New Jersey state athletic association is not afraid of the state senate

Fans of college and pro sports teams constantly lament paying ticket prices that are high as it is in the regular season and drastically escalate for the playoffs.



This is the norm, of course, because people will pay, and high schools have not been blind to it. Most postseason high school sporting events see a spike in admission costs, and the New Jersey state legislature wanted to put an end to the price gouging, capping what the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association can charge.

It was a sensible step from government at a time when people increasingly believe that government bodies are incapable of protecting consumer interests. But the NJSIAA are bureaucrats in their own right, and unlike elected ones who have to deal with those pesky tea partiers who always seem to find their way on the news, they don't have to care what voters think.

In addition to approving the budget, the executive committee adopted a resolution asking its member schools to implement “modest increases in ticket prices,” which would then allow the organization to raise its postseason ticket prices to those levels. The resolution, which is being sent to Burzichelli, also asks for the initial ticket legislation law to be repealed.

So something as simple and common sense as keeping ticket prices to high school sporting events modest now involves the entire New Jersey government. Who says government is inefficient?