Posted by NoleCC

Football, Baseball, Men’s & Women’s Basketball. These four FSU sports are the only sports that currently charge admission to attend their games. Generally, the prices are reasonable. Baseball is $6 for a single game, and it’s way less than that for a season ticket package (more like $4 to have grandstand seats, even less for the bleachers). I don’t know the pricing for the basketball teams because I don’t go, but I’ve never heard anybody complain about the price of admission for them. Football is slowly getting more expensive, with the average price of a ticket somewhere in the $45 neighborhood, but all-in-all Seminoles sporting events are very reasonably priced on per game basis.

On the other hand, non-revenue sports at Florida State are free for everyone to attend. I can watch as much softball, tennis, track, soccer, etc. as I’d like without having to pay anything. In theory, this helps attendance at games, right? People generally like FREE, right? Judging by the lack of crowds that I see at the non-revenue sporting events, that’s not the case. I’m starting to wonder if it wouldn’t be better for the non-revenue sports at FSU to charge for tickets. After all, the old saying is, “You get what you pay for.”

Let’s use my favorite non-revenue sport, softball as an example. Right now there is no charge to watch the Noles play. When they have tournaments at JoAnne Graf Field early in the season, you can sit at the stadium all day and watch 4 to 6 different Division I softball programs play each other. It’s all for FREE. There’s no downside, right? If you’ve actually been to the games you’d know that even with them being free to attend, attendance is often generously estimated at 250 fans. Obviously just because something is free, doesn’t mean the masses will come to watch the games. That’s because free has some downsides.

The Downside To Free

The big downside I see to softball not charging anything for admission is the fact that seating, while plentiful, is not guaranteed. If you get up for a few minutes to stretch your legs, your 2nd row aisle seat might be gone when you get back. Generally, that’s not a big deal, except when the Noles are playing someone like Gators and the place is packed. Free also has another problem. Things are FREE because they have no perceived value.  I certainly don’t believe that FSU Softball has no entertainment value, but I think the fact that they don’t charge for admission creates that perception for the casual fans.

Look at the baseball team as an example. Because they charge for their games and I have to pay to attend, FSU Baseball games win out over softball for me when there is a scheduling conflict. If I had to pay for both, it would be an interesting problem for me. Do I buy baseball season tickets, softball season tickets or both? My gut reaction is that I would forgo the baseball season tickets and purchase softball season tickets. Yes, that puts me in the minority, but I’m also sure that the die-hard softball fans I see at nearly all of the games would also make that choice. I’d still check out baseball, mind you, but it would likely be on a per game basis instead of season tickets.

The Upside To Charging For Admission

I’m not saying that non-revenue sports can charge an arm and a leg and expect anyone but the biggest die hard fans to show up every game. But, I think it’s mostly die hard fans that are there now. I think a modest season ticket package that guarantees certain privileges would not only help support each team, but would also provide a great value to those die hard fans. A great value might actually bring in MORE casual fans that not charging anything.

Again, let me use softball as an example. There are roughly 25 home games each season. Let’s set the ticket prices for a single game at $4 and season ticket prices at $2.50. For each ticket sold that’s an extra $62.50 in the softball coffers, in return fans get guaranteed seating. I’m sure the folks that I see at the games each year, the regulars and the parents, would pay that. It’s still one of the best values for an entertainment dollar out there. On top of that businesses could snatch them up and then offer some of the tickets as giveaway in promotions. It creates a buzz surrounding the team. Suddenly, something that was “dull” enough to be free costs money to get in to check it out.

Maybe I’m crazy with that sort of thinking. Maybe nobody would should up or maybe the crowds would drop by 50%. It’s interesting to think about though. Would you pay to see your favorite non-revenue sports if the cost is minimal? If not, why not?