Ohio State D-Tix to implement online lottery system

Melissa Prax
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 21:09:49 +0000
Campus, d-tix, first come first serve, lottery, ohio union, system

“First come, first serve” will no longer be D-Tix’s philosophy.

D-Tix is set to move to an online lottery for its special events and high-demand discounted tickets for Ohio State students.

D-Tix is a service through the Ohio Union that offers reduced-priced tickets for events ranging from concerts to ziplining in and around the Columbus area.

The lottery system will be implemented June 1 and will be used specifically for high-demand events. Tickets for other events, such as the Columbus Zoo and Gateway Film Center, can still be purchased in person at the D-Tix desk.

“We got student input that there were a certain amount of students who simply couldn’t conveniently wait in line for tickets,” said Dave Isaacs, a spokesman for OSU Student Life.

Instead of standing in line for hours, students can register on the D-Tix website up to two days in advance before the computerized selection.

If a student is chosen for a ticket, he or she has 48 hours to pick it up from the D-Tix desk.

Only students with a BuckID can utilize the program.

Some students, like Trent Hagans, a third-year in criminology, use the D-Tix service on a regular basis. He said for big events, the lottery system makes sense and could be useful.

“I usually use D-tix to get (tickets for) Columbus Crew games,” Hagans said. “For things like the world cup (qualifier) last year, it would’ve made it a lot easier.”

In September, D-Tix received an undisclosed number of tickets for the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier and sold them to students at $25 each. After an estimated 200 people lined up for the tickets to the sold-out game at Crew Stadium, the first-come-first-serve system was switched to a lottery system midday, and police were called after chaos ensued following the decision.

James Morgan, a third-year in Arabic, said he uses D-tix occasionally, but waiting in long lines is not something he can fit in his schedule.

“It could be convenient,” said Morgan. “It would also be cool to see how many tickets for each event they have left.”