The Northwestern Men’s basketball team is in the midst of an incredible season, with legitimate NCAA tournament hopes. This has brought renewed attention and interest to the team, requiring the roll out of a new ticketing system to deal with increased demand.
*crowd sounds as intro music*
It’s been an exciting year for Northwestern Men’s Basketball. Lead by Senior Guards Chase Audige and Boo Buie, The Cats are having their best season since they reached the NCAA tournament in 2017. With a solid, defense-focused play style, they’ve been able to consistently win games throughout the grueling Big Ten Schedule.
With the Cats securing important road victories against powerhouses like Michigan State and Indiana, taking advantage of home games has become an important part of keeping pace in the Big Ten. With increased attention due to their outstanding play, Northwestern Athletics and student organization wildside have made it a priority to attract students to games.
*Kayla quote about Wildside*
These efforts have seen wild success, with a student attendance record of 1,511 Fans at the Rutgers game and repeated praise from Northwestern coach Chris Collins during press conferences.
*Chris Collins Clip*
Having a loud and supportive home atmosphere is crucial to winning competitive Big Ten matchups, and this increase in attendance has made Welsh-Ryan arena a formidable venue for opposition Teams.
As a member of basketball band, getting into games is easy. I hop on the band bus and we head over and into our seats. While my experience is easy and there are many positive to take from the increased attendance figure, there have been a number of hiccups along the way causing widespread frustration among students. I spoke to Freshman Brandon Takahashi, who relayed his experiences at the Illinois game.
*Brandon quote about not getting in*
Getting turned away was not an experience unique to Brandon, many students expressed frustration at making the trip to Welsh-Ryan only to be turned away. Another common complaint expressed by students was the frustration that tickets were being sold in the student section to normal fans, taking away from the student experience and lessening the atmosphere we provided.
While ticketing has traditionally operated like any other Northwestern Sporting event, with wildcards being scanned until capacity is reached, Northwestern basketball has been transitioning to a new model to deal with this increased interest and student complaints. The new system is much like those at other schools such as the University of Georgia, or nearby Loyola Chicago, where students claim their tickets ahead of time, with a limited pool of standby tickets. This helps avoid the long lines and uncertainty of admittance that discouraged students from attending.
*Brandon quote about getting in*
While the ticketing change was made solely by athletics, wildside has supported the change. *kayla quote about supporting the new system*, the positive comments from Kayla and Brandon suggest it has been received well by both students and key support organizations like Wildside. While the new system has certainly been helpful, there are still bugs to iron out such as the issue that allowed people to access tickets early for the Michigan game. With the system continuing to be refined, there is potential for other sports to start utilizing the new system.
With a streamlined ticketing system and the support of the entire student body, the Cats continue their push to the NCAA tournament. It’s been an exciting season, and with #1 Purdue and #18 Indiana still left to visit, there’s sure to be exciting games and even more electric atmospheres.
From WNUR News, I’m Jonah Turner.
