Tickets for ODU, NSU game sell out

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Tickets sold out within 15 minutes for the Old Dominion-Norfolk State game this weekend, which is the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision bracket.

Many people waited for hours in the rain Tuesday morning for the ticket office to open.

James Boswell waited in line Monday at Norfolk State and Tuesday at ODU and still didn't get tickets.

Boswell exclaimed, "I put this in Norfolk State's court. They shouldn't have given away 10 tickets per person yesterday with so many people standing in line. I'm upset with the system, and it's unfair...Norfolk State pay attention. Learn from this and don't do it again, in God's name."

Had NSU given two tickets per person, instead of ten, all 700 people standing in line Monday would have likely received at least two tickets.  

According to ODU Director of Marketing and Communications Susan Malandrino, there were only 60 single game tickets available for the people waiting in line and those people could only buy two tickets per person.

About 800 tickets were sold overnight to season ticket holders and people on the football wait list, ODU Associate Athletic Director Debbie White said.

The teams will face off at ODU's Foreman Field on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 1:30 p.m. The Monarchs (9-2) ended the season ranked 10th, and the Spartans (9-2) finished 19th.

Sunday's selection marks the first time either Norfolk State or Old Dominion have made the playoffs. The match up will be the first time the two teams have met on the field.

Earlier this season, the two teams announced they will play annually beginning in 2013.

ODU paid $54,000 to host Saturday's game. Norfolk State never submitted a bid.  Although Norfolk State's stadium is larger, ODU wanted to have the game at their stadium to give their team the home field advantage.

Norfolk State tickets went on sale Monday at noon. They were $20 and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Originally, ticket buyers at NSU were to be allowed to buy an unlimited number of tickets, then the number of tickets was reduced to 10. Then, buyers were told they could only buy two tickets for the game.

"We are going to look into this," Dr. Tony Atwater, president of Norfolk State University, said. " I think selling 10 tickets per person was probably not a good idea.  It should have been two or three or four."

ODU was only required to give NSU 500 tickets. Originally, ODU gave NSU 1,500 tickets plus 300 tickets for the band. NSU later received an additional 300 tickets from ODU.

The Monarchs joined the Colonial Athletic Association this season after playing their first two years as an independent.

The game will not be shown on television.  It will air online on ESPN3 . You can go to the website to see if your cable provider allows your account access to the ESPN3 live stream.

You can also listen to the game on ESPN Radio 94.1 FM, WNSB Hot 91.1 FM,  WXTG 1490 AM and 102.1 FM.