Athletics Department will destroy attendance if students charged a fee to see a game

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The Central Michigan University Athletics Department is facing tough budget cuts — much like other departments.

But in an attempt to raise revenue, Athletics Director Dave Heeke has suggested charging students a fee to attend all games and athletic events as a possibility.

Charging students to attend sporting events should be used only as a last resort — only after the Athletics Department has made as many necessary cuts as possible. You would think with a budget of $21,907,364, the Athletics Department would have more than enough funding for students to go to the games for free. Students will scoff when they are asked to fork over $10 to see a football game when the department is spending $5,875,725 for administrative salaries and $4,872,357 for scholarships.

You expect a lot of students, who are the majority of the fan base, that are wondering where they will scrounge up money for their next meal and books for classes, to pay to see a sporting event? Good luck.

Other public universities around the state can afford to charge students for tickets. Michigan State University and University of Michigan have the advantage of an extensive fan base that goes beyond their universities, allowing them to make millions off of ticket revenue. CMU only has its 20,000 or so students and the residents of Mount Pleasant, a fan base hardly big enough to reach a significant profit.

The Athletics Department has not necessarily been wise with how it has been spending money this academic year. Back in August, the department spent $500,000 on FieldTurf for the Indoor Athletic Department’s turf bay — a practice facility for most athletes. Was that a necessary purchase when a total like that could have been used elsewhere?

Two of CMU’s big selling points for prospective students were the CMU Promise and the free sporting events. With the Promise disbanded, the free games remain as one of the last advantages that Central has in attracting students. Forcing students to pay to see a football game will deteriorate both game attendance and school enrollment.

At the very least, if the Athletic Department is insistent on charging students to see games, then it should be kept at a low price. Ticket prices should not be above $10 per game. Students also should be able to use their student I.D.’s to get into games and have it charged to their accounts, much like FLEX Dollars for the cafeteria.

But there should not be a reason why tickets cannot continue to be free.
The Athletics Department should look elsewhere for cuts — areas that are not as necessary.