Digital tickets

[PeteFox]

Just got an e-mail stating that all tickets will be digital, using some apple phone app. My phone is a bare-bones phone. No frills, fads, or fancy stuff. No apps.
I have a call in to the ticket office to see if there is an alternative plan. I’ll let you know what they say.

[FayetteDore]

Same here. I hate to be a Luddite but the instructions aren't clear to me about whether I should download them all at once -- or just before each game?

Also, I have two season tix. Should both go on my phone? Can I send one to my daughter for when she arrives at the gate at a different time from me?

I have used digital tickets for concerts before but I never had more than one and I never transferred them to anyone else.

So anyone who knows, please advise. TIA

[PeteFox]

Response from the ticket office…”I have added you to the list of people who will need hard tickets.”

[OldDude]

Once again decisions being made in the AD by the social media crowd marketing , or attempting to do so, to the social media generation which is nowhere near the majority of the actual market for VU football. Please don't tell me about the future of marketing / distribution; VU needs to keep the dwindling market they have in the here and now. The future for college football attendance all over the country looks shaky. Annoying the current market is nuts.

I would also refer to a thread some time back about the difficulty several fans had in making contributions to the Commodore Club. Difficulty giving money ? What is going on over there ?

[MrMemorial]

So, if you have an extra ticket, the ability to take to VandyVille and give it to somebody before the game has now been eliminated? Is that what I'm hearing?

[Versus75]

If you DON’T have a smartphone you should do as Pete and request hard copies. I have a friend who did that for the Baseball Regional.

If you DO have a smartphone:
a. Get the digital image with CR Code and seat no. on your screen.
b. Take a screenshot that saves the image to your phone.
c. Text the image to your daughter or whomever.

That’s the easy way to give a ticket to a friend. Selling the ticket to a stranger is trickier because he wants to be sure you don’t check in with that ticket before he gets to the gate.

[frstev17]

When I received my tix to the Super Regional it said screenshots were not accepted. Probably wise to double check this with the ticket office.
Apple wallet app allows one to make a transfer I believe. With an iPhone that is an option. Not sure about Android.

[vandy05]

Its pretty much a bad take in 2021 to say that the school should not be doing digital tickets. It would be wrong to not offer an option, but its right to do digital tickets.

Electronic tickets allow lots of things. They can do really cool things with ticket delivery by using e-tickets that are marketing tools. You can create new designs to correspond with what may be going on. Imagine having a player having a great campaign and it wasn't expected at the beginning of the year and you want to market that player on your e-tickets. Have the digital marketing people whip it up and push it out. I imagine there could be some sort of creative tie-in with ad revenue as well. Opportunities for sponsorship. There are also NIL opportunities. The school probably can't facilitate things, but if a business wanted to buy ad space associated with an e-ticket to spotlight a player, I wonder if the school could comply.

The social media generation is pretty much everyone these days. But truthfully, that point isn't even important. What is important is that paper tickets are going the way of the dodo bird. There are so many complaints about our athletic department and the lack of creativity in their marketing. This gives them a chance to be creative and forward-thinking. Seems like a good move to me.

[GrumpyOldDore]

I wonder if "the Agrarians" would stand for this.

[CrimeDore]

E-tickets have become industry standard. I have season tickets to a pro team, and they’ve been electronic for years. I’m certainly not a wizard with technology, but once you’re accustomed to them, e-tickets are actually easier to handle than paper tickets including transferring them.

[Johnmn555]

I wonder if "the Agrarians" would stand for this.

Who were they? I seem to vaguely recall University publications referring to some group with that name long ago, but certainly not recently. Did they do something wrong? Not woke?

Goodbye buying a ticket(s) outside for below face on game day.

I don't have a smart phone and why should I? I have a little flip phone that's far more convenient to carry. I check emails on my laptop or tablet ten times a day. Do I need to spend the rest of the time pecking at one of these annoying things?

[cjdore]

Its pretty much a bad take in 2021 to say that the school should not be doing digital tickets. It would be wrong to not offer an option, but its right to do digital tickets.

Electronic tickets allow lots of things. They can do really cool things with ticket delivery by using e-tickets that are marketing tools. You can create new designs to correspond with what may be going on. Imagine having a player having a great campaign and it wasn't expected at the beginning of the year and you want to market that player on your e-tickets. Have the digital marketing people whip it up and push it out. I imagine there could be some sort of creative tie-in with ad revenue as well. Opportunities for sponsorship. There are also NIL opportunities. The school probably can't facilitate things, but if a business wanted to buy ad space associated with an e-ticket to spotlight a player, I wonder if the school could comply.

The social media generation is pretty much everyone these days. But truthfully, that point isn't even important. What is important is that paper tickets are going the way of the dodo bird. There are so many complaints about our athletic department and the lack of creativity in their marketing. This gives them a chance to be creative and forward-thinking. Seems like a good move to me.

I agree but digital tix should be an opt in choice from us the tix buyer!

[FayetteDore]

I went to the Vanderbilt website and found this info. If you transfer your ticket to someone else, they will have to sign up for a Vanderbilt (Ticketmaster) account:

Transferring Tickets: To transfer digital tickets login to your Vanderbilt account manager, select the “transfer” button at the top of the page, select the game and exact tickets to transfer and then the recipient information. Please note that if the recipient does not have a Vanderbilt ticket account, they must create an account to accept the tickets. Transferred tickets can only be accessed digitally, and cannot be printed out.

There is also this: Please note that we do not offer PDF or print-at-home tickets.

Many times, I've given away an extra ticket outside the stadium to a parent I see with a child. Other times, I've handed tickets to the info guys sitting in the elevated seats outside the gates and told them if they see someone in need of a ticket to give it to them and they assure me they will. (I've noticed others do this too.) I guess this is going to put an end to that kind of thing because I don't see the likelihood of anyone standing around outside the stadium and creating an account on the spot. And I'll also say that creating a Vanderbilt Ticketmaster account requires more info than I want to share -- but I had to.

I'm sorry but there was no mention of digital-only back in the spring when I ordered the tickets. As I said at the beginning, I may be a Luddite but I really think we ought to have the choice of hard tickets.

[MrMemorial]

I consider myself a real hep cat when it comes to technology. At least for an old guy who was using computers well before windows came along. Back when you had to use a floppy disc to boot up your 286 and 386 so you could use your Lotus 1-2-3 and all. But that's a long story for a different day.

With that said, I called McGugin and let them know that I didn't like the phasing out of paper tickets.

[vandy05]

E-tickets have become industry standard. I have season tickets to a pro team, and they’ve been electronic for years. I’m certainly not a wizard with technology, but once you’re accustomed to them, e-tickets are actually easier to handle than paper tickets including transferring them.

Agree. It really is just being with the times. It will be a rough transition for some, but its what it is now.

[Johnmn555]

I guess this means no more stub hub if the tix have to be through ticketmaster.

If the spirit moves you to just walk up on game day, will you no longer be able to go to the ticket booth and buy a ticket?

[PeteFox]

I guess this means no more stub hub if the tix have to be through ticketmaster.

If the spirit moves you to just walk up on game day, will you no longer be able to go to the ticket booth and buy a ticket?

Good question…I may have to go this route in the future, if they refuse to issue hard copy tix. Will save by not having to eat the games I don’t go to. Also save on the NCC contribution.

[geeznotagain]

I consider myself a real hep cat when it comes to technology. At least for an old guy who was using computers well before windows came along. Back when you had to use a floppy disc to boot up your 286 and 386 so you could use your Lotus 1-2-3 and all. But that's a long story for a different day.

How about the (pre-Lotus) VisiCalc? Do you go back that far?

[PeteFox]

I consider myself a real hep cat when it comes to technology. At least for an old guy who was using computers well before windows came along. Back when you had to use a floppy disc to boot up your 286 and 386 so you could use your Lotus 1-2-3 and all. But that's a long story for a different day.

How about the (pre-Lotus) VisiCalc? Do you go back that far?

I do. Thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Are you old enough to remember electronic adding machines with Nixie tubes? Or better yet, 100% mechanical adding machines?

[NWOHDore]

I guess this means no more stub hub if the tix have to be through ticketmaster.

There are a ton of ETSU tickets on StubHub as we speak.