The UW-Madison Athletic Department will revert to the previous football ticketing system for the remainder of the season, beginning with the game this Saturday against Ohio State.
Similar to past years, students will exchange validated vouchers for reserved seating tickets. Students will no longer receive colored wristbands, which were used at the first two home football games this season.
Vince Sweeney, senior associate athletic director for external relations, said officials decided to return to the old procedure after reading survey responses from student season-ticket holders.
We really do care about the students, and we value their input,"" he said. ""[Their input] is what led us to this decision '¦ so we are hoping that it will be well-received.""
Sweeney said students should be able to find their seats more easily with portals marked to enter either the upper half or lower half of each student section. Students had complained about congestion caused by the wristband policy.
""We think we can deal with some of that migration if we try and provide a bit more information as [students] are trying to decide what portal they should enter,"" Sweeney said.
The next two home games, against Ohio State and Penn State, start at 7 p.m., a fact which contributed to the switch from wristbands to assigned seating.
""I am nervous because this week is a night game and people are going to be trying to get better seats and may be a little more out of control,"" said Kayla Haag, a UW-Madison sophomore and football volunteer for Per Mar.
Haag said it was difficult to work last year's games because volunteers could not identify students sitting in the wrong section.
""At least with the wristbands you could tell who was in the wrong section '¦ I think it is hard to see the [section] letters on people's tickets as they pass by.""
Kelsey Padrutt, a UW-Madison sophomore and football ticketholder, said she had to wait 15 minutes before getting through her assigned portal for the game against Marshall.
""The games I went to were not big games, so people did not come early, but I think students might get to the game a little earlier for night games,"" she said.
To avoid waiting in line, athletic officials ask students to sit in their assigned section and to arrive at least 20 minutes before Saturday's kickoff.
