UCF Athletics and the UCF Student Government are implementing a new plan for student tickets during the 2020 football season in efforts to comply with COVID-19 protocol.

The good news: students don’t need to wait in line in Orlando’s blistering heat to get a seat. The not-so-good news: only 3,000 students will get in.

UCF students must enter their name in the new ticket lottery system by the end of the day Friday, Sept. 11 in hopes of being selected to attend a home game this fall.

The new student ticket lottery system is just one of the major changes made to the 2020 football season in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no season passes, face masks will be required and tailgating in campus parking lots will be prohibited, among other changes.

Here is everything UCF students need to know about the new lottery system:

How many students will be allowed into UCF home games?

The Bounce House has been approved for 25% capacity to start the season — that means the student Knightmare section has also been reduced to 25% capacity.

The 44,206-seat stadium will be reduced to about 11,000 and the 12,000-seat student section will now fit 3,000.

Only 1,500 students will be selected into the lottery, however. Each student selected will be able to bring one other UCF student to the game for which they are chosen, adding up to 3,000 students.

How can students enter the lottery?

Students have until the end of the day Friday, Sept. 11 to fill out this form to be considered in the ticket lottery. This is the deadline to sign up for all UCF home games this season, regardless of the date of the game.

The form asks for the following information: Name, UCF ID number, Knights email address, phone number and class standing. It then asks the student to rank the following four games in order of preference:

• Saturday, Oct. 3 vs. Tulsa
• Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. Tulane
• Saturday, Nov. 14 vs. Temple
• Saturday, Nov. 21 vs. Cincinnati

Courtesy of UCF Athletics

The next step is to register for text notifications to ensure all communication from UCF Athletics is received. For details on how to register with UCFStudentTix, click here.

How does the lottery work?

The lottery system will randomly choose 1,500 students who will be able to select one other UCF student to attend whatever games they are selected for.

A portion of the 1,500-seat student lottery will come from the Knightmare Society, doubling their chances of being selected. Knightmare Society members will still need to fill out the form like all other students.

The Knightmare Society is a UCF Athletics official student donor organization and can be found on Twitter @SKC_UCF for more information.

Can students be selected for more than one game?

Yes, it’s possible.

What’s the next step for students selected in the lottery system?

Students will be notified on a monthly basis. For example, a student will be notified in September for all home games in October, according to UCF Athletics. The student will be required to fill out a form confirming they are still interested in attending the game and include the contact information of their plus one.

During game week, students will receive information during game week on how to claim their digital ticket for the game in which they were selected.

Students will have from Sunday afternoon to the end of the day on Tuesday to claim their ticket.

UCF Athletics will communicate with the selected students via text and/or their Knights email account.

What happens to unclaimed student tickets?

Leftover tickets at the end of the day on Tuesday will be randomly assigned to other students from the lottery. This process will continue until 24 hours before kickoff.

How do students get into the Bounce House on game day? Where do they sit?

Once a student claims their ticket, they are guaranteed a seat inside the Bounce House on game day and do not need to wait in line to get into the stadium. They will receive a digital ticket that can be screenshotted or added to their Apple Wallet or Google Play.

Students will be required to enter through Gates 6-9 with digital ticket and UCF student ID in hand.

While the Knightmare student section has been expanded into more sections to make room for physical distancing, as opposed to just being seated in the north endzone.

Students can sit in any of the designated student sections: 116-123 or 216-224.

How long will this ticket lottery system last?

UCF Athletics said it plans to revert back to its original student ticketing model and seating capacity in both endzones.

Daniella Medina is a contributing writer for Black & Gold Banneret. Follow her on Twitter @danimedinanews.