A year and a half after NHL hockey was last played in the Metroplex, the Dallas Stars are trying to make it easier on a college student’s wallet to attend games at the American Airlines Center.
The Stars have initiated a college rush ticket program for students of all area schools, including SMU. Beginning an hour before the game is scheduled to begin, students who bring a student ID to the box office window will be able to purchase an upper bowl seat for $10 or a lower bowl seat for $25.
Rush programs have been run at local theaters and symphonies for years, and there’s always the risk that the game will sell out before the rush tickets are available. There’s also no guarantee that large groups will be able to find seats together, though a Stars official said the box office would make every effort to find group seating when it was possible.
Even though there is no guarantee on availability, the program offers students the chance to get seats for well over half off the gate price. in almost every case.
“It would have been awesome in my time, when I was able to watch NHL hockey,” Stars prospect Mark Fistric said. “I think it will be great for the kids and families to be able to afford to come to the games.”
The college rush program is just one of many ticket incentives the Stars have developed in the long off-season to bring back fans after a season-long lockout.
Throughout the building, season ticket prices were lowered by an average of 16 percent, one of the largest rollbacks in the NHL. Several rows of seats in the third tier of the AAC now cost $10 per ticket instead of the previous $25 per ticket, putting admission on par with a movie.
Lower bowl admission starts at $65 a ticket for single-game tickets, which guarantees at least a 60 percent discount for students buying a lower bowl ticket through the rush program.
Jason Rademan, the manager of publications and media relations for the Stars, said the college rush program is designed to take advantage of the numerous area colleges whose students may not have been able to afford tickets in previous seasons. Ã
“When I was in college, I know I was always looking for something to do,” Rademan said. “We were always looking for something fun, and I know that Stars game are a lot of fun. What we did with the college rush program is we made it easy for students to come to our games.”
The program officially began Tuesday night with the first preseason home game, a 6-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. The Stars open the regular season Oct. 5 when it hosts the L.A. Kings.