re: The worst thing the LSU Ath Dept has ever done...

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The issue here is killing the golden goose. The strong LSU tailgating tradition is a gift that keeps on giving. More fans on campus does more than just generate revenue, it enforces behavioural patterns. These strong behavioural patterns can turn fair-weather fans into hard core fans, increase the energy on campus, and maintain it even through down times. If you overprice in order to keep out the riff raff, yet in doing so keep out good fans as well, you are disrupting a behavioural pattern. A group that tailgates is stimulating the economy and LSU. More importantly, they are passing that tradition on to friends and family, who will likely continue that tradition given good experiences. The danger here is mission creep. If they overprice parking and it still fills up for big games, then soon nearly all lots on campus will have some fee. And when (god forbid) we have a down period, those prices are the dealbreaker. Tailgaters stay home. The tradition is disrupted. "well, we used to tailgate, but dad and his group stopped when the prices got ridiculous. We just stay home now and party at the house. It's just not worth it to deal with the hassle anymore." Break the chain, and it is very difficult to regain that same level down the line.

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