Bill Nye tickets are bye-bye.
The box office of the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, which will host the ‘90s icon at 8 p.m., distributed all 1,550 free tickets within an hour, said Todd Taylor, a spokesman for UF Performing Arts.
By 12:50 p.m., all tickets were sold out to UF students, leaving none for the public.
Taylor said if weather permits, the event will be projected on a screen outside. The venue has made similar arrangements for past speakers such as Neil deGrasse Tyson.
A few students with tickets have taken to the event’s Facebook page and Craigslist to sell them for prices as steep as $100 per ticket.
Accent Speaker’s Bureau chairman Daniel Landesberg said he looked into the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for a larger venue, but Nye was only available today, which conflicts with the Gators basketball game against Middle Tennessee.
“At the end of the day, we can have Bill Nye speak to 2,000 students, or we can have Bill Nye not speak at all,” he said.
Devin Holland arrived at the Phillips Center after his class ended at 11:30 a.m. and was unable to get a ticket. He said the line for tickets snaked around the building — even in gloomy weather.
“I knew I would be able to get a ticket if I skipped class, but I couldn’t afford to skip class,” said the 24-year-old UF electrical engineering junior.
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/21/2013 under the headline "Bill Nye rules, lines drool: Tickets gone"
People brave the rain Wednesday morning and wait in line around the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts to get tickets for Bill Nye’s event tonight, hosted by the Accent Speaker’s Bureau.
