Very well put, IV!InnervisionsUMASS wrote:I don't think it will decrease attendance, and it's much better than the shitshow plan they put out there once the season started last year. Get it in advance for $5, or pay $10 at the lot when you arrive. No running around, and it's a very small figure to pay.
At most you'll pay $50 to park in Amherst for the season. And if you show up to tailgate with other people, you can still park a bit further away and pay nothing.
Win some games and this will be some extra revenue for the program. Keep losing and attendance would be decreasing anyways.
At the end of the day, paying for parking doesn't affect me as I have season tickets. It doesn't deter me from renewing my season tickets. I'm a bit leery of the potential of sharing a parking lot with student tailgaters. I do like the ability to pick a tailgating/parking area depending on tailgating preferences.
I just want to see larger crowds so that the players are supported by the fans and that the school engages community members. Fees that act as a deterrent to casual fans (aka, potential season ticket holders) can hurt attendance.
I really don't care that other big-boy football schools charge for parking. I guess they can get away with that when their programs have more than ten wins over five seasons. UMass should be pulling out all the stops to get folks in the Pioneer Valley (now called West Mass) through the McGuirk gates - that includes free parking. Wasn't that a "yuge" selling point when UMass moved to Gillette? Why is it not a selling point now?
Speaking of student tailgating, what's up with the location of the "student village?" Is the point of it to get the students closer to McGuirk in the hopes they may actually go into the game? Or is the point of it to decrease student tailgating, decrease the visibility of student tailgating, and improve the control of it by the administration? Or is it both?