Students who want to catch the hottest men’s basketball game of the season will need to show some love to less popular games and sports to earn their spot.
Arizona Athletics notified ZonaZoo Red members, students who pay $175 for their annual student section pass for access to all sports, that tickets to the Arizona vs. Duke game on Nov. 22 will be managed using a priority points system.
The initiative encourages students to support soccer, volleyball and women’s basketball, as well as less popular men’s basketball games, to increase their chances of attending the Duke matchup.
By attending the 13 selected events, students earn points, which allow them to improve their rank when it comes to reserving their coveted spot.
The next chances for students to collect points are at UA soccer vs. Kansas on Oct. 17 and men’s basketball vs. Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 21.
Student earn points by attending:
Past event:
Men’s Basketball Red-Blue Showcase on Oct. 4
Upcoming events:
Soccer vs. Kansas on Oct. 17
Men’s Basketball vs. Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 21
Volleyball vs. Arizona State on Oct. 24
Women’s Basketball vs. West Texas A&M on Oct. 25
Men’s Basketball vs. Point Loma on Oct. 28
Women’s Basketball vs. Cal State LA on Oct. 29
Women’s Basketball vs. UT Arlington on Nov. 4
Men’s Basketball vs. Canisius on Nov. 4*
Women’s Basketball vs. Tarleton State on Nov. 7
Volleyball vs. Kansas on Nov. 8
Men’s Basketball vs. Old Dominion on Nov. 9*
Women’s Basketball vs. UNLV on Nov. 12*
The games marked with an asterisk offer double points for staying until the end and scanning a student ID card.
Students who attend 10 to 13 games will be in Tier 1, seven to nine games puts you in Tier 2, four to six lands you in Tier 3 and less than four leaves you in Tier 4. Tier 1 has first access to student reservations for the game, while Tier 4 goes last.
This system does not apply to students with ZonaZoo Plus, who will still be able to reserve their seat a day earlier than ZonaZoo Red members. ZonaZoo Plus can be added to a ZonaZoo Red membership for $35 a year. All funds go to the Wildcat Scholarship Fund, supporting room, board, books, fees and meals for student athletes.
ZonaZoo Plus reservations open on Nov. 16 and ZonaZoo Red reservations open on Nov. 17.
The Duke game has already sold out and the cheapest single seat available on StubHub is $330 as of Oct. 9, making a spot outside the student section out of reach for most on campus.
“There is extremely high demand for students that want to see two of the top college basketball programs in the country play on our home court,” said Carson Luttenegger, director of marketing and fan engagement.
Tony Daniel, senior associate athletic director for revenue generation and engagement, said the motivation behind the policy is recognizing investment into Arizona Athletics.
“We feel it is the best way to reward the students that have attended the most events, as opposed to someone who has not attended any sporting events and just wants to attend the one Duke game,” said Daniel.
Luttenegger said he thinks this system is a fair way to allocate tickets to students for the big game.
“The goal is to have fans in seats that have proven and shown their support, rather than leaving the claim process up to the luck of which students open up their email first on that given day,” he said.
For Sydney Schumer, the executive director of ZonaZoo, the biggest advantage of this new system is the potential to increase student engagement with women’s basketball, volleyball and soccer. By incentivizing attendance, there is the potential to create some new fans for these programs that may not have otherwise taken the time to attend an event.
“Even for the non-conference games for men’s basketball, it’s kind of hard to fill our student section, because those are Mondays at 9 p.m.,” said Schumer. “It’s going to be really easy for us to try and get those kids there if they really want to get to Duke.”
Schumer said she believes this system will create a more engaged ZonaZoo section for the big game.
“I think the point of it is to capture the students who want to put in the work, really care about this game and will be the most hype and active during the game,” she said.
The news has been talked about among students, even posted on the @barstoolarizona Instagram account that boasts 164,000 followers. Schumer said that she thinks the news was well received.
“This is a way to get a leg up in the reservation system that doesn’t include paying money for ZonaZoo Plus,” she said.
Third-year architecture student Olivia Hernandez said she feels that this policy could do more harm than good.
“When I first saw the email, I was confused,” she said. “I’ve been a student here for three years now and I’ve never seen that implemented, even for games against teams like UCLA and Wisconsin.”
Hernandez said that she would love to attend the various events listed, but doesn’t think she will be able to find much time between work and school.
“I don’t have time to make it to these events just to be able to go to a Duke game,” she said.
For Hernandez, not being able to attend this blockbuster matchup would be extremely disappointing.
“With the love for the sport that I have, it’s super important to me that I try to be there,” she said.
Luttenegger said that there is a chance the priority points system is used for other games in the future.
“It is certainly a possibility,” he said. “The important thing is that we are using the priority points system for the games where the demand is so much higher than the available seat inventory.”
Daniel said this will likely be the only game this season managed in this format.
“I do not see it extending past the Duke game, at least for the remainder of the 2024-25 season,” he said.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
