Southwest District Weighing Ticket Price Increases for High School Athletic Events
Rising costs for officials and equipment prompt discussion at school board meeting
BLUEFIELD, Va. (WVVA) - The Southwest District could see changes to ticket prices for high school sporting events ahead of the upcoming school and sports season, potentially affecting Richlands, Tazewell and Graham.
The possibility of raising ticket prices was discussed during a recent school board meeting. Officials cited rising expenses — particularly the cost of traveling officials — as a driver behind the potential change.
The increases would apply to middle school athletic programs as well, according to the discussion.
Dr. Chris Stacy addressed the financial pressures facing schools in the district.
“We are going to have to look seriously into ticket prices, because the schools now can tell you, to outfit their teams and then provide services to those kids, it’s getting more and more expensive, and the gate money that they receive is probably not to carry all of those things,” Stacy said. “It’s not anything that we aspire to do is charge people more money. We appreciate the support we get, but it is getting very, very expensive for the schools, middle schools as well, to operate their athletic programs, because of the officials’ prices.”
No final decision on ticket prices was announced following the meeting.
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