By Ceoli Jacoby

The University of Maryland received a record number of ticket requests for Friday’s game against Pennsylvania State University. More than 14,000 students entered the lottery, according to Athletic Director Damon Evans. 

There is only one problem with this outpouring of student support: the Maryland Stadium can only accommodate about 10,000 students. About 4,000 students were unable to obtain a seat through the university’s distribution system. While some of these students came to terms with attending only a tailgate party, many were still looking for a way in to the venue.

Enter the black market for student tickets: class Facebook pages, the UMD subreddit page, various GroupMe chats (one chat’s membership skyrocketed to more than 600 members during the week leading up to the game) and others offered tickets ranging from $35 to $160. Student tickets are offered by the university for free.  

The Maryland Athletic Ticket Office sent an email Sept. 17 reiterating that students refrain from selling tickets as doing so is a violation of the student ticket policy. Individuals who are caught can lose access to the ticket lottery and be banned from future games.

“Just because [the policy] says we can’t do something doesn’t mean that we’re not gonna do it,” sophomore computer science major Peter Chen said.

Because students anticipate shortages for high-profile games, some view requesting a ticket for the express purpose of resale as a quick and easy way to profit from their desperate classmates. 

“If [UMD] wanted people not to sell, [they would] just let people with UMD ID’s in at the gate of the game,” Chen said. “By doing this raffle system, [they] are limiting people that actually want to go to the game…[they] created the basic effect of supply and demand.”

After Chen’s ticket was rendered unusable, he reportedly returned his earnings to the buyer as he “doesn’t really like screwing people over.” 

Many buyers, however, were not so lucky. In response to an influx of scams, the administrator of the a GroupMe chat issued a warning to members not to trade with others via money exchange apps, as “they do not offer recourse if a transaction goes wrong.” Instead, the administrator suggested dealing only in person to ensure that the seller can indeed deliver on their promise. The administrator spoke anonymously. 

Freshman math and computer science double major Issac Butz confessed to being “apprehensive” about trusting a classmate he met on Reddit to make good on their agreement. 

“When I met him in person I waited until I got the ticket to pay him the $90,” Butz said. 

Some students selling tickets online experienced a different kind of scam altogether. Several students posing as buyers requested to see some form of proof that the ticket is in hand, after which they used identifying information on the document to report sellers to the Maryland Athletic Ticket Office. 

After several complaints detailing this process were made to the same GroupMe administrator, this individual reminded members that “it should be fine to send tickets to people as proof only as long as the barcode is censored” and the University ID and name are cropped out.  The motive for this type of scam is not as clear, but some sellers suggested that these students may be acting out of retaliation. Because tickets obtained at no charge are now going for large sums of money, many students feel cheated by their own peers. 

Although UMD did install temporary bleachers behind the student section to provide additional space for the game, it is unclear how the university will handle similar situations in the future.