New Arizona State University football season kicks off at Sun Devil Stadium

TEMPE, Ariz. - It may be hard to believe, but football season has begun at Arizona State University, with a game that kicked off on Sept. 2.

The Sun Devils were taking on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds for the game, and there were a number of changes at Sun Devil Stadium that greeted fans.

Changes visible for the game

One of the most visible changes may be in-person attendance. At the same time in 2020, fans were not allowed in the stands at all due to COVID-19. Limited capacity only returned in March 2021, and this game marks the first time in a couple of years that a game was played at full capacity.

"Excited to get crazy with fans," said David Chavez of Chandler. "There it's only real college football when you have fans there in the stadium, so, going to be exciting."

"Extremely excited just to be able to shout and root on the team," said Jay Hansen of Tucson.

For fans, some changes

For the thousands of people who went to the game, getting inside Sun Devil Stadium was a bit different as well.

This year, ASU officials are hoping people can get into their seats faster. They say they have included new metal detectors in certain areas that allow people to keep stuff in their pockets.

"Cell phone, couple of pens, watch, two sets of keys, all the things you usually put in the tray and metal sunglasses, and I’ll walk through it and that’s it, and so, no false positives," said Arizona State University Senior Associate Athletic Director Michael Meitin.

Digital tickets rolled out

ASU officials have also rolled out new, digital game tickets, and a spectator's smart phone is their way to get into the game. It prevents counterfeit tickets, and also lets people send tickets to friends and family with ease.

"You’re going to have a rotating barcode every time the line goes across," said Meitin. "The ticket scanner knows which is the valid one, so screenshots won’t get you in."

Meitin says their staff won’t be busy scanning tickets now, do they will be helping spectators.

"Everyone out here will be in a service mindset to make sure they know what’s happening, or help a fan step out of the way if they need to load their ticket correctly," said Meitin.

Some of the spectators were excited about the changes.

"Absolutely love it," said Hansen. "I purchased them, have them on my Apple Wallet, and I don't have to worry about losing them, so I love it a lot."

"I think it just works a lot better, especially with the whole COVID situation. Makes people feel more protected and safe," said Tanner White.