UGA students buy and sell football tickets without the University’s knowledge

By Caleb Struchtemeyer

University of Georgia student Ellie looks through a Groupme chat
dedicated to buying and selling student football tickets.
However, due to UGA policy, students are not permitted to buy or
sell second hand tickets and could have their
ticket privileges revoked. (Photo/Caleb Struchtemeyer)

UGA student Kellie views her ticket to the UGA vs. UAB football game before scanning it
at Sanford Stadium. UGA distributes student ticket packages by a priority system based on credit hours, however, some students who do not receive tickets go
through secondary markets to buy student tickets. (Photo/Caleb Struchtemeyer)

Each year, the University of Georgia distributes 16,000 tickets to students for each football game. Due to high enrollment numbers and demand, UGA uses a priority system based on credit hours to decide which ticket packages to give out to students.

This leaves many students without tickets to some games that they want to attend, but UGA prohibits the sale of student tickets after they have been distributed.

Despite this rule, some students resort to secret secondary markets such as GroupMe chats where students buy and sell their tickets without the knowledge of the University. One UGA student, Ellie, — who we are only using her first name out of privacy concerns — set out to make her own group chat during the 2022 football season to safely buy and sell tickets with other students.

Fans walk through South Lumpkin street towards Sanford Stadium
for the UGA vs. UAB football game.
Athens averages 100,000 people visiting the city
each home game weekend. (Photo/Caleb Struchtemeyer)

UGA fans wait outside Gate 1
to scan their tickets for the UGA vs. UAB football game.
Sanford Stadium has ten gates where fans can
scan their tickets to gain entry. (Photo/Caleb Struchtemeyer)

“I got scammed out of two Auburn tickets and it was very sad to be out $100 so I originally just made the ticket swap for my sorority,” Ellie said. “Then they started sharing it with other sororities and then everyone started to join in.”

With this group chat, Ellie has ways of watching out for potential scammers, such as requiring potential new members to answer questions before entering the group chat.

“If anyone has any complaints, I’ll make sure there’s nothing wrong, but I’ll usually look through the questions,” Ellie said. “If someone doesn’t have a profile picture or give their full name then I’ll look them up and make sure they’re a real person.”

Depending on the game, some students are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to watch the Bulldogs play in Sanford Stadium. Ellie has seen firsthand instances where people have paid over the base price for some tickets.

“I paid $200 for one last semester, I’m not sure what game but that was definitely the most. My friends have sold tickets for like $325,” Ellie said.

Much like the constant return of the Bulldogs to Sanford Stadium, UGA students will do almost anything and pay almost any price so they can be included in sights, sounds, and touchdowns scored at Sanford Stadium.