While watching sports on TV is great, most fans will tell you that the experience is greatly enhanced by attending games in person, especially at Chapel Hill. Securing your ticket to a game is paramount to the overall sporting experience at UNC, and here’s how to do it.
Soccer
There is a lot of hype surrounding the football team this year after last season’s run at the Orange Bowl, and students will want to be at Kenan Memorial Stadium to see it.
Student football tickets are available through a lottery process for most home games throughout the season. The lottery opens 10 days before each game and students have 48 hours to participate.
The timing of lottery entries does not affect the odds of getting a ticket – anyone who registers at any time during the 48 hour period has an equal chance of winning.
Students find out if they won by email five days before the game, and winners receive their tickets in another email three days later. Students who do not receive lottery tickets can join the queue on match day. All student tickets become void after kick-off, and those unused tickets go to the students in the queue.
All student ticket holders can enter the stadium 90 minutes before kick-off.
Men’s basketball
Then began the Hubert Davis era. When students enter the Dean E. Smith Center to watch the Tar Heels game, they can sense the historic significance of the basketball program.
Similar to football, a student ticket lottery system is in effect for home basketball games throughout the season, with the exception of exhibitions and certain non-conference games, which are open to students according to the first come, first served principle.
The winners receive their tickets by email five days before the match and the tickets are divided into three phases.
Students with Phase 1 tickets can enter the Smith Center an hour and a half before departure, Phase 2 an hour before, and Phase 3 half an hour before.
As with football, unused tickets become void at the time of the game and there is a queue for students who have not received lottery tickets.
Carolina fever
Carolina Fever is a rewards program in which students earn points for each “Fever” event they participate in. Students don’t need to register for the program – they just swipe their OneCards to the games.
The top 200 students in the points standings receive a ticket for each home football match. The top 150 receive Phase 1 tickets to every men’s basketball game at home – one for the game against Duke and two for every other game.
Students can check the Carolina fever website to see which events will earn them points for the season.
Other sports
Other UNC sporting events are free for students and simply require a OneCard to participate.
@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com