Students wishing to enter the Purdue football ticket lottery today can expect a different scenario than the Michigan ticket lottery, Charlie Ebersol, Student Union Board president said.
At the Michigan lottery two weeks ago, SUB was only able to provide about half of the students with lottery numbers due to time constrictions, technological errors and supposed Indiana state law and NCAA regulations.
The ticket lottery for the Sept. 27 Notre Dame football game at Purdue will be held at Legends, instead of Reckers, and the time period will be twice as long as the Michigan lottery to accommodate all students who wish to enter the lottery. Students may bring a maximum of 6 ID cards between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
At the Michigan lottery, students were allowed to bring an unlimited amount of ID cards, which slowed lines, and the lottery was closed at the swipe card machine when the three-hour time period elapsed, leaving many students who had waited in line disgruntled.
Though Ebersol previously said the lottery ended because Indiana state law prevented it from lasting longer than three hours, he admitted that he based this on previous SUB sponsored ticket lotteries and later learned this restriction did not apply. Ebersol said the Purdue lottery will not be restricted by Indiana state law and all students in line by 5 p.m. will be accommodated.
Ebersol said he implemented many of the changes due to the concerns students raised following the Michigan lottery.
Though there will still be only one swipe card reader for the lottery, Ebersol said the modified rules and expanded time period should compensate for everyone using the same machine.
"Since [the Michigan lottery] we sat down to see how students would be best off and how the lotto wouldn't be subject to laws and regulations," Ebersol said. "We recognize there were large mistakes last time. We will work hard to serve students with the most ease."
Ebersol said improvements were made to the security system to negate the possibility of reoccurring lottery fraud, which was a problem in past years. However, he declined to comment on the system, citing security issues.
Ebersol said in previous years, individuals who were not Notre Dame students and who belonged to SUB fraudulently received tickets. The lottery is limited to Notre Dame students and excludes Saint Mary's and Holy Cross students because the ticket office, which provides the tickets for the lottery, specifies who is eligible.
