Hot off the VMA stage, Canadian-born rapper Drake is no stranger to selling out a venue ‘ neither of his two Madison Square Garden shows currently have tickets available ‘ so his success at Binghamton University shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. But the quick sell was a surprise to the person that booked him, Student Association Vice President for Programming Aaron Cohn.

‘To be honest, I’m the most shocked out of anyone,’ Cohn admitted yesterday. ‘Call me pessimistic, and maybe a little na√ÉØve, but I honestly thought it would be a fight to get at least 5,000 tickets sold.’

Fortunately for the Student Association Programming Board, Cohn was wrong.

The Sept. 1 presale, which allotted 2,000 out of 6,000 tickets to be sold to students, resulted in a line that stretched from the New University Union entrance to the Lois B. DeFleur Walkway and according to SAPB Treasurer Matt Soriano, some students had waited since the early morning.

‘People had lined up since 8 a.m.,’ Soriano said.

Samantha Geasey, a BU graduate student, said she went to buy tickets before the line officially opened at 10 a.m.

‘I got there at 9:30 a.m. and there was already a huge line,’ Geasey said. ‘There were at least a few hundred people.’

The tickets sold out in four hours, and Cohn said he eventually had to turn people away. More than 4,000 tickets were sold via the SA website the following day.

This isn’t the first BU concert to sell out, but in the past few years, ticket sales have been a little spotty. Some turnouts resulted in painfully low numbers (See sidebar). So this success is a long-awaited one for the Programming Board, who says this is the biggest show it has held since the 2005 Green Day concert, which was right on the heels of the release of the band’s multi-platinum album ‘American Idiot.’

Much of Cohn’s doubt was caused by the lackluster sales for rap concerts over the past five years or so.

However, while the Programming Board does base its success on the number of tickets sold, its ultimate goal is not to turn a profit. In fact, most shows result in a $40,000 loss.

‘Our goal is to subsidize tickets for students as much as possible, which is why we’re comfortable with taking a loss, as long as it’s not a big one,’ Soriano said.

Cohn expects this show to break even, which may allow the option to host another concert this semester.

According to Cohn, past shows have been significantly affected by community interest. On the same weekend of Jon Stewart, Broome County Arena hosted Larry the Cable Guy, which Cohn speculates negatively affected ticket sales.

‘The local community drives most of our ticket sales,’ Cohn said.

While the SAPB usually depends on public ticket sales to help get closer to breaking even, this time the number of student tickets sold made public purchase unnecessary.

Alyson Hessney, a junior majoring in human development, said she didn’t mind the long line if it meant she got to see the rapper.

‘It was hot out but worth it to see Drake,’ Hessney said.