Carino: For Rutgers football, late-arriving fans didn't help vs. Ohio State

[Knight Shift]

Sorry if this offends certain posters here. If you read the whole article, he acknowledges that there were issues with the scanners.

But, he also notes:
"Let’s be clear: Nothing in the stands was changing the result of Saturday’s 52-13 wipeout."

"But elsewhere in the Big Ten, the vast majority of fans are in their seats by kickoff. Penn State manages to get 100,000 people from a rocking tailgate party into the building in a timely manner. It can be done."

"Two plays after the fake punt, Ohio State was in the end zone. The 2,000 or so Buckeyes fans in attendance unleashed a roar. It’s worth noting: They made into in the stadium on time."

The Rutgers student section, unlike the rest of the stadium, was just about filled at kickoff

@bac2therac has noted that people have lives and they are busy. He's right about that. People who have other responsibilities such as child care, pet care, children's sports, etc. may not be able to make it to the game by kickoff.

For Rutgers football, late-arriving fans didn't help vs. Ohio State

Like the botched fake punt, it didn't impact the outcome. But it could next time.

www.app.com

 

[RU_Goo]

I don’t think carino have ever been to Penn state for a 330 kickoff against Illinois or Indiana to really compare who is in their seats on time

 

[UMRU]

Seemed like a lot more than 2k bucknuts

 

[RUforlife]

I don’t think carino have ever been to Penn state for a 330 kickoff against Illinois or Indiana to really compare who is in their seats on time

I was gonna say, I have been to many a Penn State game versus other teams than Rutgers and that place can be slow as hell to fill up. Trust me, they are not in all in their seats for Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue, etc. let alone the non conference games.

 

[mdk01]

Seemed like a lot more than 2k bucknuts

I believe he was referring to the tickets to the section of the stadium allocated to OSU for sale by them. Hard to by gauge the rest, as they were scattered throughout the stadium.

 

[DC8690]

It took 20 min to get in through the Provident entrance, I got in on time, but there were all of 20 people on line in front of me. Gate D line was enormous, this is a half hour before kickoff, you can’t have 2 line for the whole West side of the stadium, they need more entrances.

 

[rutgersal]

Im calling BS with regard to penn state. There are significant amounts of fans outside the stadium well into the first quarter.

 

[BigEastPhil]

Just give everyone physical tickets. Stop the scanning BS.

 

[Knight Shift]

Just give everyone physical tickets. Stop the scanning BS.

Haven't most other stadiums gone to electronic ticketing?

 

[bethlehemfan]

Im calling BS with regard to penn state. There are significant amounts of fans outside the stadium well into the first quarter.

Haha yea but there are still 75k in the stadium on time!!

 

[slyker]

Yes, scanning may be contributing a small amount to the issue, but this has been going on at Rutgers stadium for many many years. Problem is MUCH more than just a scanning issue. We left our tailgate in yellow about 3;05 and passed by many many people that were still tailgating. Leaving at that time got us through the gates and in our seats by 3:25. Folks in yellow know how long it takes to get in...... the blame lies solely on their lackluster desire to leave their tailgate and be in their seats at kickoff.

 

[RUChoppin]

PSU implemented mobile ticketing for 2019 and had a lot of scanning/entry problems and delays with it: https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2019/10/psu-ticket-scanning-frustrates-fans/

Now they have opened up more lanes at their gates and have stationary ticket scanners.

They also benefit from having parking lots 360 degrees around their stadium, and fans can enter on any of the four gates. Our parking is almost all north and northwest of the stadium and only 3 gates are really available to people coming from the lots (one of which has less than half the entrance width of the other two).

Blow out the East gate to 6 lanes, install at least 4-5 stationary scanner kiosks at each gate for people to just scan and go (like an EZ Pass) if they have no bags, and have bag check further out beyond the ticketing lanes (not checking bags and trying to scan tickets at the same place).

Yes, people leave too little time to get into the stadium - but that's exacerbated by not being set up to handle peak entry traffic, either.

 

[jordkap]

Yes, scanning may be contributing a small amount to the issue, but this has been going on at Rutgers stadium for many many years. Problem is MUCH more than just a scanning issue. We left our tailgate in yellow about 3;05 and passed by many many people that were still tailgating. Leaving at that time got us through the gates and in our seats by 3:25. Folks in yellow know how long it takes to get in...... the blame lies solely on their lackluster desire to leave their tailgate and be in their seats at kickoff.

To be fair this tailgate was probably better than the alternative of being in the stadium on time

 

[sami]

To be fair this tailgate was probably better than the alternative of being in the stadium on time

Something to be said for getting $700 for my 4 tickets on stub hub and watching the game in the parking lot. Enjoyed my 13 hour tailgate, unfortunately my thought of buying a ticket in the 1st quarter and wandering in didn’t come to pass.

And before you jump, I watched the whole game unlike the thousands who walked passed me on their way home.

 

[koleszar]

Rutgers dropped the ball. Simply not enough scanners and people not properly trained. Two weeks and both times problems as the scanner kept trying to scan 5 tickets before my wife could swipe to next one. Then confusion and even more time wasted. With not enough scanners, when a group comes and one person has all the tickets It's scan, swipe, scan, swipe. Now add in someone over 65 to this equation and It's takes an eternity.

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Student section:

 

[read option]

Some will likely rip me for this but… what is so great about these tailgates that’s people can’t get into the stadium on time? End your tailgate and head towards the stadium 30 min before kickoff. If you’ve been tailgating already for 2-3 hrs or more, why can’t the tailgate end to be into your seats on time?

 

[koleszar]

Something to be said for getting $700 for my 4 tickets on stub hub and watching the game in the parking lot. Enjoyed my 13 hour tailgate, unfortunately my thought of buying a ticket in the 1st quarter and wandering in didn’t come to pass.

And before you jump, I watched the whole game unlike the thousands who walked passed me on their way home.

So you're the reason I had four OSU fans sitting next to me high fiving and celebrating like they were about to win the Super Bowl. Good Job, thanks for that one, much appreciated!

 

[sami]

So you're the reason I had four OSU fans sitting next to me high fiving and celebrating like they were about to win the Super Bowl. Good Job, thanks for that one!

1 - I was in the lot at 6:30am, and 6:30pm
2 - it was my birthday and I wanted a present, not coal
3 - my son’s pulmonologist advises that we avoid crowds until he is able to be vaccinated, so my family hasn’t been coming in with me
4 - I like money, I don’t like watching blowouts
5 - and the one that will really set you off, I’m a double SHU graduate

 

[newell138]

As I said in another post people are used to walking up and getting right in because for years no one was showing up. Get more scanners and it will all get better. The more we win the more people will want to be in seats at kickoff

 

[DC8690]

Some will likely rip me for this but… what is so great about these tailgates that’s people can’t get into the stadium on time? End your tailgate and head towards the stadium 30 min before kickoff. If you’ve been tailgating already for 2-3 hrs or more, why can’t the tailgate end to be into your seats on time?

Getting on line at 3 on the east side of the stadium probably got you in your seat at 3:45

 

[RUChoppin]

Some will likely rip me for this but… what is so great about these tailgates that’s people can’t get into the stadium on time? End your tailgate and head towards the stadium 30 min before kickoff. If you’ve been tailgating already for 2-3 hrs or more, why can’t the tailgate end to be into your seats on time?

Not enough time unless you're in the Scarlet/Green lots, or the nearer side of the Yellow - for everyone to get to their seats, I'm learning that you need to end at least 45 min before kickoff, the way the entry scanning is currently set up - and even earlier if you're coming from the Purple/Black/Silver/RAC lots. Getting to the line after 3:10 yesterday very likely meant not getting into your seats by kickoff... unless your seats are at the top of the north endzone sections.

 

[RUChoppin]

Rutgers dropped the ball. Simply not enough scanners and people not properly trained. Two weeks and both times problems as the scanner kept trying to scan 5 tickets before my wife could swipe to next one. Then confusion and even more time wasted. With not enough scanners, when a group comes and one person has all the tickets It's scan, swipe, scan, swipe. Now add in someone over 70 to this equation and It's takes an eternity.

Another fairly easy technology solve for this one - you should only have to display one QR code for all tickets in your digital wallet, and it should be able to tell the scanner how many tickets were included. One scan for all the people in the group.

Or, you should be able to just swipe from one QR code to the next, rather than having to go back out to your wallet, then back into the QR code for each ticket. Poor UI design, imo.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Something to be said for getting $700 for my 4 tickets on stub hub and watching the game in the parking lot. Enjoyed my 13 hour tailgate, unfortunately my thought of buying a ticket in the 1st quarter and wandering in didn’t come to pass.

And before you jump, I watched the whole game unlike the thousands who walked passed me on their way home.

You didn't watch the whole game. You watched a digital image of the whole game. There is a difference.

 

[koleszar]

Another fairly easy technology solve for this one - you should only have to display one QR code for all tickets in your digital wallet, and it should be able to tell the scanner how many tickets were included. One scan for all the people in the group.

Or, you should be able to just swipe from one QR code to the next, rather than having to go back out to your wallet, then back into the QR code for each ticket. Poor UI design, imo.

It just takes too much time and from memory you could get our group of 5 in the stadium in more than half the time with printed tickets. Now multiply that by thousands and the backlog adds up quickly. We left the RAC lot's around 2:15 pm and I'm glad we did. It was slow but not many people, I said to my wife at the time that's going to be a problem right before kickoff.

 

[RC80]

students completely engaged -- thank goodness they are ready when team leaves the tunnel; saw a ton of people looking to get in with about 15 minutes before game time; I like Jerry and his writing - but don't recall any "roar" when OSU hit the field -- or it was real quick - & of course as expected they were going to cheer. If they want to give away a TV - how about giving one to (about) the 200 students that actually remained well into the 2nd half.

 

[brgRC90]

Every time we lose some people want to blame the fans. But I doubt that homefield advantage plays much of a decisive part in the first minutes of a game. Where it is usually decisive is late in a close game when a loud home crowd can be a distraction for visiting teams.

 

[RUAldo]

Stadium operations is a joke. Between the concessions fiasco earlier in the season to scanner issues, it’s a circus.

 

[Knight Shift]

So you're the reason I had four OSU fans sitting next to me high fiving and celebrating like they were about to win the Super Bowl. Good Job, thanks for that one, much appreciated!

I will hook him up with those Penn State wrestling fans you got to be friends with for our next home game against Penn State.

 

[mikemarc1]

When we start winning and are an exciting team to watch..people will get there early.

why is this such a hard concept to grasp??!!

 

[Knight Shift]

students completely engaged -- thank goodness they are ready when team leaves the tunnel; saw a ton of people looking to get in with about 15 minutes before game time; I like Jerry and his writing - but don't recall any "roar" when OSU hit the field -- or it was real quick - & of course as expected they were going to cheer. If they want to give away a TV - how about giving one to (about) the 200 students that actually remained well into the 2nd half.

Jerry referred to their TD: "Ohio State was in the end zone. The 2,000 or so Buckeyes fans in attendance unleashed a roar."
When they scored their first two TDs, it seemed like they had 10-20,000 in the stadium based on the roar of the crowd.

 

[lakejj]

Getting on line at 3 on the east side of the stadium probably got you in your seat at 3:45

Exactly this

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

Happens all over. Throw in years of being mediocre and you get a “prove it to me mentality.”

This board represents less than 1 percent of the fan base - start consistently winning / remaining competitive and wel see a big change

 

[cicero grimes]

When we start winning and are an exciting team to watch..people will get there early.

why is this such a hard concept to grasp??!!

This exactly.

 

[KeithK7624]

Some will likely rip me for this but… what is so great about these tailgates that’s people can’t get into the stadium on time? End your tailgate and head towards the stadium 30 min before kickoff. If you’ve been tailgating already for 2-3 hrs or more, why can’t the tailgate end to be into your seats on time?

Personally, I prefer the tailgate more than the game.

However, for RU games I like to be in the seats, with beer in hand, about 15 min before kickoff. I got to the gate yesterday at about 3:05, and made it to the seat around 3:50. Lines to enter were crazy yesterday and honestly inexcusable.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Seemed like a lot more than 2k bucknuts

He didn't note the other 10k OSU fans still trying to get in. It's just a lazy effort not to realize the experience a program like PSU has figured out over the years that Rutgers hasn't.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

PSU implemented mobile ticketing for 2019 and had a lot of scanning/entry problems and delays with it: https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2019/10/psu-ticket-scanning-frustrates-fans/

Now they have opened up more lanes at their gates and have stationary ticket scanners.

They also benefit from having parking lots 360 degrees around their stadium, and fans can enter on any of the four gates. Our parking is almost all north and northwest of the stadium and only 3 gates are really available to people coming from the lots (one of which has less than half the entrance width of the other two).

Blow out the East gate to 6 lanes, install at least 4-5 stationary scanner kiosks at each gate for people to just scan and go (like an EZ Pass) if they have no bags, and have bag check further out beyond the ticketing lanes (not checking bags and trying to scan tickets at the same place).

Yes, people leave too little time to get into the stadium - but that's exacerbated by not being set up to handle peak entry traffic, either.

Voice of reason. Simple as that.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Some will likely rip me for this but… what is so great about these tailgates that’s people can’t get into the stadium on time? End your tailgate and head towards the stadium 30 min before kickoff. If you’ve been tailgating already for 2-3 hrs or more, why can’t the tailgate end to be into your seats on time?

Cept that me a several thousand others did just that and couldn't get in in a reasonable manner to make it. Can't defend the others ..

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Getting on line at 3 on the east side of the stadium probably got you in your seat at 3:45

Oh, another example of what I experienced and another who must have made it up lol.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Personally, I prefer the tailgate more than the game.

However, for RU games I like to be in the seats, with beer in hand, about 15 min before kickoff. I got to the gate yesterday at about 3:05, and made it to the seat around 3:50. Lines to enter were crazy yesterday and honestly inexcusable.

And another.. haha.