Athletics drops new ticketing policy

Just three days after changing its student ticketing policy to award an extra loyalty point to students who arrive between 90 and 60 minutes prior to Terrapin men's basketball games, the Athletics Department has discontinued the program.

The initiative, which was designed to give students extra incentive to arrive early and support the team, did not receive good reviews. Many students called and e-mailed the Athletics Department, voicing their concern that the extra loyalty point would only further encourage the controversial practice known as scanning and leaving.

"The students e-mailed and called with really well thought-out arguments," Senior Associate Athletics Director Brian Ullmann said. "We had considered those arguments ahead of time, but we felt like it was enough and that the arguments were valid enough. ... Because the last thing we want to do is encourage more scan-and-leave."

Some thought under the new policy, students would go earlier to earn the extra point but be less encouraged to stay for over an hour of pregame activity.

Students who arrived more than an hour before Tuesday's exhibition against Indiana (Pa.) did receive an extra loyalty point, regardless of whether they stayed. But for the remainder of the season, only attendance — not arrival time — will play a factor in loyalty points. There will still be no entry times until conference play begins.

The reversal of policy was strictly a result of student feedback — not anything involving Tuesday's exhibition, according to Ullmann. He also noted that it is nearly impossible to determine whether there was an increase in people who did scan and leave.

For games with more demand for tickets than supply, the department runs a lottery based on loyalty points to determine which students will receive tickets. Students who have accumulated enough loyalty points to make the top 25 percent are guaranteed a ticket.

Students in the remaining 75 percent are cast into a lottery where the chance of receiving a ticket is calculated by point totals.

Students who arrived early to Tuesday's game voiced concerns over the new policy and offered their own solutions.

"I am one of the few that goes to games early," sophomore letters and sciences major Alex Kopp said. "Maybe you shouldn't be able to leave at least until the game starts. Obviously there are emergencies, and you need to leave, but there should be some enforcement on this."

Yesterday afternoon Ullmann wrote an e-mail to students explaining the situation. And although the new policy no longer applies, he said the department is always evaluating new programs in an effort to achieve a better system.

"We take student input very seriously," Ullmann said. "There's no perfect system. Obviously, a perfect system would somehow be able to prevent scan-and-leave entirely. But we're constantly striving to make it as good as possible."

Staff writer Jeremy Schneider contributed to this report.

engelke@umdbk.com