Increases in staff and quantities of metal detectors and ticket scanners; ticket education also important

The Ohio State University Department of Athletics will initiate a number of action items to improve the game day experiences for all fans attending the 3:30 p.m. game against Tulsa this Saturday and for the rest of the season.

There were entry issues this past Saturday during the Oregon game, the first 100,000-plus crowd in Ohio Stadium in 657 days because of the COVID pandemic. Delays at some gates were caused by WiFi connectivity, staffing numbers and the learning curve with the new ticket pedestal scanners.

Since then, discussions on improvements have taken place within a number of areas to determine the improvements in the day of game experience at Ohio Stadium. Those steps include:

•  Securing additional engineering support on site from the department’s WiFi partner to monitor and manage all of the connections that come through the access points in the stadium;
• Adding 27 more pedestal ticket scanners to a handful of gates that experienced the heaviest traffic along with 27 additional staff members. There will now be 147 pedestal scanners at Ohio Stadium;
• Distributing 80 additional hand-held ticket scanners to the gates for use as backup scanners;
• Increasing the number of metal detectors at the South Stands gates, adding additional police officers and stadium security to this location and revising the layout for scanning and entry;
• Hard-wiring the concession registers to better accommodate mobile ordering and to remain online, and increase the number of concessions workers; and
• Continuing to educate and communicate the new protocols and changes this week through social media, media relations and other avenues.

Load Tickets to Your Mobile Wallets

One of the most important and proactive steps fans can do to assist the entry process at the gates is to load their mobile ticket to their iPhone or Google Pay wallet before arriving at the stadium, as 66 percent of scanned tickets last week were. (Click the “add to Apple Wallet/add to Google Pay” button in the official Ohio State Buckeyes app or phone web browser once tickets have been accessed.) It helps the process considerably, and it guarantees tickets will be available because WiFi is not needed to access tickets from a mobile wallet.

Digital Ticketing Guide: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/digital-ticketing-guide/

Here’s How to Scan Your Phone at the Pedestal

Mobile tickets are easy to manage and they eliminate fraud. Last week 97.8 pct. of tickets were scanned via mobile devices and there were no instances of fraud. There are two ways for fans to scan their tickets at a pedestal ticket scanner:

1. If you have a barcode on your mobile ticket, simply scan the dynamic barcode below the screen on the ticket pedestal.
2. If you don’t have a barcode and are using a mobile wallet “tap n go” ticket, tap the icon on the top of the pedestal scanner with the back of your phone.

Helpful Measures

• Load your ticket to your phone’s wallet before you arrive at the stadium, please!
• Have your ticket or your barcode “up” and visible on your phone before going through the metal detectors.
• Ticket office trouble shooting booths are located at Gates 5, 11, 14, the North Rotunda and behind the South Stands for those who are having difficulties.
• No mobile phone? The ticket office can print tickets at the Schottenstein Center ticket office (1-800-GOBUCKS) starting the Thursday before home games. On game day, visit one of the ticket trouble shooting booths.
• The official Ohio State Buckeyes app is an easy way to manage tickets and parking. Download the app from the App Store and Google Play.
• Because of construction on campus, please allow for plenty of time to get to campus and get parked.
• The gates open two hours before kickoff. We encourage all fans to arrive early.

COURTESY OSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS