In a surprising move, ASUO voted to discontinue its agreement with the UO athletic department. The department formerly provided students with discounted tickets to sporting events. ASUO originally allocated $1.7 million for said partnership during the 2020-21 academic year, before the announcement that fans were not permitted to attend games.
The end of ASUO’s partnership with the athletic department is objectively a smart move that will redistribute substantial funds to more deserving programs, helping students in need. Reallocated funds will raise UO’s minimum wage, create a tiered textbook subsidy program, establish menstrual product accessibility in the EMU, fund an emergency housing subsidy fund and more. This funding is long overdue and addresses urgent problems that would certainly improve the overall quality of the UO community.
However, ASUO’s termination of its partnership has exposed the greed of the UO athletic department and UO as a whole. In a given year, the UO athletic department receives roughly $300 million. It is consistently one of the richest sports programs in the NCAA. It’s a crime that such an immensely wealthy department refuses to provide free student tickets to sporting events.
As an avid sports fan and lifelong UO athletics supporter, I’m devastated that the money used to previously fund student tickets prevented funding to essential programs. I’ve certainly made the most of discounted tickets throughout my four years in Eugene. Of course, tickets for UO’s most lucrative sports, like football and men’s basketball, were never free. Lottery systems restricted access to certain events throughout my time as a Duck, but it also allowed me to have discounted experiences that I would not have paid for otherwise.
If UO even slightly cared about giving its students the opportunity to support their classmates in athletic action, free tickets would be provided to all sporting events. It’s incredibly upsetting that after four years of paying full tuition, I’m still constantly reminded that my peers and my college experience will always be less valuable than a check to the school I’ve supported my entire life.
The UO athletic department and its parent university must use the absurd amount of money at its disposal to provide free or discounted student tickets to those that want them. Previously, every student’s tuition was covering student ticket fees, even though 45% of UO students do not attend a single sporting event in a calendar year. Personally, I’m fine paying fees to have more affordable access to sporting events. However, my sentiment is not shared by a large percentage of my peers.
UO needs to make a program that would ensure that students who have no use for athletic tickets do not have to pay for them. Similarly, UO’s next move to provide discounted tickets should not involve additional fees for incoming students. By doing so, UO has, and will, actively prevent itself from evolving as a public institution. Withholding funds from proposed programs and ignoring necessary improvements is unjust and avoidable. Athletics are lucrative and important, undoubtedly. Yet, an athletic department with a higher annual income than the GDP of some countries needs to share its vast wealth to better support its community.