by Courtney Wight '26 on November 13, 2025
Opinion
When I came to Providence College as a high school senior for a campus tour, there happened to be a hockey game that night. My mom grew up in Minnesota, and she wanted to go to the game. My high school never had a hockey team, but I always wanted to see one play. It was at this game that I realized hockey is one of the most entertaining sports to watch in person.
As a freshman, I knew I wanted to go to the hockey games. My friends and I lived in Raymond Hall, and games were a short walk compared to the busing situation for men’s basketball games. A nice additional bonus was that the tickets were cheap; only four dollars for a couple of hours of entertainment.
Hockey ended up becoming our thing. Every time there was a home game, we’d be there. While we watched the game most of the time, we also used the time to catch up on the past week. How was Civ going, or how’d that presentation go on Thursday? Hockey games became a place where we’d just talk and share about our lives.
Sophomore year, the tradition continued. Tickets went up to five dollars. Not exactly breaking the bank, but still an increase I remember people talking about. The trend continued into junior year as well.
Now as a senior, I’ve only been to one game, despite the team having six home games this semester. I was shocked to learn the first game had tickets priced at $10. I figured it was an exhibition game, and that must be why. I had other plans with my family and couldn’t make it to either of the games during Homecoming weekend, and I couldn’t go to the UMichigan games since I went home for the long weekend.
My first chance to see our team was the Halloween game against UMass Lowell. I had hoped that the reason for the price increase was that all the other games were not technically the start of the Hockey East season. I thought I was correct since the tickets for UMass Lowell were priced at five dollars, just as they had been for the past two years. My friends and I went to the game and had a great time talking and (sometimes) watching.
We were planning on going to the game against UConn on Nov. 8, but we were shocked to see tickets back at $10. I thought that it was odd that the College would double the price of a student ticket without a word as to why. No email offering apologies for the ticket price increase, but we need more money. No explanation for the loyal student fanbase as to why tickets increased in price by 100 percent.
Suddenly, the hockey tradition was no longer a no-brainer for my friends and I. Did we really want to each spend $10 on a game we might not even stay the whole time for? There are always other activities to do on a Saturday night, whether on or off campus. At this rate, we could just pool our money and go out to dinner instead.
Despite there being a game on Friday, Nov. 14, we’ve gone ahead and made different plans as the tickets stay at $10.
So while I’d love to spend my senior year watching hockey as I’ve always done, I guess it’s time for us to come up with a new tradition. While we will probably go to a couple more games throughout the season, it is no longer a no-brainer, no longer our standard weekend practice.
While I know $10 is not outrageously expensive for a hockey game, as a student, it is ridiculous to have such a steep increase without a word as to why. Students should boycott attending games until this egregious price increase is reversed. I get it, sports cost money, but a doubling of the price, without so much as an email as to why?! The administration and athletics department are acting like a $10 student ticket is normal, and the standard is appalling. Taking advantage of the student fan base is disgusting, and this behavior should not be normalized. The promise of a Chick-fil-A sandwich is not enough to justify this increase in price, and action must be taken to lower student ticket prices.