UMD Resorts to Baiting Fans From Leaving Football Game

The University of Maryland is dangling a pricey carrot to keep students in their seats as its football season unravels. At Saturday's home game against Illinois, students who scan a QR code and stick it out until the fourth quarter will be entered to win spring 2027 tuition, capped at the in-state rate of about $5,500, the New York Times reports. Five finalists will be chosen at random, with the winner announced live on the field, per WBAL.

The raffle comes as the 2-5 Terrapins, adjusting to interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim after Mike Locksley's abrupt exit, ride a five-game skid, including a brutal 54-3 loss at home last month, and a 12-game Big Ten losing streak. Students already get in free; this time, the first 3,000 also get Halloween T-shirts. Announced crowds at SECU Stadium have lagged near the bottom of the Big Ten, and Maryland clearly hopes the shot at free tuition will keep more students from bailing early. One student tells WBAL they weren't planning to go to the game for any length of time, "but I guess now I am."