On Aug. 21, University of Oregon Athletics announced a new ticketing system for Duck Sports Pass holders. Starting this fall, students will now need to “request” one football ticket during the designated ticket claiming period. 

Even if students are able to successfully request their ticket, they will have to wait for confirmation via text message on the Monday before the game to know if they have secured a ticket through a randomized selection process. 

A Daily Emerald investigation last fall showed that under the previous system, students who had purchased the $150 Ducks Sports Pass were required to wait in an online queue the Sunday before each game to claim their student-section ticket. Waiting times for these tickets could last from a few minutes to a few hours. 

During the 2024-2025 school year, UO athletics sold 10,000 Duck Sports Passes, however, only 8,000 tickets could be distributed each game due to seating capacity in the student section. 

The overselling of the Duck Sports Pass resulted in 2,000 eligible students out of football tickets. The pass is currently priced at $175, an increase from $150 last year. 

In response to student concerns about overselling of tickets and limited seat capacity, Jimmy Stanton, senior associate athletics director for communications, said, “This change came directly from student feedback – many expressed that the prior process of the Sunday morning login wasn’t fair since everyone had to log in at the same time.” 

Stanton said some students also expressed concern about the waiting times online to get into the ticket claiming queue. 

“The new request process addresses those student concerns by making the system fairer and giving every passholder an equal chance at tickets,” he said. “The Duck Sports Pass gives students priority access but has never guaranteed a ticket.” 

The timing of the change comes months after many students already purchased the pass. Stanton said it was due to student feedback from the 2024-25 academic year.

“We initiated conversations with the vendor about adjustment to our process to make it more equitable and time-saving. This process was completed in July,” Stanton said. 

Dane Boldt is a junior studying environmental science at UO. He said, “I am extremely disappointed in this decision by UO. The decision to distribute tickets essentially based on a lottery system is completely unfair to people who already pay thousands of dollars in tuition to the school.” 

He said he was unable to get a Duck Sports Pass his first three years of college, and was willing to pay the increased $175 price to get one for his last collegiate year.  

“While it’s understandable that there is high demand for student tickets, it does not justify the fact that this decision was made known to students after all the tickets were sold out,” Boldt said. 

Boldt said he thinks the athletic department is “prioritizing profit” by overselling tickets. 

“There are solutions to the high demand, such as expanding the student section so that more students can attend games,” he said. “I hope that the UO athletic department will reconsider this egregious decision.”

Robert O’Reilly, a fourth year data science major, said initially he didn’t fully grasp the idea behind the policy change. 

“I remember some hiccups here and there but overall the previous ticket claiming process was easy, but the more I’ve sat on it and understood the process, the more frustrated I get,” he said. 

O’Reilly has gone to every football game at Autzen during his college career, and said “It feels inevitable that my streak of attendance will end.” 

He said he thinks the ticketing system no longer prioritizes students, and feels “very confident” the student section will be emptier due to the implementation of the upcoming policy. 

“Initially I was confused honestly because they only emailed us yesterday, mind you, a day before the first round of ticket releases,” Shealyn Hyde, a fourth year student studying family and human services, said. 

She said when she first read the email, she didn’t quite understand the changes and “requesting” process. 

“It took a conversation between me and my friends to really understand what was going on. Once I realized what they had done, I became really frustrated because this is my senior year at UO,” Hyde said. 

The reason Hyde chose UO, he said, was because of the community that is built around Oregon sports and said she doesn’t want to stop attending games. 

“There is nothing like being in Autzen Stadium during a game and that is all I’ve ever been able to brag about to people when talking about the university,” she said. 

Hyde said this new policy opens up opportunities for “more and more” students to scam the system and claim tickets just to re-sell them. 

“I’m truly disappointed in this school at the moment for what they have decided to do,” she said. 

Hyde said she emailed the athletics department and ticketing office to share her concerns because it “isn’t fair to me or any of the other students who really want to be there.”