Supply and demand. At LSU, demand for student tickets exceeds the supply - to the point that freshmen have to pick a 4-game package rather than season tickets. I assume the other big programs (UF, Bama, UGA, etc.) can say the same. As another poster mentioned, some schools with excess supply do have free student admission.

The issue is that the demand only really applies to certain games. Using LSU as an example - you can usually count on a packed house for opponents like Bama, UF, and Auburn. But the fact is that there’s not a ton of demand among students when it comes to Utah State or even Ole Miss/Arkansas.

LSU encourages students to attend these games in two ways: they sell student tickets as a season package, and they use a priority point system for away game and postseason ticket allotment. What happens, though, is that students come to the cupcake games to scan their ID.. then they leave.

I think the way around this is: Make cupcake games free admission, first come first serve for students. The school knows which games will be high demand. Keep the priority point system as well.

Also, part of the problem is just quality of opponents. Season ticket holders have the same gripes.. I think you’re seeing more and more pushback from fans about the shitty matchups that are used to fill schedules.

Just my 2 cents.

This post was edited on 1/10/20 at 6:57 pm