Ohio State University said he intends to release some information about season ticket holders about his football and men’s basketball programs after a court dismissed the school’s complaint for anonymous public request.
The university said it would release the names and seats for the ticket holders for football seasons for the 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, as well as for the basketball seasons of 2022-23 and 2023-24. The information is provided to an unnamed person who has applied for public records for the information, according to the university.
The university sent an email to tickets on August 18, warning them that the information was publicly published as a result of a decision of the tenth Court of Appeal and the Ohio Court of the Claims.
The university identifies the person who filed an initial request for public records as a “ticket seller/broker” who filed a claim against the university for refusing access to the records in response to a request.
The Ohio State University sent this notice to the ticket holders for basketball football and men’s basketball on August 18, warning them that it restricts information about their names and seats is released due to a court order.
Although the University’s announcement does not identify the specific court case from which the order came, the documents filed by the Tenth District Court of Appeal, and the court of the Ohio claims show that it refers to a case brought by John Dow. The Ohio Public Records Act allows anonymous demands.
According to court records, the information originally requested in 2023 includes postal addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers who have purchased season tickets for these seasons. The initial requests sought information specifically about the donors of the university who purchased seasonal tickets, as well as teachers and employees.
To buy or be on the waiting list for seasonal tickets, the price includes a donation to the Buckeye Club, according to publicly available information about Ohio’s Tickets. This makes all season ticket owners donors at the university.
A special master of Ohio’s claims has determined that Ohio should be required to fill in part of the request for records. The university will be allowed to edit information about students, together with the physical addresses and OSU identification numbers of ticket holders. A judge accepted the report of the Special Master and ordered the university to overturn the information.
The Ohio State appealed the decision before the Tenth District Court of Appeal, which examines cases in Franklin County. In December, the Court of Appeal retreated from the university and expanded the information that could be edited to include email addresses and telephone numbers. The court said the information should not be public as it did not “shed light on Ohio Ticket tickets.”
“Any specific ticket address, email address or telephone number does not reveal anything about the Ohio state assets regarding tickets,” the Court of Appeal said in the December decision.
The person who filed an initial request appealed this decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, who decided not to hear the complaint.
After being asked to review, Ohio’s Supreme Court in July repeated his decision not to deal with the case. This decision means that the Ohio State will have to release the names and places of the places required in the request for public records.
Reporter Bethani Bruner can be found at bbrunr@gannett.com or Bluesky at @Beethanybrunner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on the Columbus Manager: Ohio State, forced to release football, information about the basketball season ticket from the court