Tickets

First off, welcome back and thank you for your service…

Ticket Tips

1) The Rice, UTEP, and Central Florida games should be very easy to access (especially Central Florida since it comes in the middle of the season and probably won’t receive much hype). You should be able to get into these games for face value or less.

2) You’re right, the Tech game will be the toughest ticket to come by…it’s a payback game and it’ll receive tons of hype from the ESPN Machine. How tough a ticket Kansas and Colorado end up being probably depends on how well those teams are doing in the standings when they arrive in Austin. Colorado visits Austin in early October, so they still may be undefeated and possible ranked when they arrive.

3) If you want tickets in hand well before the game, you can always go the Craig’s List, eBay, and Stubhub route…probably in that order and I’d only do that for the opener, Tech and maybe the Colorado game. If you do, wait until at least mid-August to do that as that will be when season ticket holders get their tickets in the mail and the market will be flush with actual tickets to buy and sell.

4) For the rest of the games, I’d just go cruise the corners outside Scholz Beer Garten (17th and San Jacinto) and the one at MLK and San Jac the morning of the game…tons of scalpers, tons of tickets…talk to several of them before buying and then go back to the one who had the deal you liked best.

Print out a copy of the DKR seating diagram and have it with you…that way you won’t be easily confused when the scalpers start spouting sections and rows. While I think scalpers serve a useful purpose, just remember that there is no honor amongst thieves…before you even approach a scalper, already have in mind what you’re willing to pay and stick to it. They will sell their tickets for as much as they think they can get from you. You may also want to look for someone selling who may just be a fan with extras…hard to tell who they are sometimes, but they usually just look like your average fan and they’re only holding 2-4 tickets.*

5) You can always check the Texas Box Office later this summer for single game tickets, but you know those aren’t going to be located all that close to the action and I’d only do that for the opener or Tech games.

Game Day Tips

For first timers, I always suggest Scholtz Beer Garten (17th and San Jacinto)…it’s sort of the Game Day Hub. Plenty of beer and food to go around and tons of fans milling about. I’d get there at least 3 hours before kick-off. There’s also street vendors nearby in a section called the Fan Zone or something like that…and don’t worry about Scholtz being a bar, it’s open to all ages on Game Day.

From there you can walk to the stadium (start at least 45 minutes before kick-off your first time) and walk amongst all the tailgaters in the parking lots between Scholtz and the stadium.

That should get you started anyway…have fun.

Don’t bother buying student tickets because you need a student ID when you enter the game with them…some people will tell you that the ticket takers at the gate don’t really check, but it’s just not worth the hassle or the risk.