Spartan fans in their respective football, basketball and hockey student section seats will no longer be seeing individuals from outside of MSU filling the bleachers around them.
Recent attention toward the revamped student section ticket policy, which allows student section ticket holders to transfer their tickets to the ID cards of other students without a fee, will make it much harder for non-students to attend games in student-specific seats.
If the picture on an ID card doesn’t match the person in line at the student section entrance, the individual will be turned away from the gates and the ID could be confiscated. The process of transferring a ticket is now free and can be done online on a computer or smart phone in minutes.
“We’re just going to be more vigilant about protecting the interest of our students,” Associate Athletics Director Paul Schager said. “As more students do it the correct way, instead of handing their ID off to somebody, it’ll be better for everybody.”
After the football game against Michigan, officials began discussions as to how MSU’s current policy on the sale and resale of student section tickets could be enforced more aggressively, Schager said.
“Anytime you have a high-demand game, it brings certain things to the forefront where you have to be more strict about certain policies,” Schager said.
Since today’s MSU identification cards are much different than they were in years past, the transfer system could encourage a better turnout for sporting events and provide safety and security for students.
“If other people have the ID of someone, it has access to buildings, it has money on it (and) that’s a pretty big risk, so they want you to keep your own ID,” Matthew Martin said, Izzone director at The Association of Future Alumni and marketing senior.
“We want MSU students in the MSU student section,” Martin said.
Some questions have been raised as to how the policy will affect season ticket holders and MSU students looking to purchase entry to a single-game, but Martin said basketball fans still will be able to get Izzone points if they transfer their ticket to another student.
“The ticket holder still gets any points that the person that goes for them earns,” Martin said. “It’s just as if you went, except it’s on someone else’s ID.”
Many students are taking a liking to the further implementation of the ticket policy.
“It keeps the Izzone very cohesive and allows it to be the most dominating student section in college basketball,” accounting junior Andrew Balzer said. “The transfer system is really easy. It’s free and takes about five minutes.”
The ticket system also allows for more options, such as the return or turnback feature for students who decide they no longer want to attend a game.
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