An e-mail regarding this change in the loyalty point system should be going out to all students soon. I thought I’d lay it out for everyone anyway:
Starting with exhibition game against Indiana Univ. (PA) on November 3, the athletic department will be implementing a system that rewards students for arriving early at men’s basketball games.
The doors for men’s basketball will open 90 minutes prior to all home games during the 2009-10 season. Students who arrive between 90 and 60 minutes prior to the game will be awarded an additional loyalty point. Earning more loyalty points will give you a greater chance at obtaining tickets when games go to a lottery system.
Student sections are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis so arrive early to choose the best available courtside seats. Be there early and cheer loudly to show why Maryland has the best home court advantage in the country.
Thanks for your support and Go Terps!
We all know how important loyalty points are, especially this season with a fair amount of anticipation built up around campus already.
If the Terps live up to some of these Top-25 preseason expectations, it’s possible there will be games other than Duke and North Carolina that go to a lottery system, in which case some students might get left out of Comcast Center.
This move brings up some intersting questions: How important is it for fans to show up over an hour early to a game? Will this help curb the problem of scan-and-leavers? How fair is this to students who have class or work?
Hopefully, we’ll be able to have some more detailed explanation and reaction in Tuesday’s Monday’s Diamondback, in time for the team’s exhibition opener. For now though, feel free to leave your thoughts on the new wrinkle to the system in the comments section below.
Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akraut@umdbk.com.
This is possibly the worst idea umd ticketing has had. This does not anyone from scannign and leaving. Now fans who want to go to the important games will have to go 90 minutes early to scan, and because the worhtless games wont start for 90 more minutes, they will leave. Students dont have all night to sit around in comcast. The ones who would show up at game time and stay for the 2 hour game will now have to show up early and not catch any of the game. At least TV viewership will be up. This needs to be revoked
Horrible idea. Now the people that scan and leave can show up an hour early, not get shamed publicly, and get more loyalty points than the people that show up on time because they actually want to watch the game.
The athletic department needs to solve the scan-and-leave problem ASAP. The people who get there that early to watch the game will have good seats anyway. This new system helps scan-and-leavers who arrive and leave early and it hurts people who get to the game shortly before tipoff to watch the whole game.