Rhody Ruckus members will no longer be guaranteed tickets to the PC game
The University of Rhode Island Department of Athletics has developed a new lottery system for allocating student tickets for the URI vs. Providence College men’s basketball game.
The game between the two rivals has historically been the most popular game of URI’s season, boasting high levels of student interest. This leads to high-ticket demand, which has been more than the Ryan Center can accommodate in the past. Because of this, athletics has developed a new lottery system for students to acquire tickets.
The system is based upon points. Students that have attended at least one men’s basketball game received points accordingly. Most games have been worth one point. However, the games against Nicholls State University and Manhattan College were worth two. Students also received a point for going to the women’s basketball game against the University of Vermont. Rhody Ruckus members also received one extra point.
Each of these points represents an entry into the lottery. The more games a student has attended, the more times their name was entered into the lottery system.
According to Associate Athletic Director for Ticketing Maureen McCarthy, there have been many different ticket organization methods in the past, but this lottery system seems the most likely to provide the fairest results.
“I’ve been here a long time and I’ve been in charge of a million different ways of doing this, and I can honestly say, while it’s a lot of work on my part, it’s probably the most equitable way to do it,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s going to be the most fair to the people that actually come out and support the team.”
On Dec. 3, students who won a ticket from the lottery received email and text communications from the ticketing department. Students that won a ticket were required to log onto their online Ram Account through the Ryan Center’s website to claim their ticket.
According to McCarthy, students that did not claim their ticket within the 24-hour window had their ticket re-entered into the lottery for other students to receive. Those second-round winners were notified at 6 p.m. yesterday through the same email and text communication.
McCarthy does not anticipate any of the 1,500 student tickets will be left over at the end of this lottery process. If there are any, they will be sold on Friday.
In previous years, the Ryan Center has used systems such as first-come-first-serve ticketing, resulting in students lining up ahead of time and missing classes because of it.
“You could’ve been a fan that came every game, and you might’ve got locked out just because that person wanted to come got up earlier and got in line first,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy also has had problems with students re-selling their URI vs. PC game ticket on the secondary market for an upscaled value. The Ryan Center hopes to avoid this through the new lottery system.
“Through [the lottery] we feel like you’ve shown, at least this year, your dedication by coming to at least one game, if not more, and you’ll get an opportunity to be entered into this lottery,” McCarthy said. “It’s not like we’re pulling names out of a hat; it’s a ticketing system that’s running a program.”
Student Katherine Blake has been dedicated to going to the games to ensure herself a better chance in the new lottery. Blake has been going to games she wouldn’t normally go to due to the need for getting extra lottery entries. Blake is unsure if the lottery is the best way to do it, but does believe that it has been the fairest.
“First come first serve would be a better way in my opinion,” she said. “I think people who are like die-hard fans and really want to go to the game will obviously try to get more lottery points because they like the games better. But then there’s people who have gone to one game or just went to swipe in and didn’t really go to the game, and they could get a ticket over someone who really wants one.”
Blake believes that there is no perfectly fair solution to allocate tickets for the game.
“It’s literally luck,” she said. “I could have 10 names in and you could have one, and they could pick one. I think it’s the fairest, it’s just not really the best option for people who really want to go compared to those who are like ‘eh.’”