Students looking to obtain tickets to Saturday's football season opener against Hawaii will hang up their old method tonight in favor of waiting online.
Unlike in years past, when students called the Gator Athletic Ticket Order Request System, known as G.A.T.O.R.S., new Ticketmaster software purchased by the University Athletic Association will allow students to log on to a Web site to purchase any additional tickets.
However, don't expect to be rid of those long waits on hold just yet.
The system still has some kinks after it was first used Aug. 18 when student tickets went on sale for the Tennessee, Arkansas and Vanderbilt away games.
Student Sen. Jordan Johnson, who chaired the UAA ticket distribution committee last fall, said he sat and watched as his roommates, who logged on 20 minutes after he did, scored tickets.
Johnson said he quit trying to get tickets of his own after waiting for an hour and a half.
"That was probably the most common occurrence I had heard from other people, too," he said.
Nic Fischer, a UF mechanical engineering senior, went online to buy away game tickets and didn't even know if he had gotten them or not because an error message popped up after he entered his billing information.
Fischer said he called the UAA customer service phone number listed on the Web site but only got recorded messages that it was past business hours.
He called the next day, however, and was notified he received a ticket.
Fischer's biggest concern is the fact that students who are waiting in the queue have no idea where they stand in line.
"As far as reducing the wait times, it's shorter, but it's still not as great as it could be because you could be potentially waiting forever and not know about it," he said.
Mark Gajda, UAA assistant athletic director for ticket operations, said there will be live operators available tonight to help students that have problems with the online system.
Johnson's committee made the recommendation for a universal ticketing Web site to the UAA last fall, but Gajda said the UAA had been considering the option for four or five years.
UAA staff took visits to numerous places around Florida, including Disney's Wide World of Sports, with the most important visit being Pennsylvania State University, which was one of the first to implement Ticketmaster technology, Gajda said.
Bud Meredith, PSU's director of ticket operations, said his school has used the system for seven years now, and he couldn't be happier.
