BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado announced Thursday that they have sold out four home games this season for the first time since 1996 -- an obvious symptom of the hysteria over Coach Prime, Deion Sanders.
But many CU students, who for years have been attending home football games with their annual Sports Pass, have reported problems securing tickets for this weekend’s home opener against Nebraska. The issue comes after the university changed the process to get tickets because of the demand for this season. Students with a Sports Pass now have to enter an online queue every Sunday to secure their tickets for the next week’s game.
And while CU sold 12,000 Sport Passes for this season, there are only 11,000 seats for students inside Folsom Field.
“I was on the queue for maybe 30 minutes and it sent me to a page that just had a bunch of coding on it and didn’t actually have tickets on it,” said Kylie Sherman, a CU senior.
Sherman, who said COVID-19 was a drag on her freshman year, said she and her classmates were looking forward to the hype of this season, and this presented another bump in the road to what has been a hectic college experience.
Folsom Field
Matthew Nelson, a junior, said he wasn’t able to get a Sports Pass this year because he was too low in the online queue for the pass. He said he drove to TCU to catch the Buffaloes' first game of the season.
“It was cheaper to drive all the way down there and buy a ticket to go to the game through TCU than it is to go to the game this weekend,” he said, noting the cheapest seats to get into Folsom Field and watch his classmates play Saturday were selling for around $300.
“We finally have all this juice and this life and not being able to see them live, it’s a bummer,” Nelson said.
Steve Hurlbert, the chief communications officer for CU, said the 11,000 seats for students inside Folsom Field represent about a third of the student body. He said the university actually expanded student seating into another section anticipating demand this season.
“We’re looking at just absolutely unprecedented demand. CU football, we’re talking Taylor Swift now,” he said.
Hurlbert said while student energy is important, the university also has to balance the needs of season ticket holders, alumni, donors and other fans who’ve also been waiting for a team like this. He said the university continues to evaluate the student seating inside the stadium.
“I know there’s frustration with students and maybe some fans, but at the end of the day this is such a wonderful time to be a Buff and such a special time to be around the University of Colorado. We should savor it,” he said.
Elif Demirci, a CU senior who signed on at odd hours in her native Turkey this summer to secure a Student Pass, said she isn’t sure the university will make any changes.
“CU increased capacity and oversold knowing that the limited amount of people who did get student passes couldn’t get tickets for the game, and I don’t think that’s fair,” she said. “A lot of people are out of state students who are paying like $50,000. It’s not fair that they can’t go to games.”
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