Athletic Department to Charge for Games

By CHELSEA TUFAROLO

University of Mary Washington’s Department of Athletics website announced on Nov. 13 that Eagles fans in the Fredericksburg community will now have to pay for home basketball games in the Anderson Center.

“This policy is a natural progression as the athletic department grows and takes steps forward,” said Ken Tyler, UMW director of athletics. “Charging admission for basketball games is standard practice at virtually every college and university in the country, not to mention most high schools and middle schools in our region.”

UMW’s pricing, which ranges from $3-$7 for one home game for both men’s and women’s basketball, is comparable to other higher division athletic schools such as Virginia Commonwealth University or Longwood University. Longwood charges $4-$12 for men’s basketball games and $4-$10 for women’s games and VCU charges $25-$40 for men’s basketball games and $4-$7 for women’s games.

Despite the change in ticket prices, those in the UMW community will remain largely unaffected.

“This policy applies only to basketball, and there are no plans at this time to charge for any other athletic contests,” said Tyler.

Even with this policy in place, students, faculty and staff will still be able to attend basketball games for free with their Eagleone ID. Parents of basketball players will also not have to pay.

“Every player receives two complimentary passes for his or her parents for all CAC games,” said Tyler. “These passes are honored at all UMW home contests.”

In addition to single-day ticket, UMW is also offering season passes at $35 for general admission and $50 for reserved. Although the athletics department has sold a limited number of season tickets so far, they anticipate selling more at this weekend tickets the home games, according to Tyler.

The athletics department’s goal for the next basketball season is to sell 100 season tickets.