University of Iowa Ensures Fans, Not Bots, Secure Fever Pre-Season Tickets
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Finding tickets for the Indiana Fever pre-season matchup against Brazil at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in May is no easy task.
Just 37 minutes after sales opened to season ticket holders and donors on Thursday, every seat was taken. The University of Iowa took significant steps to prevent automated bots from purchasing tickets and reselling them at inflated prices.
The words “Sold Out” now cover the Carver-Hawkeye Arena doors and the team’s ticket website, marking the high demand to see Hawkeye legend Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever team face Brazil. However, longtime Hawkeye fan Jeff Kreinbring was among the lucky ones, securing four tickets for his family, who are passionate Hawkeye supporters.
“I was online, and each time I tried to select seats and add them to my cart, they would suddenly become unavailable,” he recalled.
Access to tickets required either being a season ticket holder or a donor. Kreinbring started purchasing season tickets after recognizing Clark’s once-in-a-generation talent.
While school officials had limited control over ticket sales, they successfully negotiated priority access for season ticket holders and donors. This effort aimed to prevent bots and external investors from buying up tickets and reselling them at excessive prices. The concern was that these automated buyers would drive up resale prices significantly. According to Jess Rickertsen, those listing tickets for prices between $600 and $5,000 were not outside investors.
“The people reselling are either season ticket holders or donors,” he explained. “We regularly review all accounts, even those belonging to ticket holders and donors, for secondary market activity.”
Rickertsen added that in the past two years, Iowa has shut down over 200 accounts found to be brokers or individuals purchasing tickets solely for resale. Meanwhile, a proposed bill in the Iowa legislature seeks to prohibit investors from acquiring tickets for resale purposes.
“Eliminating bots that act like fans just to buy up hundreds of tickets and then resell them? Absolutely, that’s something we’d fully support,” he said.
Kreinbring has no plans to resell his four tickets, emphasizing that Clark provides unforgettable moments on the court.
“She’s the kind of player you can’t take your eyes off,” he said. “If you look at your phone for even a second, you might miss the best play of all time.”