New Fees Out of Touch, Might Not be Legal

Razorbacks' attempt to egregiously gouge those who prefer paper tickets in poor taste

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wednesday night was an opportunity to stare at the computer screen and watch policies by public decision makers come across as out of touch and self-serving at the expense of certain segments of the population. 

No, it wasn't the political debates that dominated certain areas of the television airwaves. It was the revelation that the University of Arkansas has decided to charge its fans $100 to print tickets, up from $10 last year. Not only does it feel like a strong message that certain members of the Razorback fan base do not matter and are no longer welcome at sporting events, the explanation as to why it's being imposed doesn't align with the action.

In an interview with Best of Arkansas Sports, Taylor McGillis, the UA senior associate AD for marketing and business development, reportedly said the reason why the university made this move is because there was too much fraud and confusion with traditional digital tickets because screen shots can be so easily shared. It opened things up to a seller taking money for the same ticket from multiple people while sending a screen shot of the ticket to each. 

There were also reportedly issues with glare on phone screens causing problems with scanners. Because the new digital ticketing system requires the use of digital wallets with near-field communication technology, phones just have to be near a scanning device instead of having a readable barcode displayed. 

However, while changing how digital tickets are processed makes sense, it doesn't explain why it necessitated raising printed ticket processing fees from an $10 to $100 in a single season. McGillis reportedly admitted the decision was made to not only encourage people to use the digital ticketing system, but to strongly discourage Razorback fans from requesting traditional physical tickets.

It's not only a shameful move that appears to have no real purpose other than making life a little more convenient for the university, it's predatory on a specific segment of Razorback fans. Only someone who has never ventured outside of the most northern stretch of the I-49 corridor of Northwest Arkansas could be so naive as to think now is the time to do this, much less in such a harsh manner.

A sizable chunk of the Arkansas fan base has never heard of a digital wallet, and a portion of those who have only associate it with the confusing world of cryptocurrency which means they have no clue how the process might work. The idea that contactless pay platforms like Google Pay and Apple Pay are widespread across a state that has as many or more dirt roads than paved roads is so absurd it feels like the limited perspective of a suburban teenager rather than university leaders who are charged with being aware of their potential customers in all four corners of the state.

There are pockets of this state where the idea of having money and personal identity documents stored in digital wallets, allowing a wave of a phone near a sensor to transfer personal and banking information to another device before walking away with a purchased item, falls under the idea of the mark of the devil. 

Back when news packages on RFID technology first came out, utterances of "that's that 666 stuff from Revelations" was not only heard, it was heard multiple times. Sure, it might create an eye roll from a few people, but for plenty of Razorback fans, it a firm belief. They shouldn't be heavily punished financially for their religious beliefs no matter what someone else might think.

In addition to the fans who either fear or don't understand digital wallets, there are those for whom digital wallets aren't an option. Not everyone is rolling in dough to blow on phones. There are people who will save a few dollars here or there all year or even over the course of a few years to afford a trip to Northwest Arkansas and  Razorback tickets. Those people aren't upgrading their phone on the regular. 

Out of touch officials who don't understand living that life say that phones over the past several years are capable of holding a digital wallet app with NFC technology. It's true, but that's not the barrier certain fans face. Those phones are filled with photos and videos accrued over a long time of use. Going through the phone to find a way to free up space is an almost daily affair to extend the life of the phone as long as possible. No one is deleting priceless photos of children and grandchildren and irreplaceable family videos to load an app that might get barely used over an entire year. It's an unfair ask. Also, flip phones still exist, especially in the more rural elderly communities.

The other thing is simply peace of mind. A paper ticket isn't going to run out of battery or get dropped and break on the way to the stadium. Again, for a lot of fans, getting the chance to attend a Razorback game in person is a once in a lifetime or once in many years experience. By nature, Hog fans are conditioned to assume the worst, which includes the many ways technology can go wrong when it matters most. They just want to clinch that ticket tight in their fist and then press it flat again after the game for the scrapbook or to tack onto cork board in the house, gaining personal value as the dust accumulates. It shouldn't cost an extra $100 for an already pricey experience to have that.

There is also the issue of whether it's even legal. The University of Arkansas is a publicly funded entity. There are laws in all corners of legal concern about publicly funded institutions not being allowed to charge extreme fees with the intent of discouraging people from acquiring a document. A ticket is not only a document, in most cases it's a written agreement between the organization and the purchaser. For lack of a better term, a contract or license agreement is written on the back of many entertainment and sporting event tickets. If someone were to sue, of the many laws and regulations out there on this topic, one's bound to apply that would go against the university. 

Whether it turns out to be legal or not, it's bad form and unnecessary. With basketball and baseball rolling while football continues its slow climb out of the deep hole created by the poor decision to hire Chad Morris five years ago, it's an unneeded self-inflicted wound by a university that was on its way to being in a place of being able to do no wrong. 

Unfortunately for Razorback athletics and specific segments of its fans, a wrong has been done. The question is whether the university will have an about-face and rescind this discriminatory fee. 

The people of Arkansas are supposed to be family and friends in the eyes of the athletic program. This isn't how you treat either.

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