Mailbag: The two sides to the UVA women’s basketball season-ticket price hike

I guess you saw the price for UVA women’s basketball tickets went up 20 percent, and now they are charging $25 to park in the West Lot, but only after a $50 VAF donation.

Reserved seats are now $90, when the price was $75 for years.

This for a team that is 31-31 the past two years, and no NCAA Tournament appearance, trying to build a fan base.

To be sure, this program is a marked improvement over the Tina Thompson debacle, but I know someone who sat next to us and had four WBB season tickets who isn’t renewing because of cost increases for football and MBB parking pass donations.

Wally

I get it, that you can only go to the well so often, and maybe UVA Athletics is pushing a little too hard with the across-the-board ticket and parking increases this year.

Specific to women’s basketball, though, the UVA program was running at an operating deficit in the $3.5 million range in the 2022-2023 academic sports year, the most recent year for which we have completed financial data.

Year upon year of losing money at what we call the non-revenue sports because they lose money hand over fist has to give way at some point.

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UVA Women’s Basketball

• Coach Mox announces addition of Jackson Kenyon to UVA Basketball staff
• UVA Basketball: Coach Mox adds in-state recruit who was homeschooled
• UVA Basketball: Coach Mox adds in-state recruit who was homeschooled
• Coach Mox, busy on the portal this spring, lands another frontcourt transfer
• Virginia picks up transfer from Miami, Latasha Lattimore, to fill frontcourt spot
• Women’s Basketball: Virginia adds 6’7″ center Hawa Doumbouya from transfer portal

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I mean, I get it, what Wally is saying here, that everybody has a breaking point, and I don’t doubt that a $15 increase for the season tickets, and $75 more for parking, might be enough to push a few people to the side of, nah, not renewing.

Flip side: they’re losing $3.5 million a year.

I don’t know how many season tickets they sell each year, and god forbid I try to ask – I might need to get the General Assembly involved the next time I try to get financial information from UVA Athletics – but every little bit they can get knocks that down a smidge.