LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva asked the University Board of Supervisors last week for a price hike on everything from football season tickets to parking at baseball games. Alleva claims LSU needs to raise prices in order to keep up in the “arms race” of Southeastern Conference athletic departments.
But in this game of “keeping up with the Gumps,” Alleva is losing sight of what truly matters.
Yes, major college athletics is a business, but at what point do we stop choosing profit over spirit?
At what point do we stop becoming the New York Yankees of the SEC? Where fans are nothing more than a spoiled group of bandwagon jumpers who view Death Valley as a symbol of social status, while the true Tiger faithful sit at their tailgates, rain or shine, because they can’t afford the price of season tickets, the “tradition fund,” parking and a $5 cup of watered-down Coke to wash down the taste of shriveled hot dogs?
“Nobody has to buy tickets,” said board member Rolfe McCollister in response to Alleva’s request. “We have a great product, and in free enterprise in America, when you’ve got a great product, you’re rewarded and people buy your product.”
That’s a good point. America was built on the capitalist idea of supply and demand. But where does it end? Just because LSU can sell $2,000 tickets, is that worth potentially damaging the aura of Death Valley?
Money does need to come first in many places — other programs need to be paid for, the Athletic Department still wants to give money to the school and LSU does need to keep up with the latest technology to stay a competitive program.
But shouldn’t loyalty come first? Shouldn’t LSU want to play in front of fans who bleed purple and gold rather than fans who can afford to bleed more green?
Alleva suggests adding as much as $100 to select parking spaces, and anywhere from $20-$90 to the tradition fund fee, depending on the section.
The added money is expected to be used for increases in maintaining facilities to remain competitive with other schools, and so the Athletic Department can continue to donate money to the school’s academic endeavors as well.
But LSU football is already one of the most profitable programs in the country, and the baseball team is one of the only programs in the sport making a profit on top of that. Not to mention, LSU’s Athletic Department is expected to see a huge dividend paid for the rights to the SEC Network, but Alleva says he isn’t sure how much money the deal will bring in.
The money is there one way or the other, and schools shouldn’t make the average fan suffer in order to make even bigger profits.
If the hikes are approved, fans who have had season tickets for decades could be forced out of their seats because Georgia got a new training facility, and LSU had to match it. The loud, obnoxious, threatening fans that make Baton Rouge the least welcoming place on Earth every Saturday will be listening to the now lesser roar of the stadium from the Indian Mounds because Auburn’s athletic tutoring center was more state-of-the-art than LSU’s athletic tutoring center.
What’s next? South Carolina gets a new jumbotron and students are forced to pay extra fees to stay in their residence halls on game day weekends lest they be rented out to wealthy boosters?
It’s an absurd comparison, but when do the price hikes end?
Mike Gegenheimer is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Covington.