Buying Tickets for the Game: 1970s Style

Waiting in Line at Pauley Pavilion
by Alice I. Chen

The Central Ticket Office located at the James West Alumni Center (pictured below) did not exist

30 years ago; in fact, it wasn’t established until 1979. In the early 1970s, Bruins were still living in the pencil and paper era, where officials handed out tickets at the former Athletic Ticket Office, which is where Gate 2 in Pauley Pavilion is now. Students would camp outside the athletic department ticket office, sometimes two nights in a row to get their tickets. It was integrated with the ASUCLA ticket office, which used to be where the Kerckoff Coffeehouse is currently located today, and was pretty busy during football and basketball season.

Tickets were 25 cents apiece in 1968; adjusted for inflation, they would cost $2.00 to $2.50 today. This is still pretty cheap compared to the $12.00 unreserved tickets available today.

Back in the 60s and early 70s, 2,600 basketball tickets were available to accommodate the 28,000 students attending UCLA. However, 3,500 student tickets were distributed, as they accounted for a 30% no show rate at any particular game. These no-shows would have to purchase a ticket, and

no refunds were given if they did not arrive.

In an opinion piece by John Sandbrook in the Daily Bruin wrote, people were intimidated by the lines and the wait. “I’ve run into a number of people already who claim that they were ‘scared away’ by the limited number of tickets and the thought of an overnight stay in Pauley.”

After getting their tickets, students proceeded to camp out again to get into the game. They would sleep outside a day before the game, and wait until the doors opened the next day at 5:45 pm for the freshman game. They would then wait until the 8:00 game began. As John Sandbrook, ’67, recalls, “The sleepovers at Pauley had the same fraternal, collegial experience that one hears described today by the Cameron Crazies at Duke. When one is 18, 19 years old, one does not mind sleeping on concrete. When one is 56, one minds it.” But over all, “It was just a lot of fun. The only pushing and shoving came when th

e doors open and it was an Oklahoma-like rush to get the best seats.” Though not common, there was still the occasional sprained ankle, and battle bruises. (Pictured right: A modern day view inside Pauley Pavilion).

The camping out eventually ceased and as Sandbrook remembers, “we went to a mail-in process to purchase the student season tickets and, on day of game, went a priority number system. That continued for many years.”