensive to make the away games, and you can usually get tickets at the game for under face. sometimes you can still buy them from the other schools' ticket office. probably not in the case of Nebraska though

Nebraska's stadium was really cool to see. really, it's pretty cool to check out any of the other campuses, and the Campus Corner-like areas

i've yet to see a game in Lawrence, since the last time we were there we played in Arrowhead, so that should be cool. hopefully i never have to see us in Austin :D

[JLEW1818]

I have been a lifelong OU fan, and its been my dream to attend the University of Oklahoma ever since i can remember. Last Friday, i received an email telling me I will not get OU Football Season Tickets for this season. So while me, and many other dedicated fans I have met will have to go to the scalpers on gameday to see our favorite team win, there are hundreds of freshmen sorority girls running around their dorms with season tickets, and know nothing about OU football and will never truly appreciate what they have.

I know most will say, "well, thats life buddy". But it just simply sucks. I also cant get any away game tickets either. Which I found out after I was already on soonersports at 7am this morning ready to buy away game tickets.

If anyone else on here is in the same boat. I feel for ya.



if you get an OU ticket marketplace membership you can buy tickets from people at face value, right now i see Idaho State, Kstate, Baylor, Tulsa, aggy on the list

[Gresho Murford]

my freshman year I never got an email saying that I won the lottery. So I called the ticket office just to make sure that I didn't get them. The person told me that I DID get tickets!

So to my surprise I went to pick up my tickets and the old lady there told me that I DID NOT recieve tickets :( (I am guessing that the person on the phone was looking at my brothers account).

Anyway I told the old lady that I had called and they told me I did get them. She was awesome and gave me some anyways! It is worth a try

[Sooner24]

my freshman year I never got an email saying that I won the lottery. So I called the ticket office just to make sure that I didn't get them. The person told me that I DID get tickets!

So to my surprise I went to pick up my tickets and the old lady there told me that I DID NOT recieve tickets :( (I am guessing that the person on the phone was looking at my brothers account).

Anyway I told the old lady that I had called and they told me I did get them. She was awesome and gave me some anyways! It is worth a try

But did she give you tickets?

[Gresho Murford]

But did she give you tickets?

yes that as well:D 70s bush

[josh09]

I have been a lifelong OU fan, and its been my dream to attend the University of Oklahoma ever since i can remember. Last Friday, i received an email telling me I will not get OU Football Season Tickets for this season. So while me, and many other dedicated fans I have met will have to go to the scalpers on gameday to see our favorite team win, there are hundreds of freshmen sorority girls running around their dorms with season tickets, and know nothing about OU football and will never truly appreciate what they have.

I know most will say, "well, thats life buddy". But it just simply sucks. I also cant get any away game tickets either. Which I found out after I was already on soonersports at 7am this morning ready to buy away game tickets.

If anyone else on here is in the same boat. I feel for ya.

Well on the other hand, theres also some lifelong fans who DID get tickets, like me. It works either way man, and unfortunately I heard it was random. I'm a freshman too, and of course you saw that its the highest demand for tickets in a long time for freshman, so that's the problem.

[sooner59]

Signs in the dorms, around campus, and posts on marketplaces all work. The former "HUB" marketplace is now on the OU Daily's website, so you might check there. I didn't get tickets in the freshmen lottery either. I still ended up at every game that season. And in 2003, tickets were not easy to come by. Thursday mornings, get there early and pick up tickets for face at the ticket office that are sold due to people not picking up their tickets by Wednesday night. If anything, just ask around. Sometimes people are going out of town and need to get rid of their tickets. If you know sorority girls, ask if someone in their house is looking to sell. I never had to buy from a scalper as a freshmen. I always ended up with a student ticket. The OSU game in 2003 was huge, but I used my business smarts to come up with 6 student tickets......3 for me and a couple friends, and 3 that I sold and paid for our tickets plus a nice profit. So I ended up making money and the 3 of us went to the OSU for free. It was awesome. If you really want to go to the games, you will find a way, its not that hard.

[SoonerBacker]

Uh, waiting for a letter to say whether you won or lost the ticket lottery is nothing... You should have been a student in the day were we had to camp out in front of the will call window on the north end of the stadium for the night (or a couple of nights before) Freshman tickets sales and then wake up at 2 am and stand in line until the window opened just because some one yelled "line rush". Good times...


^^^^^Those were the days!!!^^^^^

It could be worse! We could still be averaging the number of wins per year racked up during the 90s! God knows there were planty of season tickets around back then.

[TopDawg]

It could be worse! We could still be averaging the number of wins per year racked up during the 90s! God knows there were planty of season tickets around back then.

As evidenced by this previous post:


Sorry you didn't get them, but look at it this way...at least there is high demand. It was easy for me to get tickets when I was in school, but we went 9-13 at home during my first 4 years. Luckily Stoops brought that to 14-13 during my Super Senior year.

;)

[SanJoaquinSooner]

If it's anything like when I was a freshman, freshman tickets suck anyway - the worst possible seats.

Be resourceful, you can do better than your average freshman.

[Will]

wawawawaswawawa!!!!!

[Alum81]

Go to the next health care town hall in Oklahoma, and complain about this! After you show up on CNN as a lunatic, go to Ebay and bid for the tickets you want! But, bid high enough to get them, or you will feel like the tiny pct. of Oklahomans' who don't have seson tickets and think the Gov't should provide you with season tickets! (all those who neg spek this need to understand parody and get a real life!)

[btk108]

Ebay...but be cautious.....I got season tickets early for an awesome price....I used Sooner Marketplace for basketball tickets last year, it worked great, definitely worth the membership fee....not sure how it plays out in football.

[KABOOKIE]

Nothing to add here.

Other than I don't care if those soroity girls know nothing about football. The 1st few games they show up wearing next to nothing. Wahooo!

Where's that OKLA - HOMA pic? :D

[SoonerAficionadOU]

Anyone know the policies on Master's students and student tickets?

[sooner59]

Anyone know the policies on Master's students and student tickets?

There isn't one. You are considered an upper classmen. But you would still have had to order them in the spring. Student tickets are sold out. Freshmen are set aside a set amount of tickets and the lottery is for them. If you don't have tickets by now, you likely aren't getting them. Your best bet is follow the tips for the freshmen. If you ordered them in the spring, you still get them as a masters student. I ordered mine in the spring as a graduating senior and now I am a new student at OUHSC, so you just have to make sure they know your ID# changed. Hope that answers your question.

[Gresho Murford]

anyone know if they have started scanning student ids yet? I always get a student ticket and use my old ID. I am worried that they will start scanning ids and I will be sol

[badger]

If it's anything like when I was a freshman, freshman tickets suck anyway - the worst possible seats.

Be resourceful, you can do better than your average freshman.

:D Only a freshman would fall for that

Senior: Hey freshman sitting in the front row, are you a freshman?
Freshman: Yes... I lined up to get in about 10 hours before the game and didn't get any sleep last night. Ooo, I'm so excited!
Senior: Sorry, these are upperclassmen seats. You have to sit in the top row.
Freshman: Awww, man, I do?
Senior: Yes, but the view's awesome

:rolleyes:

[TopDawg]

Front row seats suck for football.

Not to be confused with Front Row Fans seats (http://www.frontrowfans.com/home/), which are awesome. (It's another place to get tickets.)

[badger]

Hey now, not everyone can be a tall guy. Chick love front row seats because they don't have YOU towering over them! :P

[Spanish Sooner]

As far as I know they haven't started scanning Student IDs.

I think this is the first year, at least the second, in the last five years where the lottery has denied students tickets.

When I was a freshman in 04, there was a lottery and I didn't get tickets. But from what I can remember 05, 06, 07 all freshman who wanted season tickets go them. I can't remember last year but it may have been used. But I was starting my fifth year at OU, first as a grad student, and was pretty sure I was getting tickets. OU-Texas tickets its still a chore. This year is gonna be rough. Last year they sold out quick. 04 sold out by 12:30 pm, 05-07 didn't sell out til the afternoon. This year I'm sure it will be sold out 11:00