By: Jared Shafran, News Staff
The men’s basketball team’s first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) game of the season, a Dec. 4 match against Drexel, will be unlike any other on the Huskies’ schedule this season: It will take place at the TD Garden. Part of the Boston Tip Off Classic, which also includes a game between Boston College and UMass-Amherst, this will be the first time the team has played at the Garden since 1973.
The Northeastern Athletics Department announced Sunday it would have a special ticket sale for students. To get the first chance at buying the $10 student-only ticket, fans have to attend this Saturday’s women’s hockey game against Yale at 2 p.m. With only 175 floor seats available, it is recommended that students arrive early to get in line. There will also be another 425 student seats priced at $10 that athletics will sell once the floor tickets are gone. Tickets will not be sold until the end of the third period, ensuring students stay for the entire game.
This is a great idea. Athletics should be commended for combining two separate events in order to both get students excited for the upcoming basketball season and increase the attendance for a women’s hockey game. The students who show up on Saturday are going to cheer for their team, and it will give the players an extra incentive knowing they will have more fans rooting them on.
The strategy worked last year for the Beanpot when athletics sold tickets at the end of a men’s hockey team practice that was open to fans.
The only problem is that, inevitably, there will be fans who cannot attend the women’s game and stay until the end. Students are busy on Saturdays; giving them six days notice isn’t enough time for them to clear their schedules. This has also been a problem for these types of events in the past.
We are a school that prides itself on getting work experience. There are many co-op jobs that force students to be available for work at all hours of the day, every day of the week.
For the students who still want the ability to attend every game, why not offer a season ticket package? The package could be reasonably priced and the athletics department could make more money than it does now from students, as admission is free to all Northeastern contests.
The price for games like the Tip Off and Beanpot could be included, because that money doesn’t go to the university. More importantly, die-hard fans could secure a ticket to every game without worrying about standing on a line outside of Matthews Arena in late January when temperatures are low and snow is on the ground.
It is great to see that interest in Northeastern athletics is high, but the department should be careful not to alienate its most valuable asset–its dedicated fan-base.
