Urgent Response Needed From Fans Of UE Men’s Basketball Concerning Seating Change

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Urgent Response Needed From Fans

 Due to a policy that has recently been enacted by Venuworks, who is the management company of the Ford Center, there will be seating changes for the upcoming University of Evansville men’s basketball season.  The new policy requires all venue seating to be socially distanced through the creation of family units or what will be referred to as “seating pods”.

In the “Pod System”, a season ticket holder and their associated guests are identified as “Family Units”.  These pods will be spaced by the CDC prescribed safety distance of at least 6 feet apart from other seating pods.  This buffer is comprised of the row in front and behind the group being left vacant as well as a minimum of three seats on either side of the pod.  All aisleway seats will be left vacant in order to maintain a buffer from patrons as they move to their assigned seating locations. As a reminder, all patrons will be required to wear a mask throughout the event.

PLEASE NOTE: All seating changes are temporary for the entirety of the 2020-2021 season.

This policy update will require UE athletics to re-seat all season ticket accounts. The Purple Aces ticket office will do its best to seat season ticket holders as close to their current location as possible while remaining compliant with the safety guidelines in order to be able to welcome supporters this season.

UE athletics is offering its season ticket holders a unique service.  It is obvious that many supporters have developed relationships with other Aces fans over the years.  UE athletics is going to do as much as possible to ensure that fans can be near others who they have enjoyed games with over the years.

In order to do this, the department needs help from its season ticket account holders.  By clicking HERE (https://gopurpleaces.com/sb_output.aspx?form=54), you can inform UE athletics of anyone you would like to remain seated by as seating pods are assigned.  Requests will be accepted until Tuesday, October 20 at 11:59 p.m. in order to give the ticket office ample time to re-seat everyone.  If a request is not received, the account will be re-seated without other season ticket holders in an assigned pod.  By filling out the form, you and everyone in your “Seating Pod” or “Family Unit” acknowledge the risks of COVID-19 transmission and are comfortable enough with the parties in your group to be seated together without the additional social distancing.  BOTH parties must agree to be in the “Family Unit”.

The expected timeline leading up to the season is as follows:

  • Tuesday, October 20: deadline to submit your seating pod request form HERE
  • Thursday, October 22: UE ticket office staff completes initial Ford Center re-seat
  • Friday, October 23-Thursday, October 29: Season ticket holders will receive a personal phone call from a UE ticket office representative detailing their new seat location
  • Wednesday, November 11-Monday, November 16: Season tickets will be available for curbside pickup at the Carson Center (more details to come)
  • Tuesday, November 17: All remaining season tickets will be mailed to the address on file
  • Wednesday, November 25: earliest college basketball start date as mandated by the NCAA

With the reduction of Ford Center capacity to roughly 25%, the available single-game ticket inventory is expected to be extremely low. The only way to guarantee admission to all home games is by maintaining your season tickets.