Change to Jack Trice Stadium student seating will impact some ISU season ticket holders

Dear football season ticket holder,

Please find below a letter we are sending to the Iowa State University student body. The letter explains our decision to move the student section in football beginning this September. We wanted all of our season ticket holders to be aware of this communication and the reason for this important change.

Unfortunately, moving the student section will require several football season ticket holders to be relocated in Jack Trice Stadium. Although we regret having to relocate season ticket holders, we have multiple options to offer those individuals at the same price points for 2022.

In the near future, our athletics ticket office will be contacting those season ticket holders who will be relocated with additional information regarding their individual reseating options.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this important change.

Go Cyclones!

Jamie Pollard

Director of Athletics

As the Iowa State football team continues to create personal memories for our fans through victories at Jack Trice Stadium, it has become more common for fans to rush the field and celebrate. Although these moments are exciting and memorable, they also present significant safety and security challenges.

During this off-season, we have spent considerable time discussing the challenges of “field rushing” with members of the Iowa State University administration, public safety officials, the Big 12 Conference, administrators at peer institutions, the Director of our Marching Band and our Student Advisory Committee.

Those discussions identified several key points that we wanted to share.

1. Rushing the field after a meaningful victory is a significant part of the collegiate experience, if done orderly and safely. Some of our most iconic memories of Cyclone football include “field rushes.”
2. Allowing the crowd to enter the field after a significant win is an event safety strategy because attempts to hold back the surge has the potential to cause injuries to fans and security personnel.
3. The safety of all individuals (players, coaches, officials, fans) is our top priority. History has shown us that assisting the visiting team’s exit is often the most problematic.
4. The current location of the student sections in Jack Trice Stadium creates a conflict point between the paths of the visiting team leaving the field with the path of the students rushing the field.
5. We can no longer accept the risk associated with our current set-up.

Although we have greatly improved the security plan around the visiting team’s bench area and pathway to their locker room in recent seasons, there are still significant challenges. Those challenges were evident this past season following our game against Oklahoma State University.

To create the safest environment possible at Jack Trice Stadium, we are moving the student section from the northeast end of the stadium to the southeast end. This change will help the visiting team safely exit the field without having to intersect with field rushers while still providing our students great seats for the game (see diagram below).

2022 Football Seating Section Changes
Student Seating (Sections 23-27 & O-T)

Visiting team (Section 41)

After considering several different options to address our challenges, we concluded moving the students to the southeast end of the stadium was the least disruptive and most-effective measure. The new student seating location allows student entry to remain at Gate 2, where students can access the new pedestrian bridge as a queuing area prior to entering the stadium. Additionally, the change in student sections will allow us to increase the number of seats provided to the student body by approximately 5% and keeps the student section on the side of the stadium shown on television.

We have long believed our student section is one of the nation’s best and a big part of the Jack Trice Stadium atmosphere. Considering your amazing spirit, enthusiasm and loyalty, we are extremely confident that will remain true.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. We look forward to seeing you in Jack Trice Stadium this fall.

Go Cyclones!