No. 25 Vanderbilt Football has officially sold out all student tickets for this weekend’s game against No. 5 Texas. The news comes less than three days after Vanderbilt announced a new student ticketing policy that would provide priority access to fans who have attended three games.
The initial email informed students that once Sections P and Q filled up, they would be given physical copies of tickets to other sections of the stadium, including the standing-room-only section of the North End Zone.
Students with priority were given access to claim their ticket on Oct. 23 at 12 p.m. CDT. The claim time for students without priority was less than two days later, at 10 a.m. CDT on Oct. 25.
Fifteen minutes after the claim window opened this morning, students received an email from Vanderbilt Athletics stating that all tickets — including Sections P, Q and the standing room only — were sold out.
“At this time, all student tickets have been claimed,” the email said. “Your support and attendance at football games has been phenomenal.”
Vanderbilt also announced that it will be holding a free student watch party at the David Williams II Recreation Center’s indoor facility for those who could not claim a ticket in time.
Senior Olivia Quiroga bought her ticket in advance from SeatGeek. She believes the ticketing process should have prioritized class seniority over home game attendance.
“I understand [the ticketing policy] aims to encourage people to attend home games, but in some ways, this is an unfair method of determining priority, as this game versus Texas is unprecedented,” Quiroga said in a message to The Hustler. “I believe seniority should have been implemented in this selection process, as this year is our seniors’ last year [on campus] to see a Vanderbilt game with this much hype and weight behind it.”
Sophomore Miguel Kamgaing, who didn’t get a ticket this morning, thought the new ticketing process was “fine,” but just implemented too late into the season.
“The problem [with the new policy] stems [from] the fact that they [Athletics] decided to change the manner in which students acquire tickets less than a week before one of the biggest games of the season,” Kamgaing said in a message to The Hustler. “If they thought they were going to have a problem with available seating, this is something they could have thought about and devised a plan for even after the Alabama game.”
Matthew McCullough, a junior, was unable to go to the Alabama game, so he was looking forward to Vanderbilt Football’s matchup with Texas. He did not get a ticket to this weekend’s game.
“It was really demoralizing to not be able to get a ticket due to essentially just being unlucky,” McCullough said in a message to The Hustler. “Seeing people post themselves getting a ticket on Instagram felt like being kicked while I’m already down. [I] don’t really understand why Vandy is doing it this way.”
McCullough also is concerned about how the tickets will impact his weekend with friends.
“[It] throws off plans when some of my friends were able to get tickets, and others weren’t,” McCullough said. “It doesn’t seem like there are many paths to potentially be able to go to the game if you didn’t get lucky this morning.”
Senior Hadassah Nehikhuere was also unable to get a ticket to the game.
“I woke up early this morning patiently waiting in line to get a ticket for one of the biggest games of my undergraduate career, just for me to not get a ticket,” Nehikhuere said in a message to The Hustler. “I’m very saddened by this, especially as a senior, and I’m hoping this changes soon.”
