Providence College Investigates: Should PC Offer Student Season Tickets For Men’s Hockey

by The Cowl Editor on November 1, 2018


PCI


New System Would Eliminate Hassle

By Meaghan Cahill ’20

Sports Co-Editor

It is a well known fact that students at Providence College are able to purchase season tickets for men’s basketball games and not men’s hockey games. In the words of Claire Woods ’21, “[It’s] not fair.”

Students at PC should be given the opportunity to purchase season tickets each hockey season. I believe that it would increase attendance at games. More students may attend the men’s basketball games simply because they have the ability to do so without having to pay each week. And while students are only being asked to pay a game fee of $4, consistently having to pay for a ticket  can become not only annoying, but also a hassle. Therefore, if students had the opportunity to purchase season tickets at the beginning of the school year, students might be more inclined to go and watch the hockey games on a more consistent basis.

providence college men's hockey fans
Photo Courtesy of Learfield

Secondly, on PC’s campus, men’s hockey is just as popular and valued in terms of national press. By offering season tickets for one and not the other shows which sport the athletic department favors more. Giving students the opportunity to buy a pass that gets them into every basketball game, but not every hockey game, is just a visual way of showing that they wish to see more students at the basketball games than the hockey games.

“It’s a matter of equality. Hockey also has a strong fan-base and they should be rewarded as well,” said Woods.

Lastly, as minor as it may seem, the current method of having to purchase a ticket for each game creates a sense of unease amongst ticket buyers because there is no cash option when paying for tickets. Therefore, for every game that students want to go to, they have to input their credit card information.

In today’s day and age, inputting any type of bank information online can lead to accounts being hacked. Students may not want to attend games because they are not comfortable paying online with credit cards. Therefore, if they had a season ticket that they had the chance to pay for at the beginning of the year (like they do for basketball), then they would not have to worry and be able to attend more games.

It is not only a matter of equality, but implementing a season ticket system for hockey would not only decrease the annoyance with having to pay per game, but also make attending games more secure and accessible. This is a matter that the PC athletic department should definitely work on with the start of basketball and hockey seasons upon us.