Fayette rethinks sports ticket surcharge
Fayette County might trim the surcharge currently added to stadium sports tickets.
After installing artificial turf fields at its five high schools, the county added a $2 surcharge to its football, soccer and lacrosse gate fees, ostensibly to raise funds for future turf replacement. But Assistant Superintendent Mike Sanders told the Board of Education at its Dec. 2 work session that the fee might negatively affect attendance and is out of step with other school systems that don’t charge one. Sanders said a 26-39 percent decrease in game attendance over the past two years at some schools has reduced gate revenue at a time when costs for security, game officials and equipment continue to rise.
Although turf fields require less maintenance than grass, they only last 8-10 years and would cost about $400,000 each to replace, according to county estimates. The current ESPLOST does not allocate tax revenue for turf fields. The board will decide the future of the surcharge at a later meeting.
