On March 31, Coastal Carolina made a bold, unprecedented move regarding its concession pricing for the football season. In a move that some believed was an April Fool’s joke due to the timing, they decided to make select popular concessions totally free of charge.

Hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and fountain drinks are completely free at Coastal Carolina football games. While all other concessions are still at full price, the Chants have the most popular concession items available, with no limit, to all patrons. You have to scan through the official Coastal Carolina app each trip, but nothing is stopping you from feasting as often as you’d like.

All games. All fans. Feast for free.

More info https://t.co/8MsDxq5FDY
Season tickets https://t.co/ouFKOSzPWg#ChantsUp I #TealNation pic.twitter.com/ox7qWHhCvS

— Coastal Carolina Athletics (@GoCCUsports) March 31, 2025

It’s an incredibly fan-friendly concept that has limitless potential. Of course, when seeing an extremely popular policy at another university, we need to advocate to bring it here. If a mid-major program can do it, one of the most profitable athletic programs in the country can follow suit. It’s time for Penn State to make gameday more affordable and emulate this policy.

Now, I understand the ask that this would be. If every person at a sold-out Beaver Stadium were to purchase a hot dog and a soft drink, the revenue would come in at over $1 million for concessions alone. That doesn’t even count chicken baskets, which, despite the price, everyone buys anyway. Asking the university to forfeit potentially seven figures of revenue is an extremely tough ask, but I ask if that makes enough of a dent in profits to matter?

They’d still be able to charge for beer, burgers, and upwards of $15 for chicken buckets, which will still make the concession stand extremely profitable. In fiscal year 2024, Penn State athletics turned a net profit of $5.6 million. They additionally made a total of $15 million across all athletic programs in concessions and parking. It would do wonders for the fan experience, while not damaging the program.

It might be a tough ask for football, which makes a vast majority of the money for the entire athletic department and props up many programs, to hurt their bottom line, but there is a compromise solution that can help both the athletes and the fans:

Free concessions at non-football events.

Think about it. According to that same financial report, concessions and parking for football games make up 80.6% of the total revenue in that department. The next biggest share? Men’s ice hockey at 1.4%. In fact, all the teams (aside from football) combined to bring in under $500,000 in revenue from concessions. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to football.

What this would also do is increase turnout at these games. Dollar Dog Night is a massive success for the baseball team. The most attended games of the season by far were played on Tuesdays, including a program record 6,106 fans attending the team’s upset victory over then-No. 14 West Virginia. Coastal Carolina hasn’t seen a meaningful increase in attendance so far, but of all sports, football is the least likely to need any type of promotion to get butts in seats.

Dollar Dog Dub #WeAre pic.twitter.com/dmviyAt23U

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) April 23, 2025

Another obvious example of an attendance boost is for both basketball teams. The men’s basketball team, despite playing in a premier conference and frequently playing nationally relevant programs, only cracked 10,000 once last season and 9,000 just twice. The Bryce Jordan Center holds more than 15,000, and yet, the men’s team has never cracked 12,000. The BJC wrestling dual against Iowa in February, for example, drew a hair under 16,000. If you can make going to basketball games more fan-friendly, you can boost attendance by giving students and locals an extra reason to go.

But it can lead to a boost everywhere. From field hockey to lacrosse to softball to soccer to gymnastics, if you give people an incentive to show up, it can pay dividends. It can give more exposure for athletes who don’t get the exposure they deserve. It can spread the love that the Penn State community has for the athletic program.

Just think about it, Pat Kraft.