The 3 versus 2 fallacies, a mini-rant

[wfd21]

Here we do a single varsity game on any given night. Most are two man with a few three man here and there. Most freshman and JV games are double headers. They went away from varsity double headers several years ago. All tourney games are three man.

[Adam]

I think a lot of it depends on the pay scale. In Iowa, you didn't make as much for the 2nd game as you did for the first if you did a double header. In subvarsity, for example, it was $35 for one game and $55 for two. I don't know what the pay was there for varsity, because it varied by school, and the only varsity games I did were double headers.
Here in Colorado, each game has its own pay. Therefore, schools that are close to the city I live it generally get a fresh set of refs for each game. Also, while most varsity games are three man, there are some schools we serve that for whatever reason get two officials. Colorado has set a minimum pay for officials, and it's different for 2 vs. 3 whistle. Varsity pays $44 for 3, and $52 for 2. In the JV game I did 3 man, they just wrote 3 checks totaling the standard pay for a 2 person game.