The concept of the Student Association and Otto’s Army working toward implementing an athletic fee with the goal of improving attendance at on-campus sporting events is good in theory, but there are many flaws that must be addressed before a proposal is put into action.

The organizations are putting together a joint proposal for a $100 student athletic fee, which would automatically provide every Syracuse University student with season tickets for football and men’s basketball. The groups are also working to create a “spirit program” in which students would accumulate points for going to less-attended games and could trade points for different prizes.

Although these programs support the admirable goal of increasing student attendance at sports games on the SU campus, the proposals fail to take into account several potential scenarios that could be counterproductive.

Currently, students must pay $219 to the Carrier Dome Box Office for a combination of football and men’s basketball season tickets. The proposal to create a student athletic fee would make games more affordable for students, but ultimately become a problem for highly anticipated games.

SA and Otto’s Army must consider what will happen if every student, who has paid the athletic fee and now has access to all football and men’s basketball games, shows up at a sporting event and the student section is not able to accommodate them. For big games this could be a problem.

Although there are talks to expand the student section, that presents problems on its own. If the section is expanded, but students continue to not attend games, the student section will just be emptier. This expansion of the student section also could infringe on the quality and quantity of seating for non-students who pay more money to attend on-campus sporting events.

The move to implement the fee may also receive pushback from the student body, considering many students might not notice the additional fee when they pay it and then feel as if they wasted the money.

In addition to the athletic fee, the “spirit program” point system should also be assessed. For this program to be successful, the proposed incentives must strongly appeal to students.

The proposals could be similar to Duke University’s program for its men’s basketball game against the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The program required students who were camping out for the game to attend non-revenue sporting events, such as volleyball, in order to keep their spot in line for prime seats at the basketball game.

Although these proposals are in their early stages, it is important that the Student Association and Otto’s Army acknowledge these gaps and work to resolve them moving forward.

Published on October 12, 2015 at 12:02 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com