During the Badger football home opener Sept. 2, the first three season-ticket holders, two of whom were UW-Madison students, got their season tickets revoked under a new ticket policy.
The UW Athletic Department's policy demands that game attendees engaging in illegal and/or disruptive behavior have their season tickets revoked, regardless of who bought the tickets.
For example, if an unruly fan buys a ticket from a season-ticket holder and subsequently gets caught being disruptive or gets arrested, the season-ticket holder—the seller to the unruly fan—will bear the brunt of the punishment by ticket revocation.
As of press time, it was not known whether the three ticket holders' tickets actually belonged to them or were purchased from an actual season-ticket holder. Individuals from UW-Madison Police Department could not be reached for comment Sunday night.
All three fans' tickets were revoked because of alcohol consumption necessitating detoxification services, according to the UWPD.
Another 37 Sept. 2 game attendees will receive letters of warning as well, a disciplinary measure intended to discourage fans from further misconduct.
""It's a combination of different instances that would prompt a letter of warning—different circumstances,"" said Vince Sweeney, UW Athletic Department senior associate director for external relations.
According to Sweeney, students can get their season tickets revoked even without being arrested. Multiple incidents of misconduct may lead to revocation.
""You'd likely get a letter of warning and we keep records of those,"" Sweeney said. ""And if you become a multiple letter of warning receiver, so to speak, you do run that risk.""
At Saturday's Badger game, the UWPD issued 53 citations, 43 of which were for underage consumption of alcohol, according to a UWPD release. UWPD ejected 89 individuals from the game, 55 of whom were UW-Madison students.
Students said they thought the level of misconduct at football games is so far the same as before the new ticket policy.
""I don't know anyone whose been arrested this year at all—I have in previous years, but not in the past two games, anyway,"" UW-Madison junior Pamela Andersen said. ""To me, the conduct seems the same as the past two years. It doesn't seem any different.""
Also of concern to UW Athletics officials and UW police at the Sept. 2 game was the overcrowding of the student section due to late arrivals. UW Athletics sent an e-mail to student season ticket holders last week asking them to arrive earlier for Saturday's game.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Doug Beard gave advice to students in an interview with NBC 15: ""If you do want to get in for kickoff, you can't arrive five minutes before the game.
