Fans not Lining up

Aside from the men's basketball team's performance, the new student-ticket policies have been some of the more popular gameday fodder this season.

Breaking from its previous policy, the Athletic Department announced last September that the student section would be entirely general admission.

The catch? To secure seats in the lower level behind the west-end basket (sections 119, 120 and 121) students were required to participate in the Line, a tradition that involves a surprise registration announcement and a subsequent sleepover event at the Palestra.

Penn also offered more incentives for joining the Red and Blue Crew, such as pre-game $1 hot dogs and chances to win raffle prizes.

However, these changes may not have invigorated the student section to quite the extent athletics officials hoped.

"I think that we look at this as a multi-year proposition," senior associate director of Athletics Alanna Shanahan said. "I think in year one you expect that there are going to be a few people who aren't fans of this policy . Any transition is difficult and you just have to have the confidence that you are doing some of the right things."

Athletics won't know the exact number of student tickets until they do their ticket audit after the season. But Brian Head, Penn's coordinator of Marketing, Promotions and Community Affairs, thought that Line participation was down slightly from the previous season.

Wharton senior Daniel Doddo, who bought student season tickets his three previous years at Penn, said he wasn't aware of the new procedures or the Line announcement and as a result did not buy tickets.

The Athletic Department never considered amending its lower-level seating policy after it saw decreased Line participation, according to Head.

This often meant a top-heavy west end, with students missing out on the Line relegated to the upper level sections of 219, 220 and 221.

Security staff members said they were instructed to check tickets and match the names on PennCards. One guard even said that she's gotten to know who should be down in the bottom section, as the number of eligible fans has declined.

This policy has frustrated some students.

"It's stupid that they don't let people come down [to the lower level]," said College sophomore and Red and Blue crew member Adam Hanno. "It reflects very poorly on Penn when the section is empty."

Wharton senior Jon Gandelman, a 200-level dweller this year, suggested a program where students could "earn" their way down to the bottom tier after attending a certain number of games in the season.

Despite chances for perks like a lunch with Penn basketball coach Glen Miller or access to the Class of 1971 Hospitality Area, sleeping on the Palestra floor just wasn't worth it for some students.

But the Athletic Department seems firm on keeping this tradition alive.

"People remember the Line." Shanahan said. "People graduate from Penn and 20 years from now they remember that experience. We're just not in any hurry to do away with that even if in some ways people think it's painful."

Shanahan did not totally leave out the possibility of tweaking the Line requirements or switching to a Midnight Madness-style event.

"If we were to do a formal survey where 98 percent of the students legitimately responded and that was the feedback, then I think we'd have to seriously consider that as an option," she said.

Head doesn't believe the economy will affect the Athletic Department's ability to secure sponsorships necessary to run a program relying heavily on giveaways because local businesses want to remain invested with Penn basketball and the community.

Another change for this season was not allowing students to purchase courtside chairback seats, a decision based upon student feedback. Shanahan says the discussion about chairback seats is pretty much closed.

With "added intensity" because of the new policies, the Athletic Department will seek student feedback and evaluate the policy in late March and April, according to Head. A public announcement should be made in early fall regarding next year's ticketing policy.

The men's basketball players also expressed the need to rejuvenate the student section.

"My first experiences here at the Palestra when I was a kid and coming here and watching [Penn] play, it was packed," freshman guard Zack Rosen said. "And that was the image that stuck with me."

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