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The last time Temple played Villanova, the result was a disaster, and not just because the Wildcats beat the Owls. An estimated 20,000 fans showed up at the Linc that day without a ticket to the game. So they got in line and waited ... and waited ... and waited. Another huge walk-up is expected this Thursday when the teams meet again. But Temple won't let the 2003 disaster happen again.
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The Temple Athletic Department issued a “Stadium Advisory” on Monday, offering simple advice to those who will be attending the Owls’ season-opening game against Villanova on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
The first section of the notice, right beneath the kickoff time (7:00 p.m.), essentially says it all: “Plan Ahead.”
Temple staffers are heeding that advice, too, as they prepare for what figures to be the second-biggest event they’ve hosted since moving to the Linc in 2003. And while a huge walk-up crowd is expected, perhaps in excess of 10,000 ticket seekers, the athletic department has taken steps to ensure that the ticketing troubles that wreaked havoc before and during the 2003 Temple-Villanova game won’t happen again.
For the Owls, the first game at the Linc was a disaster, and not just because the Wildcats scored a stunning overtime victory.
With little more than three weeks to sell and distribute tickets to the game – thanks to hardball negotiating tactics by the Philadelphia Eagles that delayed the finalization of the stadium lease until mid-August – Temple faced an impossible throng of walk-up ticket seekers.
“There were more than 20,000 people who came to the stadium that day without a ticket in hand,” recalled Temple Senior Associate Athletic Director Eric Roedl, who attended the game, but was actually two days away from officially joining the athletic department staff. “Because the (stadium) deal didn’t get done until a few weeks before the game, there was no ability to get tickets out. Most season ticket holders didn’t get their tickets until the day of the game. Everything was will call.”
Oh, by the way, the Linc had only 12 ticket windows open that day.
The line at will call was phenomenal. The wait time was unbearable. Some fans reportedly didn’t get into the stadium until well into the second quarter. Others gave up and went home.
Temple announced the attendance as 30,090. Who knows what it could have been?
Thursday night’s game will be another challenge, particularly with the Phillies playing across the street at Citizens Bank Park. That’s another reason the Owls are urging fans to plan ahead.
The athletic department has gotten ahead of the game in terms of ticket distribution. Roedl estimated that more than 15,000 tickets have already been delivered to season ticket holders, individual purchasers, and students at Temple and Villanova. Another 5,000 have been sold (but not distributed) or will be sold before Thursday. Those folks should try to get to will call before the windows open at 5:00 p.m.
And then there’s the walk-up crowd.
“We could get 10,000 again,” Roedl said.
The difference this time – in addition to the ticket windows at the North end of the stadium, all the windows on the West side (student tickets) and the East side (player will call) will be fully staffed. And there will be ample signage and staffers on hand to make sure everyone is pointed in the right direction.
“We’ve learned so many things over the past six years in terms of gameday operations,” said Roedl, pointing to Temple’s success handling a walk-up crowd somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 for the team’s 2007 opener against Navy – another Thursday night game.
The Owls of course hosted a sellout crowd of 69,029 when Penn State came to the Linc in 2007. But in that case, most of the tickets were distributed beforehand.
The Navy game was a better test run for the challenge that awaits on Thursday night.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is convincing fans not to wait until the last minute to get their tickets. The Owls could open the ticket windows one or two hours earlier, but they’ve learned from experience that open windows don’t necessarily equate to early arrivals.
“People who come early like to tailgate and they don’t pick up their tickets until they’re ready to go into the stadium,” Roedl observed.
With that in mind, athletic department staffers will be circulating through the parking lot reminding tailgaters to get to the ticket windows as early as possible.
Every little bit helps.
The Owls could win or lose to the Wildcats. The crowd could surpass 30,000, including 10,000 walk-ups.
“It’s going to be a busy day,” Roedl deadpanned.
But all should go smoothly as long as everyone follows Temple’s simple advice: Plan Ahead.
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