For many University of Texas students, securing a seat at a home football game has become a race against thousands of others. With every passing season, a new reality sets in: buying the Big Ticket doesn’t guarantee access to a seat.
In recent years, the number of Big Tickets sold has increased significantly, while the number of available student seats has grown far more slowly. As a result, students often compete for a limited number of tickets each week, even after paying for the season pass. Big Ticket sales with football increased from 16,890 in 2021 to 22,789 in 2025, while student seating grew by fewer than 1,000 seats over the same period totaling 11,307.
“100% I’m stressed every time,” business freshman and Big Ticket holder Ananya Sriram said. “Everyone around you is doing it, and they’re stressed, so it makes you stressed.”
Even after successfully claiming tickets, students say the experience inside the stadium can feel overcrowded due to the limited size of the student section.
“There’s always too many people,” Sriram said about the student section. “We are overcrowded, … we’re so up close to each other, like sardines.”
Sriram added that, while the ticket process is stressful and the student section is overcrowded, she prefers Texas’ randomized lottery system for student tickets, unlike some Southeastern Conference schools that prioritize access based on attendance or seniority.
“Right now, it’s as fair as it can be, because they’re already overselling for how much space there is, making it a randomized process is as fair as it can get before you start restricting based on seniority,” Sriram said.
Yahaira Reyna, an economics sophomore who purchased the Big Ticket last year, said she recalled opening multiple devices to get a seat for Texas’ game against Georgia, where she was able to get a ticket but her roommate was not. Reyna said price and uncertainty around access contributed to her decision not to purchase the Big Ticket again this year but is debating purchasing a Big Ticket in her junior and senior years.
“I think the price is worth it … for all (the) games you can attend, because my family tried to go with me once, and it was like $500 each,” Reyna said. “I just wish it wasn’t such a struggle to get a ticket to the actual game.”
Some students purchase one of 6,000 available Longhorn Foundation memberships, which can offer earlier access to the ticket claim process.
“I think of it almost like an airline,” Plan II and philosophy freshman Steven Alexander said. “You go on an airplane, they most certainly sell more tickets than they have seats. They do that because they want to make sure that they fill up the seats … even if it’s hard to get, there’s more of an opportunity selling more Big Tickets.”
With the prices of the Big Ticket with football increasing from $175 to $250 from 2021 to 2025 and the Longhorn Foundation membership standing at an additional $130, some students are questioning whether investing in the Big Ticket and Longhorn Foundation is worth the price.
“I don’t know,” Alexander said. “I had a great time. I am very grateful for my experience with the Big Ticket and Longhorn Foundation pass. But it’s, from a student perspective, somewhat costly.”
Texas Athletics could not be reached in time for publication.
The Big Ticket for the upcoming season will begin sales over the summer, and while it’s unclear whether Texas Athletics will make changes in the package and its price, with Texas football embarking on what seems to be an “all-in” season, students can expect the trend of chaotic ticket claiming to continue.
Aradhya Bharti contributed to the reporting.
