Connecticut Fees ...

BillyMac

Connecticut basketball game fees for 2023-2024 Season: Scrimmage Fee: $150 (3 officials $50 each, 2 officials $75 each); Varsity Fee: $105.35; Subvarsity Fee: $73.75 (junior varsity, freshmen, middle school). Varsity Shot Clock Fee: $68.48.

Two interesting things.

Shot clock is new to Connecticut varsity games this coming season.

Schools are recruiting inactive or retired basketball officials to run varsity shot clocks ($68.48).

For as long as I can remember, subvarsity fees were 65% of a varsity fee.

CIAC has now increased subvarsity fees to 70% of a varsity fee to improve recruitment and retention of basketball officials.

BillyMac

BillyMac wrote
Varsity Shot Clock Fee: $68.48.

Consider at least ten home games.

$684.80 can put a real crimp in a school's athletic budget.

Unlike the one time initial cost of the shot clocks, this will be a annual ongoing cost.

Expect the cost of game admission tickets and concession stand hot dogs and popcorn to increase.

SNIPERBBB

65% of varsity?

As long as I can remember here even in rural southeast Ohio the disparity was never that big. At most the varsity fee was maybe $20 over JV.. junior high games were about half but you do two of those, some schools you made more money doing the junior high double headers than a varsity game. Sure more hours but usually closer to home.

JRutledge

I will never understand this position. Why do you need retired officials to do the shot clock? Do they hire retired officials to run the scoreboard? No. So why do you need one for something they might have never done either? Why can they not get someone dedicated to doing the job and can attend the games? Heck have a couple of people do it throughout the year. Just saying at the small college level we get first-timers all the time doing the shot clock. Student-athletes or some school personnel telling us often, "I have never done this before" and we get through it. Now good if you can get officials to do it, but why is that seem like the only option for everyone?

Peace

Raymond

JRutledge wrote
I will never understand this position. Why do you need retired officials to do the shot clock? Do they hire retired officials to run the scoreboard? No. So why do you need one for something they might have never done either? Why can they not get someone dedicated to doing the job and can attend the games? Heck have a couple of people do it throughout the year. Just saying at the small college level we get first-timers all the time doing the shot clock. Student-athletes or some school personnel telling us often, "I have never done this before" and we get through it. Now good if you can get officials to do it, but why is that seem like the only option for everyone?

Peace

There's a high school less than 5 minutes from my house. I'll take that part-time gig if VA public schools ever adopt the shot clock. 😀

BillyMac

JRutledge wrote
I will never understand this position. Why do you need retired officials to do the shot clock?

Good question.

These fees were just posted with no explanation. Maybe the CIAC is preparing for an expected lack of "in house" shot clock operators?

Raymond wrote
I'll take that part-time gig ...

I know nothing about football officiating, but here in Connecticut being a football clock operator is considered to be a "plum" assignment by older inactive or retired football officials.

BillyMac

BillyMac wrote
For as long as I can remember, subvarsity fees were 65% of a varsity fee. CIAC has now increased subvarsity fees to 70% of a varsity fee to improve recruitment and retention of basketball officials.

JRutledge wrote
I will never understand this position. Why do you need retired officials to do the shot clock? Do they hire retired officials to run the scoreboard?

I just returned to this thread to research the increase in Connecticut subvarsity game fees in my newly appointed position as my local board's Ad Hoc Historian.

I don't have an answer for JRutledge but we do have a "professional" timing organization, Timing Is Everything, which supplies game clock, shot clock and scoreboard operators at many different collegiate sporting events, like football, soccer, lacrosse and basketball as well as to most CIAC state high school championships.

Timing Is Everything recruits retired officials, and some (not many) local high schools use their services for regular season shot clocks.