Though sex equity would be ideal in every facet of the sports world, it does not always make for the smartest decision financially.
A recent report from the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College proposes that college athletics departments cease to charge more money for tickets to men’s basketball games than for women’s games.
The report, titled “Ticket Office Sexism: The Gender Gap in Pricing for NCAA Division I Basketball,” focused on rebutting the argument that colleges charge less for women’s games because those events don’t draw large crowds or because the women’s team is ranked lower.
The study highlighted the University of Connecticut’s basketball programs, where the men’s and women’s teams have long traditions of success — yet a single game ticket for the men’s games costs $8 more.
But regardless of success, the reality for athletics departments across the nation is equaling ticket prices for these events would have negative results.
“We establish prices that would be acceptable by the consuming public,” said Rick Klatt, an Iowa associate athletics director. “Prices are set to a combination of what the public is willing to pay, what is required to balance the budget, and simple supply and demand.”
Raising the price of women’s tickets to equal the men’s when the demand is not present would draw much smaller crowds, he said, and lowering the men’s ticket price would affect the athletics department’s budget.
“The athletics department is responsible for generating income for every program,” Klatt said. “We have to take a strict look at it from a business perspective and maximize the opportunity for both programs to get as much attendance as possible, while still balancing the budget.”
Single-game Iowa men’s basketball tickets for the general public range from $12 to $25 depending on the opponent, and women’s costs $9. For Iowa students, tickets for men are $15, and women’s tickets are free.
Purdue, which has had significantly better success with both of its basketball programs in recent years, has a similar pricing system.
For example, its men’s team finished 14th in the nation in the final 2009 USA Today poll, and its women’s program finished 16th.
Purdue charges $22 for men’s games and $12 for women’s games to the general public.
“It is all driven by the market,” Purdue Associate Athletics Director Barb Kapp said. “[The Purdue athletics department] spends the same amount on both sports, but we charge more for men because that is simply what the market calls for.”
Raising the price for women’s games would dramatically decrease attendance, she said.
“I can’t imagine [people] would spend twice the amount when they could drive 60 miles and see a [Indiana] Fever game for half the price,” she said.
The current fiscal 2010 budget for Iowa’s athletics department predicts the men’s program will bring in $2.3 million, and the women will gain $178,000.
This income is crucial in sustaining every sport Iowa offers because the athletics department does not receive any general fund support from the university. The athletics department funds every athletics scholarship, and the amount next year will be around $8.4 million.
“While it would be wonderful to have equal ticket prices, that would have a disastrous effect on the income that is actually generated,” Klatt said.