The UCLA men’s basketball team romped its way to victory Saturday night in front of thousands of empty blue seats.
Entire sections of Pauley Pavilion sat largely uninhabited – a blessing to the clean-up crew, to be sure – but one sparsely populated area of the crowd stood out most: the student section.
There’s little reason to blame the midterm-trodden students who didn’t make an appearance over the weekend. For one, this is not a good basketball team. For another, UCLA does little to actively encourage attendance from some of its most avid fans.
UCLA Athletics must change that next season by making student tickets free.
Currently, students pay at least $129 to attend men’s basketball and football games with the Den Pass. This fee, while …show more content…
A trio of Pac-12 schools representing both public and private institutions – Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon State – already offer their students free tickets to every home sporting event.
The financial loss is negligible. The UCLA athletic department made just shy of $57 million in revenue for the two sports that require the Den Pass last year, and less than half a percent of that came from those fees.
Instead, the bulk of that money comes from national media rights deals. And there is little ESPN loves more than a full student section going crazy for the cameras.
Such avid support is what attracts potential sponsors and, in turn, pays big salaries to the administrators within the Morgan Center. It is unacceptable that those same executives slap annual fees onto students who are already riddled with debt, some who cannot afford paying more than they already do.
A removal of the Den Pass cost next year would be financially viable while benefiting both the students and the school. Attendance would improve for even the lousiest of basketball teams, and the ever-important sponsors and donors would notice.
Football season is six months away. UCLA must act fast, or it risks fumbling away an opportunity to show it has its students’ best interests at heart.
Suzy the goldendoodle looks like a teddy bear that went through the
Entire sections of Pauley Pavilion sat largely uninhabited – a blessing to the clean-up crew, to be sure – but one sparsely populated area of the crowd stood out most: the student section.
There’s little reason to blame the midterm-trodden students who didn’t make an appearance over the weekend. For one, this is not a good basketball team. For another, UCLA does little to actively encourage attendance from some of its most avid fans.
UCLA Athletics must change that next season by making student tickets free.
Currently, students pay at least $129 to attend men’s basketball and football games with the Den Pass. This fee, while …show more content…
A trio of Pac-12 schools representing both public and private institutions – Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon State – already offer their students free tickets to every home sporting event.
The financial loss is negligible. The UCLA athletic department made just shy of $57 million in revenue for the two sports that require the Den Pass last year, and less than half a percent of that came from those fees.
Instead, the bulk of that money comes from national media rights deals. And there is little ESPN loves more than a full student section going crazy for the cameras.
Such avid support is what attracts potential sponsors and, in turn, pays big salaries to the administrators within the Morgan Center. It is unacceptable that those same executives slap annual fees onto students who are already riddled with debt, some who cannot afford paying more than they already do.
A removal of the Den Pass cost next year would be financially viable while benefiting both the students and the school. Attendance would improve for even the lousiest of basketball teams, and the ever-important sponsors and donors would notice.
Football season is six months away. UCLA must act fast, or it risks fumbling away an opportunity to show it has its students’ best interests at heart.
Suzy the goldendoodle looks like a teddy bear that went through the