Penn State ticketing problems continue to frustrate fans

If you haven’t gotten your football tickets for Penn State’s first home game on Saturday, you aren’t alone. University personnel continue to say the tickets are in the mail.

“A large group of season ticket holders received their tickets and parking today, while the remainder of those outstanding were sent via UPS this afternoon,” Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, some angry season ticket holders were still grumbling online and making calls, unsure if they would make the trip to State College for a game they feared they might not be able to attend.

Nelson insisted all ticket holders would be accommodated.

“For any season ticket holders who have not received their tickets by Thursday at noon, they are asked to please contact the ticket office at Golions@psu.edu, so that we can accommodate their ticket needs immediately,” he said.

While Penn State is taking the blame for the missing tickets, personnel are short on answers about why the delay has happened.

“Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics apologizes to all season ticket holders for the delay and inconvenience in the delivery of their tickets and parking. This is not how we expect to conduct our daily business. We take full responsibility for this and assure that it will not happen again,” Nelson said.

The university has not confirmed who the printer of this year’s tickets is, and Nelson says the printer is not the issue.

“We are at fault. The printer doesn’t matter,” he said. “What happened is not important. We accept full responsibility.”

Penn State previously sent out tickets in one sheet and parking passes in another. This year, the tickets were bundled into a booklet.

Penn State works with IMG Learfield on some ticketing needs. The company has a testimonial on its website from Jeff Garner, assistant athletic director for ticketing sales and service.

“IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions is helping Penn State to maximize ticket inventory and revenues across all of our ticketed sports. They consistently bring creative and industry leading strategies to our marketing and sales plans while remaining focused on the challenge of day-to-day sales. They continue to be great teammates in helping us fulfill the overall mission of providing the best possible experience for our student-athletes,” Garner’s statement reads.

However, Nelson said Learfield is not the printer of the tickets and never was.

“Penn State Athletics partnered with IMG Learfield Ticketing Solutions before the 2011 season. Their staff assists with ticket sales; they are not involved in the printing of tickets,” he said, confirming only that the current printer is not local.

Learfield’s Jennifer Duncan concurred.

“Athletics is going through a printing company to do this. (Local representatives) said that Athletics is doing their best to get all tickets out ASAP, and you can call the ticket office with any questions,” she said.

Nelson said steps are being taken to ensure a repeat incident doesn’t happen next year.

“Season ticket holders will receive a ticket delivery timeline, and their tickets and parking, earlier in the summer for the 2018 season,” he said. “Penn State Athletics thanks its loyal and passionate alumni, students and fans for their support of our 800 student-athletes across 31 programs.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Penn State ticketing problems continue to frustrate fans."