If you’ve ever been to a school sporting event, you know that both parents and students have to pay a small sum to get in. Over the years the price has fluctuated, and the current price stands $5 for students and $7 for adults. This is true across the board with a varsity football game having the same price as a freshman volleyball game. While varsity football games are usually packed, freshman games only have a scattered group of parents cheering on their kids.
The ticket prices are set at $5 for a reason. Arlington in the past years has followed the ticket costs and procedures of Fairfax and Alexandria to make things easier in the finance department. The surrounding jurisdictions have raised their price up to $5 for all games and Arlington chose a similar pricing structure. Director of Student Activities, Micheal Krulfeld, said setting a standard ticket price is an easier system to run.
“Realistically the ability to have variable pricing for students at different events is hard for both students to understand, for us in terms of finances and explaining to the finance office what revenue is coming in, for our ticket takers to be on top of and actually creating change.” Krulfeld said.
Ultimately, the money from the tickets ends up in the county’s possession, who give each school more money back for the athletic program. Higher prices can support a better program including equipment and transportation.
Nevertheless, the higher price of tickets could be a factor regarding poor attendance, even at a varsity playing level. If you go to multiple home games for one team, the cost starts adding up. For example, Girls Lacrosse has nine home games and overall that cost would come out to $45.
But is this factor really driving the small crowds at games?
Most students do not attend every game and the occasional $5 spent on watching their friends or family is not a huge financial burden. While calling $5 a student discount is annoying considering the high school level playing, the cost is usually not a huge issue. Krulfeld argues that ticket prices do not discourage students from coming to watch.
“I don’t believe student ticket prices are what keep students from attending games. Rather, it seems student availability due to participation in other activities of their own choosing or a desire to spend time with friends who may or may not have interest in going to a game drives the final outcome.” Krulfeld said.
Krulfeld also mentioned how even during playoff games where the boosters have reduced the price to two or even zero dollars, there was no uptick in student attendance. This is where the real issue comes to light, our school does not have a culture of supporting sports that aren’t varsity football or basketball.
To combat this, we should try to make time in our schedules to support our friends. This doesn’t have to be every game every week but maybe once a month just popping in to see the amazing athletes here at Yorktown. Simple steps like this can create an encouraging environment and bring spirit to the stands.
