I was glad to see that someone else has noticed the sagging attendance at Terrier hockey games. The hockey team is having a very good season and have been in some exciting games. Walter Brown should be a loud and intimidating place for opposing teams to play. However, if you look around the stands there are many empty seats. Although what seems to be a lack of student interest is a problem, I believe the main reason for the empty seats is the season ticket holders who do not attend the games. I am on the season ticket waiting list. I was told that I probably won’t get season tickets until the new arena is built. I figured I had a better chance of becoming chancellor of BU than a new arena being built, but apparently miracles can happen. In order to go to games, I have to call the ticket office each week to order tickets. There have been a few time that I have been told that the games were sold out. Then when I watch the games on tv, there are empty seats even at sold out games. If the game is sold out, why are there so many empty seats? I doubt that people are buying tickets the week of the game and then not showing up, so it must be the season ticket holders who are not bothering to show up and support the team. There needs to be a change in the season ticket system. There should be a system put in place so that if a season ticket holder doesn’t want to attend a game, their tickets can be made available to the public. Perhaps season ticket holders could be required to pick up their tickets at each game. If they can’t make the game, they have to call by mid-week and the tickets can be made available to the public. This would save them the trouble of trying to sell their tickets outside the arena, and would put more people in the stands. To make the system work (and to better my chances of ever obtaining season tickets), there should be a penalty for non compliance. If they don’t show up to claim their seats several times during a season (without calling), they should lose their tickets. Based on the length of the waiting list, there are many people that would snap up these season tickets and actually attend the games.
John Wood ENG ’97
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