Zou Pass holders will face a new ticket claim process for the remaining home football games this season. The Zou Pass allows Mizzou students potential entry to all Mizzou athletics events with one $200 fee.
Beginning with the Sept. 13 game against Louisiana, pass holders will submit their name into a ticket lottery using a form sent to their university email address. The form will be sent on the Monday before each game with responses due that night at 11:59 p.m. Students will be notified of whether they secured a ticket by Wednesday morning.
The tickets will be allocated by grade level, with priority rotating between upper and lower classmen. Excess tickets in any grade level category will be evenly distributed among the other classes.
Mizzou Athletics explained in an email that the claim process was changed to avoid long ticket queues, technology hiccups and the stress of conflicts between claiming tickets and class time.
In an email to Zou Pass holders, Mizzou Athletics said, “This new setup gives everyone a fair shot and saves you time. It also makes sure as many Zou Pass holders as possible get to experience Mizzou Football this season.”
Construction in the north end zone has reduced available student seating, as the hill can no longer be used for overflow.
Many students on campus have expressed frustration and disappointment with the changes to the student ticket process on social media platforms, including comments on the Mizzou Athletics Instagram posts. Last year, students with the Zou Pass were guaranteed tickets to football games, and the ticket claim process was only used for men’s basketball.
Jackson Herdade is a master’s student in his fifth year at the University of Missouri and has bought a Zou Pass every year he’s been on campus. While he has obtained a ticket to both games so far this year, he described the current Zou Pass process as more of a hassle than in previous years, with the queue process being a negative experience.
“I know it’s kind of unavoidable with the limited space in the student section and all the people that got the pass,” Herdade said. “I’m not surprised that this is not like a great system, but I don’t know if there’s much room for improvement.”
Herdade also acknowledged that the claim system used earlier this year caused difficulties for students with schedule conflicts who couldn’t wait in a queue.
“It is unfair to people that are in class, because I do notice people that are in class and are not allowed to just be getting on their laptops or phones whenever, just to get their tickets,” Herdade said. “So I think this is definitely better than just the claims process was earlier for the first two games.”
Sophomore Zou Pass holder Kaitlyn Miclean has been frustrated by the lack of consistency and communication surrounding the Zou Pass process this year.
“The problem is they haven’t picked a system and stuck to it. They keep changing it. And they were sold under the [pretense] that you would have a ticket to every game when I bought mine in May,” Miclean said.
These concerns have led Miclean to question whether she is willing to buy the pass again next year.
“If it’s the same process and it’s the same amount of money or more, I don’t think I’ll buy a Zou Pass, and I’ll just buy either season tickets and sell the games I don’t want to go to, or individual tickets,” Miclean said.
Edited by Erin Hynes | [email protected]
Copy edited by Emma Harper | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]
