Paying a Price for School Spirit?

by Andrea Traietti on February 6, 2020


Opinion


Nick Crenshaw ’20/The Cowl.

 

by Marie Sweeney ’20

Opinion Staff

Attending men’s basketball games at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center  as well as other sporting events on campus is a substantial part of what it means to be a Friar at Providence College. However, for some students, the price of a student ticket is not worth it. PC and the athletic department should work towards lowering the cost of student basketball tickets and offer free tickets to students for on-campus athletic events.

The current cost of a single basketball season student ticket is $75, which for someone who only goes to a few games a semester can be an unnecessary expense. However, for certain games the cost of a regular ticket can be a substantial amount, causing some students to miss the most exciting games of the semester, such as the PC versus Villanova University game.

Students at PC should not be expected to pay as much as $75 a year for the most popular sporting event of the season. The athletic department constantly encourages students to attend games, yet some students cannot afford to pay $75 for a season ticket or up to $100 for a single ticket to a popular and almost sold-out game.

This was a major issue at this season’s Villanova game, where those who did not have student tickets were desperately trying to find one, and the non-student tickets were very costly and quickly selling out. Catherine Flugel ‘20, a non-season ticket holder, said, “finding a ticket for the Villanova game was stressful, especially because I didn’t want to be the only one out of my friends that couldn’t go.”

At other schools, such as the University of Miami, students can go to football games, which are held at Hard Rock Stadium where the Miami Dolphins play, for no cost at all. This encourages students to attend and brings no stress to those who do not have a ticket for a specific game.

However, there are some reasons why student tickets must be a certain price. One main reason is to keep the amount of students attending each game under control, especially at a smaller venue, such as the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

According to men’s basketball manager Hannah Valente ‘20, “If student tickets were substantially cheaper, every game would be as chaotic and overcrowded as the Villanova game.”

However, at some of the less popular home games the student section can look almost empty. For this reason, PC should consider certain initiatives to offer discounts on students tickets or consider lowering the price to a more reasonable amount.

Some also believe that the ticket prices are reasonable for the overall experience of the event. Morgan Starkey ’20, a student worker at the PC Athletics Ticket Office, argues, “The prices of season tickets and individual student tickets for basketball are reasonable. Oftentimes Athletics rewards students who attend games with free food and apparel which is definitely an extra plus.” She also believes the athletic department can improve access to certain major games like Villanova. She said, “Athletics should consider releasing a certain number of tickets to seniors so that they can attend their last Villanova game as a PC student.”

The College should also make all on-campus athletic events free of cost for all students. Currently, students have to purchase a $4 ticket online for hockey tickets that are on campus at Schneider Arena. Although this is a small amount, students should not have to pay anything in order to attend an event that is on campus. If students had the ability to simply show up to Schneider and scan their student ID, more students would be likely to attend.

Overall, the PC athletic department should make more effort to make PC athletic events more affordable and attractive for students to attend. This would encourage more students to have Friar pride and ensure that the entire PC community is able to enjoy these exciting and memorable events in Friartown.