The athletics department has introduced a new program to fill more seats in Cassell Coliseum with the student body and Blacksburg community.
The month-old Hokie Share aims to fill Cassell to full capacity during all of the home basketball games. After many fans expressed disdain at the former system where some season ticket holders wouldn't make the trek to Blacksburg to support the basketball team, leaving Cassell noticeably empty, Hokie Share hopes to safely and effectively transfer tickets to those who will be able to make it to the game.
Through Hokie Share, season ticket holders who cannot attend a particular game have the opportunity to electronically pass their single-game tickets to those who can in just five steps.
First, the season-ticket holder logs onto his or her account on hokietickets.com. Students are familiar with this because it is the same Web site used to enter both the football and basketball lotteries for student section tickets.
After logging in, there is an option to select "Hokie Share" while managing tickets. Under this menu, there are various games available to "Hokie Share." After the game is selected, the ticket holder must fill out and submit minor details before the process is complete.
When tickets are transferred, the original barcode on the ticket is changed to a new one that is issued electronically as the ticket is being shared. The recipient then receives a real-time e-mail notification that a ticket has been offered, at which time they can use print their newly barcoded ticket.
Perhaps one of the most exciting options that the new program gives Tech is the opportunity to share tickets with local charities. Local branches of organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, the Salvation Army, the Agency for Persons with Mental Retardation, the YMCA and NRV Cares all have contact information listed on the Hokie Tickets Web site as options to share tickets.
Contrarily, some have already expressed disdain with some of its procedures. For example, there is no open sharing process, and thus a Hokie fan picks exactly who they would like to receive their ticket. The transfer process can only happen once, and if that person is not able to attend the game then the ticket goes unused. If a canceled ticket is used for admittance after the transaction has been completed, ticket privileges will be revoked by the athletics department.
Also, a $4 fee is charged for each Hokie Share transaction. This is charged to the credit card that one must have on file in order to register for Hokie Share.
The ticket sender can either decide to pay the fee themselves, or pass it onto the person with whom they are sharing their ticket.
Through the program, season ticket holders are permitted to transfer tickets up to nine hours before the game. However, the entire transfer must be completed, meaning the individual must accept and print their new ticket, no less than six hours before the game.
Also, if season ticket holders change their mind about sharing the ticket, they can cancel the share before the recipient accepts or after they reject the ticket transfer.
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Great idea, minus the four dollar charge. Who in their right mind would pay more money not to go to a game... this won't have much of an affect at all
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I think this is a good start, but it doesn't do much for students. It's nice that these unused tickets get donated to those who I'm sure would be glad to have them, but students are in that bunch too (and we're the ones that rock the Cassell).
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