Printed tickets sold for rivalry game

Students planning to swipe their student Coyote card to attend the University of South Dakota basketball games against South Dakota State University should think again.

USD athletic administration has chosen to stray away from the use of Coyote cards as a ticket into the men’s basketball game against SDSU on Feb. 9.

Instead, students must have picked-up physical copies of game tickets inside the Muenster University Center between Jan. 18 and Jan. 20.

Available on a first come, first serve basis, each ticket is assigned a specific section.

Senior Drake Bachmeier said the method of picking up tickets was simple and convenient.

“As of now, I think picking up our tickets opposed to swiping our cards at the doors was a great idea”, Bachmeier said. “For myself, picking-up my tickets went smoothly and I thought it was a convenience having it set up in the MUC. And it was free, so I can’t complain.”

Senior Associate Athletic Director of External Relations David Herbster said the reason for using game tickets in contrast to Coyote cards, was to avoid the possibility over crowded student bleachers.

“Coming into the game, from an organizational standpoint, we only want to allow a certain number of students down-low before we get into an overload situation,” Herbster said.

The current set-up in the DakotaDome for USD basketball allows 1,000 designated bleacher spots for students.

Herbster also said the 1,000 courtside bleacher seats have already sold out.

“All the bleacher seats are gone, right now all that is left are spots in permanent seating,” Herbster said.

The high-demand for tickets to see this renewed rivalry was just another reason the university officials decided to switch to printed tickets for the games against the Jackrabbits.

“We knew the demand was going to be high enough, that we were going to need to make sure we could handle it,” Herbster said.

Freshman Cody Conover said taking away the ability for students to swipe their Coyote cards at the doors creates an inconvenience.

“I am excited to go to the game and see a good rivalry being started up again,” Conover said. “However, I thought having to pick-up my ticket was more of a hassle opposed to just swiping my card.”

Herbster said physically having the ticket for the game should make matters easier for students once they arrive at the game.

“It’s easier for the students already having the ticket when they get to the DakotaDome,” Herbster said. “This way they know where they are going to sit once they arrive and they don’t have to worry about getting a seat.”

The ticket sales show a strong student turnout, having sold 1,200 student tickets for the men’s game, and 1,000 for the women’s.