Does anyone outside DC charge folks to watch a Cornell hockey game?

I'm not intending to start a battle with the folks who are organizing viewing hockey games in DC. I appreciate your efforts. However, I would like to know if anyone in other geographic areas charges folks to watch the games. In DC, we get charged for games that bars pull in for free, so it's not to cover overhead costs of the event. This year, it's $10 for Cornell Club members and $15 if you're not a member.

It's probably not worth $10-15, but the description does say there is food included.

When: Friday, November 10th, 8pm
Where: McFaddens, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave NW (at 24th Street)
Metro: Foggy Bottom (orange, blue)
Food Included: Hot Finger Food Buffet!
Drink: Specials: $2 Domestic Drafts, $4 Rail Drinks
How Much: $10 for members and guest, $15 for non-members
RSVP Requested

I agree with the apparant premise though, that it seems odd to charge for "entry" to this event.

Does that violate some kind of copyright on the games that CSTV might have? For instance if you broadcast NFL games in a bar, I think charging admission violates the NFL's right to broadcast. Any lawyers want to chime in and correct me?

It sounds like this event is a Cornell Club sponsored event, and the fee can be "justified" as the cost entailed for either room rental and/or food-beverages as well as "fund raising". In the mailings that I have gotten, it is not unusual for Alumni groups to charge a fee for the events that they sponsor be it a hockey viewing party, a lecture by a leading academic, or wine-tasting.

Some bars that people have watched games at in the past did request that people spend a minimum amount on food and beverages particularly if they reserved a room for the group.

If Cornell's running the event, it can charge a fee to cover its costs and maybe a quote-volunatry scholarship deduction. Hey, you signed on for four years in Ithaca at $20K, $30K, $40K, so what's $15 more?

A bar can charge a cover fee to get in to a place where, coincidentally, TV is showing sports, and that's okay. I don't believe it can charge a higher fee to go in the back room and watch the USC-Notre Dame football game. If it tries, sooner or later they'll get caught. The NCAA and pro sports are protective of their financial turf.

All Cornell local alumni associations around the country host various alumni events. A televised Cornell Hockey game is such an event. The charges are to defray expenses (typically food) and maybe put a little money in the kitty for the next alumni event. Bottom line, it's for a good cause and to keep the greater Cornell Community alive and well.

Larry '72
Member - Cornell Alumni Association of the Ithaca Area

billhoward
A bar can charge a cover fee to get in to a place where, coincidentally, TV is showing sports,

... and pays a premium 'commercial rate' for cable/satellite service, I believe.

Thanks to all who replied. Prior to last year (or maybe it was the year before), all airings of Cornell hockey games in the DC area have been free. Then, someone decided that it should be a money maker for the local Cornell Club, and they decided to start charging. Prior to this year, there never has been food or drink included in this price, and none of the money went to the bar (no rental fee, no defraying costs of the signal feed). There have been absolutely no costs to this event; it's strictly been a money maker for the Cornell Club. I find it insane to charge my family of four $40 to sit in a sports bar and watch a televised hockey game. Keep in mind doing this a few times per season (hopefully going deep into the playoffs), and it gets quite pricey. For budget reasons, I've concluded that I will be going to watch Cornell hockey games only during the playoffs.

Lisa92
Thanks to all who replied. Prior to last year (or maybe it was the year before), all airings of Cornell hockey games in the DC area have been free. Then, someone decided that it should be a money maker for the local Cornell Club, and they decided to start charging. Prior to this year, there never has been food or drink included in this price, and none of the money went to the bar (no rental fee, no defraying costs of the signal feed). There have been absolutely no costs to this event; it's strictly been a money maker for the Cornell Club. I find it insane to charge my family of four $40 to sit in a sports bar and watch a televised hockey game. Keep in mind doing this a few times per season (hopefully going deep into the playoffs), and it gets quite pricey. For budget reasons, I've concluded that I will be going to watch Cornell hockey games only during the playoffs.

Don't limit yourself to just the playoffs.

You are in one of the largest cities in the country. Surely there is a sports bar that will turn one television to CSTV for a group of 4.

Lisa,
There has been a back and forth policy about charging for Harvard/Cornell games. I used to organize them for CCW years ago (01-03, thereabouts) and we sometimes charged to cover overhead costs to negotiate for food and drink deals, for the room and extra staff for the bar service. And we usually had to pay the restaurant during basketball playoffs because we could barely find a place to host us. (This is back in the days when we could hardly get satellite feeds and often had to pay for premium service). Even in NYC, where I live now, we are sometimes asked to meet a drink minimum of $15. Certainly, for CCW, some of it probably goes to the very worthy scholarship fund. But, if it is a real concern, I'd suggest dropping an email to the board and mentioning it. We always strived as a Board to have cost-friendly family events and I'm sure they'd be happy to explain the cost.

Lisa92
Thanks to all who replied. Prior to last year (or maybe it was the year before), all airings of Cornell hockey games in the DC area have been free. Then, someone decided that it should be a money maker for the local Cornell Club, and they decided to start charging. Prior to this year, there never has been food or drink included in this price, and none of the money went to the bar (no rental fee, no defraying costs of the signal feed). There have been absolutely no costs to this event; it's strictly been a money maker for the Cornell Club. I find it insane to charge my family of four $40 to sit in a sports bar and watch a televised hockey game. Keep in mind doing this a few times per season (hopefully going deep into the playoffs), and it gets quite pricey. For budget reasons, I've concluded that I will be going to watch Cornell hockey games only during the playoffs.

a) this is why it's better to work for the military-industrial complex than, say, being a teacher. The former is more rewarding in all ways except for making a better society, and you can get over it if they pay enough.

b) Name an evening out that isn't expensive. A movie for the two of you? Tickets $10 x 2, plus ... dinner $25 or $40 x 2, parking maybe, the sitter (eight bucks an hour?), ordering pizza for the kids and sitter ($25?), and what if your spouse decides she'd like a new sweater to wear for the evenings out you so seldom have? Ten bucks a head at the Cornell Club isn't so bad, if not quite as cheap as $6 for CSTV and staying home with the beer already in the refrigerator.

c) Your first five years out, you can hang out at Cornell events and often some fat-cat aging alum who's sixty (actually 45, but when you're 25, 45 looks 60) may spring for your drinks or admission and chat with your throughout the event. The punchline to the similar joke goes, "To me, no, but it happened to my sister." But actually and seriously: Older alums often do have a soft spot for grads under 30 who're in jobs that don't pay a lot and for whom $10 or $20 seems like a lot of money. Just make sure when you're the old fat cat that you return the favor.

Young punk or old fart...I'm with Lisa92. Cornell outings are fun, and McFaddens food isn't bad, but that's still a fair chunk of change.

Luckily, my DirecTV in Gaithersburg worked fine!

This is a tough one. As a board member for the Cornell Alumni Association of the Ithaca Area, I know when we host an event in a business, we need to make it worth their while. We can often schedule an event at a time when they won't otherwise be full, so it's easy.

But on a Friday night, convincing a bar or restaurant to set aside a large chunk of their space is going to mean promising them a reasonable revenue for that space. From the posts in this thread, it sounds as though some places handle that by setting a minimum purchase per person, but I like the idea of the Cornell Club plunking down cash to buy munchies. We do that for a lot of our Ithaca events... some of which we subsidize out of CAAIA funds (depending on the nature of the event), and some of which we charge an admission price for.

Here in the DC area, any airing of a Cornell hockey game draws a large group, and in the past, everybody has run their own tab. Bars have always seemed thrilled to have us. Even during "that other tournament" (NCAA basketball), we get space for our games. All of that always happened before we started getting charged for events. One bar a few years back opened early for us because they wanted our group for an NCAA Tournament game. That same bar and another one said we didn't need to pay for them to order the game, that they're thrilled to have our group and the bar would cover the cost of the package.

I am lucky to live in this area where there are so many Cornell alums and there's a passionate Cornell hockey following.

Lisa