WESTWOOD– UCLA students will get into football and men’s and women’s basketball games for free, the latest and most aggressive step in new CEO and athletic director Tim Harris’ push to rebuild the Bruins’ home crowds.
Beginning with Saturday’s Big Ten home opener against Purdue, all eligible UCLA undergraduate and graduate students can claim complimentary tickets to regular-season home games in all three sports, the athletic department announced Wednesday, September 16.
“Our students are the heartbeat of UCLA,” Harris said in a statement. “Their passion, energy and pride create an atmosphere that makes a difference for our student-athletes and coaches. We want as many students as possible experiencing UCLA athletics.”
Students will now claim home football tickets through their student ticket accounts beginning the Monday of each game week. They can also purchase up to eight guest tickets for nearly all home football games besides the annual USC rivalry game. Transportation remains a separate fee, with the Rooter Bus to and from the Rose Bowl costing $15 per game or $60 for the season.
This is a brilliant move on the part of UCLA. Our attendance as Bruins fans has been embarrassing. Sadly earning the nickname, The ‘Toilet Bowl’ for the sight and optics of an empty stadium.
Hope and support is on the way. Home field advantage will help build the program in the incredibly tough and competitive BIG 10 Conference.
The move addresses an issue Harris identified almost immediately after taking over UCLA athletics: students face an unusual collection of obstacles to attending football games, starting with the Rose Bowl sitting roughly 26 miles east of the Westwood campus.
Harris described those obstacles as “barriers for entry” and said UCLA needed to strip away as many reasons as possible for students to stay home. Harris said he wants UCLA games to become a destination students feel they need to attend because everyone else is there.
“I view the students not as a revenue source, but as a marketing platform,” Harris said on the podcast. “I view the students as part of the entire experience.”
Once that demand exists, he said, UCLA must make the logistics and the cost easier. Otherwise, he said, it provides students with too many excuses to not attend.
After UCLA kickstarted the Bob Chesney era with a road win over Cal, Harris himself purchased 300 tickets to the Bruins’ home opener against San Diego State and distributed them to fans. Champion of Westwood CEO Ken Graiwer then equalled the deed with another 300.
Harris said he made the gesture because he wanted fans to know he had “skin in the game too,” while acknowledging that giveaways alone could not solve UCLA’s attendance problem.
Harris has also said UCLA needs significantly more season-ticket holders, with a longer-term goal of removing the tarps covering portions of the Rose Bowl’s unused seating.
“You can’t have a big-time football program unless you have a bunch of students out there,” he told BRO.
Saturday will provide the first test of UCLA’s newest attempt to make that happen. With students returning to campus for the fall quarter, getting into the Rose Bowl will no longer cost them anything.
“We have an exciting team led by Bob Chesney and a lot of momentum surrounding UCLA athletics,” Harris said in a statement. “Now it’s time for our students to help set the standard.
“Arrive early. Be loud. Be relentless. We can’t wait to see a sea of Bruin Blue at the Rose Bowl this Saturday.”
