Students need to buy sports passes

Washington State University will not be selling student tickets for the first two home football games against Southern Utah and Idaho, according to a source in the WSU ticket office. Due to west end zone construction, seating will be limited at Martin Stadium this year, and the university wants to honor the people who purchase sports passes.

Some students buy student tickets because they want to enjoy the first few football games in the sun. They are usually against inadequate opponents set up to be sure victories. Some students shy away from sports passes because they don’t like basketball or baseball. Some simply want to avoid the icy chill that blankets them during home games in October and November.

This year, those students are out of luck. However, there are no shortages of sports passes, so don’t be the person who sits at home this Saturday because they couldn’t get a ticket. Instead of not getting a ticket for one game, get one for every game. Buy a sports pass.

WSU students get it pretty good when it comes to sports passes. For just $130 they can see any university team participate in any sporting event in Pullman, and most event locations are located right at the heart of campus.

Most PAC-12 schools do not enjoy this luxury. For example, the UW charges $100 per sport and students walk miles from campus to get to Husky Stadium.

University of Oregon students have it even worse. They only have to pay for football games, but tickets are $300 and one student said tickets distribution is completely luck of the draw. Only 1,000 student tickets are allocated and those go within seconds. In addition, students walk a good mile to reach Autzen Stadium. Those students lucky enough to go watch the Ducks hang 70 on Nichols St. that is.

So give WSU credit for trying to make some money on student passes, and if you are too cheap to buy one of the cheapest sports passes in college sports then you shouldn’t be trying to get a student ticket anyway. WSU’s athletic department came in second to last in 2012 in total revenue, ahead of only Utah, according to a database compiled by USA Today.

In order to win games, athletic departments need to make money. One of the ways they make money is off of fans. With money, they are able to upgrade the facilities and uniforms that attract good recruits to come play for the school. So in short; no fans means no money, no money means no good recruits, and no good recruits means no wins. So buy a sports pass or don’t complain about only winning 13 games in five years.

Washington State is doing a good thing by honoring their faithful: those who stuck it out through the long tedious reign of Paul Wulff, those who committed their faith to the university long before an upset against USC.

People who want to buy ten dollar bleacher seats to watch the football team beat up on cupcakes, and then not have to pay if the team drops off against teams like Stanford and Oregon don’t show commitment. Show commitment. Buy a sports pass.

-Beau Baily is a junior communication major from Puyallup. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.