Emily Brun
(KPAX) Saturday marks the first time the FCS semifinal has been played in Missoula since 2011. Now, there have been complaints from disgruntled Griz fans who couldn’t get tickets to this weekend’s playoff game.
As enthusiasts flocked to GrizTix on the evening of Dec. 12, 2023, to secure a seat for the game, UM Football communications director Eric Taber said the high traffic to the site could have impacted sales, especially when there weren’t many tickets. left. .
Taber detailed, “There was only about 3,000 tickets left to sell to the general public so it was just tight and they went really fast online.”
The low amount of public tickets is due to almost all of the season ticket holders reserving their seats in advance. Season ticket holders get an early access period where they can buy or reject a playoff ticket.
“18,761 season ticket holders this year is a record for Washington Grizzly Stadium. So, there are more season ticket holders than we’ve ever had, and this week in particular, they gave us about one hundred percent. buy-in from all season ticket holders,” Taber explained. “When you think about it, it’s the maximum price of the season, price, price, priceStadium seats.
Taber also explained that 3,000 seats are reserved for the student section, 250 for the group, the NCAA requests 500 for the opposing team and more tickets for the players’ families.
UM Athletics pegged the value of the public ticket at $35, but value tickets sold out very quickly and can now be found in prices ranging from $100 to $1,000 online.
“There are humans and robots who buy tickets and resell them on a secondary market for a profit. There’s not a lot of skill to avoid it,” Taber described. It’s unfortunate. We need everyone to enjoy Grizzly football, we need it to be available to everyone. “
Taber said that if someone — such as a season-ticket holder — wanted to re-sell their ticket and up-charge, UM can’t stop them. However, they can block large quantities of ticket purchases.
“We’re taking steps to make bulk purchases, adding sales on teams four to eight, so that an entire segment of the stadium can’t be bought under our feet,” he said.
To be proactive, the University of Montana Police Department increased the frequency of patrols around the ticket office at the Adams Center on Wednesday. They told MTN News they haven’t had any issues as of 2 p.m.
Saturday’s semi-final kicks off at 2. 30pm. If you can’t get a ticket, you can watch the game on ESPN 2.