Gate fees are getting out of hand

[mightymouse]

While not a fan of the gate fee, I do understand. What drives me crazy is having to spend anywhere from 5-20 dollars on each of my 8 and 9 year old. To go to a tournament their sister plays in. They had no choice on being there, nor do they have income!
Typically they will drive me crazy enough that the fee would be more than covered by eating concession food anyway!

 

[dawgpound19]

Another solution is to purchase every color of marker and stamps and wait until you see people leaving to know which color to mark the family's hand with for that day! I just thought of something, how much money could a person make by setting up a stand in the parking lot with a sign that said hand color markings $1 so that people would pay you a $1 to get their hand marked/stamped so they didn't have to pay gate fees?

 

[suparpro]

The Tournament Parks set the gate fees. So why do so many people come on here and bash the organization trying to host a weekend event. 99.9% of the time they have NO control over the gate fees.
Victory Park charges $5 per person per day now no coolers and soon NO team coolers allowed.
if we attend the up coming Pumpkin Smash tournament that means it will cost me with 4 non playing family members $60 in admission for the weekend then we are held hostage to eat sub par park food or their new overpriced food truck food idea. $7 burgers? Please!

 

[wow]

Victory Park charges $5 per person per day now no coolers and soon NO team coolers allowed.
if we attend the up coming Pumpkin Smash tournament that means it will cost me with 4 non playing family members $60 in admission for the weekend then we are held hostage to eat sub par park food or their new overpriced food truck food idea. $7 burgers? Please!

Next up.. You have to buy a shirt, 2 drink minimum at the concession stand, buy at least two items from the local vendors, one of which must be a composite bat, and there will be a upcharge for preferred seating within the park... Folks this is not the airline business. Its kids softball stop with the nonsense. At what point to the "add on" fees become excessive?

 

[DanMaz]

Attention TD's, when posting your tournaments, please post if there will be gate fees and how much. I doubt anyone likes to be surprised with the gate fees a week before the tournament starts, I know I don't. Some gate fees are out of hand, by the time the parents pay the gate fees, it will total the amount of the tournament fee or maybe a little more. My example is our tournament for next week: $5 per adult each day, $3 for kids 6+ and kids 5 and under free. We play Friday, Saturday and Sunday, each player has 2 parents and a couple siblings. It's not hard to do the math on this one, parents will be paying $30+ for the weekend. I understand some gate fees are out of the TD's control, all I'm asking for is more of a heads up, so I can ease the parents into it and not have to tell them a week before the tournament, there's gate fees for every day. Some parents get a tad bit miffed. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to try and outrun the parents with the torches and pitchforks.

just MHO- 2 places to avoid if gate fees upset you are Berliner ($5 per car and expect to play 3 days) and Victory ($5 per person is highway robbery!). We paid $5 on Sunday to play one game at Berliner at the recruit fest last weekend which in my opinion was a complete waste of time for any recruiting chances at Berliner with Stingrays going on at the same time. But the last game could have been played on Saturday evening BUT that would mean about $5000+ less in gate fees for the event. (just a guess based on how many cars I saw there on Sunday) SO... let's bring all teams back for a 1 game on Sunday morning to make sure you get your money! not to mention had to stay an extra day at a hotel too. Then after every game it is a 30 minute traffic jam. Do you really think the college coaches are going to put up with that and try to fight traffic to find kids? I saw a lot more college coaches at Stingrays than I saw at the recruit fest. I would not go play at Berliner or Victory again if it was my choice. $5 per person is a joke for Victory's half finished park or any park for that matter.

 

[Jose_canusee]

Not all gate fees or concessions go to the the tournament directors.

 

[Bob_Himmelein]

Tournament Final Results are posted on Under Cinderella Classic in the PGF Section. Thanks

 

[TheSoftballZone]

Wow, listen to thesoftballzone radio show tonight.

Let'$ talk about Gate Fee'$....And why I think Softball parents/people's have a hard time dealing with Gate Fee'$ . You think Gate fee'$ upset you, wait until I'm done saying what I have to say!
You will pay me to shut up. Tune in if you dare!

 

[dawgpound19]

Next up.. You have to buy a shirt, 2 drink minimum at the concession stand, buy at least two items from the local vendors, one of which must be a composite bat, and there will be a upcharge for preferred seating within the park... Folks this is not the airline business. Its kids softball stop with the nonsense. At what point to the "add on" fees become excessive?

The tournament shirts at Victory park are priced WAY TOO HIGH! A parent from our team bought one and I asked them how much the tournament shirts are and they said $32.... I was like are you serious? Lasers and Fire in the Sky the t-shirts were $13 and $15 and they were a lot nicer looking shirts too. One parent on our team wanted to buy a softball shirt and one guy said it was $24 and when he went to pay they said no it's $33 and all of the parents standing around us while he was telling the story said their prices change by the hour...

I will say the only vendor up there that we would even consider buying anything from was SPC sports, they had great prices on their bats and all of the merchandise plus they are great people that are there to help you not to sell you something just to make money like the other 3 or 4 vendors were doing as you walk to the fields saying hey want a free spray on bat wrap, hey want to sign up for this, etc. SPC sports had demo bats that the girls could use for warm ups, games, etc. to see if they liked them before shelling out the money for a new bat which I thought is a great concept.

 

[Run26]

$40.00 PP for a weekly pass to ASA Nationals. IMO, this is highway robbery considering all the other costs involved.

 

[suparpro]

Victory Park claims that only a portion of the fees go to the park.
They have yet to say where the other portion goes.
I have talked with several TDs regarding this and they all said they never see a dime.
The park makes a deal w some to give back a portion if they go over so much gate revenue, but the number is so inflated or no way of verifying the numbers coming in they will never go over, so they will never see a dime.
YES it costs money to run a park, pay employees, do upkeep, turn on the lights pay taxes etc.
Victory Park is leased (very cheaply) from the city of N. Ridgeville.
It hasn't been finished in 5 years. It may be time to throw in the towel, sell the rights to someone who can make a great place of it.
Then charge $3 for softball the way you charge $3 for baseball. JMHO

 

[dawgpound19]

Suparpro, can you add this to the tournament reviews section so that people that want an honest review about a tournament and/or complex can read about Victory park. Good information you've provided thank you.

 

[JOEBOO3432]

That is 100% incorrect as Victory Park not only doesn't sell the beer, it is a non-factor for a tournament. The gate fees are in direct correlation to the amount that a tournament is willing to rent fields for and also if it is for a 501c3 organization with an expectation of sharing in the gate.
Also Sugarpro continues to be incorrect in the information being provided on several posts so imho it would be irresponsible to propagate it any further.

 

[Julie]

The gate fee at Victory Park is for EVERYTHING, not just tourneys. League players who show each and every week have to pay admission as well.

 

[Heavy Hitter]

That is 100% incorrect as Victory Park not only doesn't sell the beer, it is a non-factor for a tournament. The gate fees are in direct correlation to the amount that a tournament is willing to rent fields for and also if it is for a 501c3 organization with an expectation of sharing in the gate.
Also Sugarpro continues to be incorrect in the information being provided on several posts so imho it would be irresponsible to propagate it any further.

Then this has changed this year, last year they sold beer out of a truck that made sandwiches.

 

[dawgpound19]

Three years ago you got a free drink which included a free beer with your ticket stub ($5) so how is that possible? At least if I'm going to pay $5 to get in give me a free Pepsi or beer or something...

 

[JOEBOO3432]

HeavyHitter- Any of the concessions,trailers, trucks, tables, tents, etc at Victory Park are all outside vendors with the exception of the kiosk with Victory Park branded spiritwear.

 

[Heavy Hitter]

HeavyHitter- Any of the concessions,trailers, trucks, tables, tents, etc at Victory Park are all outside vendors with the exception of the kiosk with Victory Park branded spiritwear.

Which were approved by Victory park and they allowed them to sell beer in the park at softball tournament.

 

[JOEBOO3432]

Heavy- yes MOST vendors are preapproved by Victory Park. Some TD's bring vendors of their own as well for tshirts, equipment, food, beverage, impulse buy etc.

 

[phuncadelic]

My DD plays ball in Virginia and fortunately, we have not seen any gate fees yet (only at School games Middle and HS). I am hoping it doesn't spread out here