We’re going to the game, and my daughter, her husband, and their now 8 month old daughter will fly down from Denver to meet us there and go along. Yesterday the Alumni Association sent out an announcement of their tailgate party. Typically overpriced, but I’ve gotten used to that over the years (case in point, the Rose Bowl event), but now it’s totally ridiculous. Adults (12 and up) are $75. Anyone under the age of 12 is $50. They really want to charge $50 for a baby in arms to go to a tailgate? What’s the kid going to do, nibble on the end of a hot dog bun? They sure won’t be making repeated trips to the beer tent.
What are these people thinking aside from, “How much can we net from this?”
I hope people stop going and they realize they shouldn’t fleece people (it’s not even a good tailgate). But it seems people are still going and they are balancing supply and demand so those that couldn’t care less about the cost and just want a place to go fill it up.
Follow up: the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. I sent them an email asking if they were serious and they said it was an error. Kids under two are free.
That said it’s still a little pricey but we’ll probably get sucked in.
$75 is rough, but not really out of line for an away tailgate at an SEC school. FWIW U Alumni loses thousands of dollars on these tailgates because the host venues charge a ton of money for sites and third party catering. I’m sure they’d rather not have them, but people would complain if they didn’t offer something. U Alumni is planning on having a free fan experience zone over by the library for home games this year, so that could be worth checking out.
My preference at away games is to stroll through the home schools tailgate area and make some friends. That probably doesn’t work for a larger group, but for 4-6 people it’s usually great. They always ask how many wives I have and my wife and I always say 4.
I’ve done a few of those. I wouldn’t mind making the contribution if the food was any good, but it’s boring and barely edible. The AA has to step up their game.
Its a vehicle to raise funds. People have no problem dropping a grand a plate for a $20 chicken dinner in DC. Comparatively this is a bargain. Having said that I’ve never been.
My son and I were just discussing this last night. He’s a recent alum (2020) and got the same email. Since we are flying in we won’t have the option of buying food to bring to a tailgate. While it’s often that the home team fans will invite you to eat at their tailgate it’s not a guarantee. So the option then is to get some food at the alumni tailgate for a high price or wait in long lines for concessions in the stadium or stop at a bar somewhere before hand.
A bar means you may miss on mixing with local fans which we don’t want so that’s out. That leaves waiting in typically long lines or paying a lot for the fundraiser. We never arrived at a solution yet but are considering the value of our time waiting in line vs paying for the fundraiser.
I reluctantly bought passes, as I often have for away games like this one. Unless we’re part of a larger group, it’s just a hassle to do our own tailgate when flying in. And this puts us right at the stadium with fellow Utes and (albeit usually not great) food. But of course, it’s a fundraiser. Though we also try to recoup some costs through the included booze .
Would be great to see an away game tailgate organized for this board- I’d join and pitch in for sure.
