AMES, Iowa — The Cyclones are off to a hot start, getting the victory in Week 0 in Ireland. But now they’re back at Jack Trice Stadium Saturday hosting South Dakota in the home opener. 

The fans are ready to “Pack the Jack”. But the last thing you’d want is to show up with your expensive ticket and not be able to get into the stadium. 

Fake tickets have been a problem for decades, and they continue to be now. 

Iowa State is urging fans to buy their tickets from Ticketmaster, the official partner, even for resale.

“I know last year we had some scams that were happening,” ISU Police Chief Michael Newton said. “In one case, the person was reselling their same ticket multiple times to multiple people. And we were actually able to track that one because they used an account that we were able to trace back.”

A lot of scammers use fans pages, Facebook and different online groups. 

“I always tell people to be cautious when you’re finding tickets on social media. Use those resale sites that are actually sanctioned by the university like Ticketmaster resale,” he said.

This season, you can only enter Jack Trice Stadium with a mobile ticket, which can be accessed via the Free ISU Cyclones app or online using the account manager. You can add them to your Apple wallet and “tap-to-enter” or have the barcode in the app ready as you walk up. 

Meanwhile in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes will open up their season at Kinnick Stadium hosting Albany. They have a new ticket system this year, also utilizing “tap-to-enter”. If you don’t have a mobile phone, you can still get a printed ticket there. Iowa’s kickoff is 5 p.m. Saturday.