The Iowa Hawkeyes are doing everything in their power to get students to go to home games. The athletic department is even trying to find ways to skirt laws in the state of Iowa to do so.
Last week, the Hawkeyes proposed an opportunity for students to win free tuition. The students had to buy season tickets, and they would be entered into a raffle to potentially win the prize.
Two days after the program was offered, it was suspended due to questions over whether it was legal or not. In the state of Iowa, it’s illegal to gamble by using credit. Since the bulk of the purchases were made online, the school refunded the tickets bought through the program.
Iowa won’t be deterred, though.
The option the school is now considering is to turn the promotion into a sweepstakes instead of a raffle.
“The sweepstakes option is a possibility that we’re waiting on feedback from the Johnson County attorney,” Rick Klatt, a Hawkeye associate athletic director of external relations, told The Daily Iowan.
The Hawkeyes still have over 3,000 season tickets for students available. These tickets range from $175 to $140. The varying prices and whether or not the person needs to be present to be awarded the prize also became issues.
If Iowa’s athletic departments finds a way to enact the sweepstakes, it’s a tremendous opportunity for students to potentially save thousands of dollars they might have to pay back in the future.
Here’s a piece of advice for those students at Iowa considering this option -- buy the tickets and hope for the best.
UPDATED (8:01 PM EST): The Johnson County attorney approved Iowa’s revised tuition give-away program, according to a statement released by the school.
“We are pleased the Johnson County Attorney and the Office of the Attorney General have approved our revised plan,” said Rick Klatt, Iowa’s associate athletics director for external relations.
Five students that participate in the program will be chosen at random and awarded $8,000 to be used for their tuition or educational expenses in the fall or the following spring.