Athletics adopts point-based system

Every Eagles fan has experienced the stress and anticipation that comes along with the ticket lotteries for men's ice hockey and men's basketball. These games are in high demand, and getting tickets entails both entering into a lottery and waiting eagerly for the e-mail that announces whether a ticket package is available.

Frequenters of Conte Forum can also attest that at the less popular games, typically held on weeknights and against less competitive teams, the fans are not so much "Super" as they are nonexistent.

In an effort to remedy the dwindling attendance at low-profile games and some of the more ineffective aspects of the current lottery system, the Boston College athletics department has devised a SuperFan rewards program that will give students points based on their attendance at games. These point levels will then affect students' chances of getting a package the following year.

Jamie Di Loreto, associate athletic director, said the new system was designed to, "track students coming into the games, create a great atmosphere, reward students that come to events, and allow students that come to games to have a greater percentage of chance to get tickets the following year," he said. At the same time it "make[s] sense with the current system."

This year, in an effort to put the point system into play as soon as possible, all students who entered into either the men's hockey or basketball lotteries were awarded either a half or full season for each respective sport. Four points will be awarded for sparsely attended games, while only one will be given for attending a popular weekend game; points earned by half-season ticket-holders will be doubled.

At the end of the season, all accumulated points will be tabulated. Those with the highest number of points will benefit directly from the system and will increase their chances of getting a package for the subsequent season.

Freshmen season ticket-holders who attend less than two-thirds of the games in their packages, and non-season ticket holders will be awarded the smallest number of packages.

Both attending more games and arriving early to events will earn students prizes from Athletics and from the Undergraduate Government of BC. These rewards are already materializing: Students who arrive early to the men's hockey game against Merrimack will have the chance to win a flight, ticket, and accommodations for the upcoming football match against Clemson.

Though the new rewards program is just now coming to fruition, research for the project began more than eight months ago.

From the very beginning, the developers of the program knew that students had to be involved in the process.

"We realized immediately that this had to be for the students and by the students," Di Loreto said.

For this reason, a variety of student groups were involved in offering their opinions and feedback on how the system should work.

"We started partnering with UGBC trying to find ways to get students to come to games, and the reward system started to fit right in," Di Loreto said. "We're meeting as a committee every Monday and reviewing our information. Representatives from the student government, BCRC, the band, and The Heights are involved to help us get the bigger picture, and we're going to continue to have priorities based on game atmosphere and traditions."

Officials from Athletics and the Alumni Association were also consulted, resulting in a wealth of valuable feedback.

BC Athletics has no intention, however, of leaving the system as is; the program is only in the first phase of a three- to five- year plan.

"This is a test year for us; we didn't want to overextend ourselves. For year one, we wanted to work out the kinks and make sure it works. We want to give students the opportunity to go to two-thirds of the games and for seniors, if they go to all their games, the chance of getting season tickets after graduation as a way to carry that over," Di Loreto said.

Athletics also intends to extend the system's reach into the realm of Olympic sports in an attempt to increase the attendance and enthusiasm at games with smaller turnouts. Eventually, the rewards system may encompass a wider range of sports, with attendance at soccer games and swim meets counting toward students' accumulated points.

"We also need to continue to look into technology such as card scanners," Di Loreto said.

With the current system, students that give their tickets away will still be rewarded points for attendance. A scanning system that incorporates students' Eagle cards will allow individuals, rather than package-holders, to be rewarded for the games they attend.

Regardless of how the reward system develops in the future, student feedback will always be welcome.

Di Loreto said, "I'd like it to be seen as something from the students, by the students, and that the students are satisfied that the system is fair."