The prices of the University’s student guest tickets are not set arbitrarily—the fee is $5 less than the price of the particular game’s ticket— said Taylor Brown, a student employee at the ticket office.
“Students pay $5 per game for a ticket,” Brown said. “A person that needs a student ticket upgrade is not a student, so they have to pay the full price, less the $5 that the student paid, for their ticket.”
Brown said he believes Mal Moore, or someone else in the Athletic Department, sets the prices for each of Alabama’s home games.
Students seeking an upgrade to any of the Tide’s remaining home games will pay $80 for the Florida game, $55 for the Ole Miss and Mississippi State games, $40 for the Georgia State game and $60 for the game against Auburn, according to the ticket offices website.
John McWilliams, a junior majoring in journalism and political science, said the student guest ticket process was difficult.
“I think it really hurts the student who wants to watch the football games with a friend who is not from UA,” McWilliams said. “Once the friend finds out how much the upgrade is, along with the regular ticket price, it’s nearly impossible for them to round up the money.
“Football is now becoming a sport for the money makers,” he said. “I’m glad the [Ferguson Center] has TVs, because that’s the only place my non-UA friends can afford to watch the games from.”
Students who upgrade their tickets may do so up to three times before becoming ineligible to purchase tickets to a possible SEC Championship game and bowl game, as well as next season’s student ticket package.
Marshall Craig, a senior majoring in business management, said he felt the ticket office’s system was fair, as it is not the University’s job to make sure that student guests can afford to come to football games.
“They’re charging the exact price which the guest would be paying had they been able to buy tickets from the University in the first place,” Craig said. “People seem to complain because the student guest transfer fee is too high after the guest pays a student for their ticket, but that’s not the University’s fault. UA doesn’t determine what prices students can sell their tickets for. As far as I’m concerned, the system is a good way for students to be able to bring non-students to a game at a fairly reasonable price.”
