All-Star Paying For Admission At Competitions

[cheerislove9]

I work for an EP, and in the past, most of our events were free admission except for competitions where the registration price was significantly lowered or where we donated the income from admissions to charities. This year, we've been charging admission at all of our events and some of the spectator's reactions to this have left me with some questions. Since most of my weekends are tied up working at the events the company I work for produces, I almost never get to go to other competitions. Is it rare to be charged admission these days? What do you usually pay to walk in the door at a local competition? What about a two day competition that's giving bids? Program directors, does an admission fee for your parents factor in to where you choose to compete?

At competitions here in Texas, from what I've seen you should ALWAYS expect to pay at least $15 for admission. That's like the minimum.

 

[sun77]

For all of the 2-day competitions we've been to they give us two wristbands in different colors so you can take it off Saturday night.

 

[cheer36mom]

i was actually shocked last year when we went to reach the beach and there was no admission i also was at battle at the capital this past weekend and the wristband was 28 for a 2 day pass which i didnt think was bad at all but usually for local one day comps we pay between 10 - 15 $ and 2 day comps obviously are going to be more its nice when there is no admission but that is very rare and with our gym our comps arent picked by what the admission is

 

[ALittleBitTwisted]

I don't remember the last time I paid for admission. I usually just tell them I'm a cheerleader and have to borrow a uniform.. -___-

I am definitely guilty of wearing an old warm ups, a bow, and glitter to make my way into competitions for free. :oops: I mean they can't argue with you borrowing a uniform either..hahaha majority of the time it was when I was going to watch other teams from my gym at a competition that my team wasn't at, but I did this another time when I took a year off from all star.

 

[cheerfan666]

All I can say it is great to have a AARP card, ask at competitions and some will give you a discount with it.

 

[ginasmom]

My only problem with admission prices is that it is cash or nothing. At bigger venues (cheersport) it would be great to be able to use your debit or credit card.

 

[Deleted member 382]

I think the cost of admission is greatly influenced by the location of the competition. I know what competition you are referring to this weekend and, locally, the majority of competitions have had free admission this year. (Jamfest, Jam Live!, Cheersport, WSF, etc) In addition, the admission to this same bid giving competition last year was free. That isn't saying that people had the right to be disrespectful to your staff, but it puts a little perspective on why people were less than excited to pay to get in the door. Personally, I would rather pay the higher competition registration fees than deal with ticket lines and checking wristbands everytime I need to go in and out of the convention center.

 

[purpleblue&white]

As a parent, I would like competition companies to add admission prices to comp fee so the gym can pass it down in our monthly dues. This way we would not have to pay admission to almost everywhere we went. The wristband was a non issue for me, the $20 fee for the place we were was.

 

[cupieqt]

We attend WSA and Jamfest competitions and it's always free admission. Our program LOVES this and are completely ok with paying a little extra comp fees. We always pay "early" for that extra discount too. I think these two companies have come a long way in making it more affordable and less stressful. Competitions that charge entry fees in our area never run on time bc of the long lines to get in the building!
We end up spending that money at the spirit shops so they still get the money somehow : P

 

[bobbi]

This is one thing I will say about competition admission fees. I have two points:

Where I am from All Star Cheerleading is growing, but isnt huge yet. Unfortunately to go to a big national level competition usually means traveling for us. Its part of the nature of the beast. So many families usually opt to make more of a vacation out of it. When you are bringing a family of 4 to a competition $20 admission is insane. Especially, as mentioned above many only stay for the 2 1/2 minute routine and then the awards. Then we went to a ECC nationals last year, admission was $15 for a one day competition. The parents paid it, what are you going to do. The worst part? YOU COULDNT SEE A THING! It was held in a convention center and all the chairs were at the same exact level. This makes it really taxing for the parents. And they get mad. Which we understand.

Second point: All Star Cheerleading= expensive
High School Cheerleading= cheap!
So guess whats happening, parents would rather pay $6 to see their child competition at a high school competition then the $15+ for all star. It is very frustrating.

So to answer your question, for us, admission fees have ALOT to do with what competitions we attend.

 

[Hi! It's me!]

My only problem with admission prices is that it is cash or nothing. At bigger venues (cheersport) it would be great to be able to use your debit or credit card.

I am seconding this. I have been in long enough that I always budget $40 for entrance to a 2 day. It would make my life so much easier to not have to hunt down a bank in a town I am unfamiliar with. So I don't complain about the fees, I complain about cash only. Wristband versus stamp is a total non issue.

 

[WorkToWin]

jamfest's free admission makes up for jammy running around scaring everyone

 

[cheermommaRN]

Most of our family has never seen cp compete because of how much it costs to get in. The lowest amount I paid this season was $12 a day. Then you add in PARKING...that is usually $10/day. So for a local comp I paid $44 just to get in the door. A Nationals I could spend up to $100 on admission and parking.
I would rather admission be passed down in the comp fee and have her family be able to attend.

 

[stuntaholic]

What is the reasoning behind the entrance fees. Do they really make that much profit from the extra fees at some of the smaller competitions. Wouldn't it be better to be a free competition that people enjoy going to rather than charging people and scaring some families away?

 

[bobbi]

What is the reasoning behind the entrance fees. Do they really make that much profit from the extra fees at some of the smaller competitions. Wouldn't it be better to be a free competition that people enjoy going to rather than charging people and scaring some families away?

Its all about the money , money, money. Think about it. You have say, 75 teams attend, that would be what I would consider a small competition. Figure each team may average about 20 kids, thats 1,500 participants. If each person has a Mom and Dad attend times $10 admission that is a whooping $30,000 in profits. They know what they are doing.