Off The Wood: New Texas A&M Student Ticket Rules

Texas A&M students heading to the season opener against UCLA will find a new stadium seating rule written on the top of their tickets: “Step ‘off the wood’ Stand on the Concrete”.

Discovered via student discussions on Twitter, the Texas A&M Athletics Department rules now require that students refrain from standing atop the aluminum bleachers, asking that fans stand on the floor of their assigned rows instead.

Standing for the duration of the game is a time honored tradition for Texas A&M students, but the act of standing on the bleachers - which has been customary for at least the past 25 years - has never been a formal requirement of the practice. When asked about the drivers behind the rule change, Senior Associate Athletics Director, Jason Cook, cited obstructed views and student safety concerns.

“With the Kyle Field redevelopment, we learned that we have some obstructed views of the field from the east side of the stadium when students stand on the bleachers and not on the concrete. Additionally, we have a potential safety issue with students standing on bleachers that were not designed for such purpose,” said Cook in response to an inquiry.

Per Jason Cook, the new rules are only being printed on student tickets, and that is in addition to new signage outside the stadium and a planned awareness campaign on social media. Stadium staff will have the authority to enforce the new rules as necessary, so make sure to step off the wood to prevent being asked to step out of the stadium.

Let us know what you think about the new rule in the comments below.