Jorge Montiel is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Chaparral High School for AZPreps365.com.  

Sports is a business. It is much about the money as it is the talent. 

Even at the high school level there are important business decisions that need to be made in order to secure a successful and profitable season for all sports. 

They have to in order to have winning seasons. 

Winning seasons build reputations and become an incentive for top student athletes to attend the schools.

Which in turn prompts students to go watch their teams play. 

Getting good players and coaches starts with getting the right accommodations and gear. 

A big make or break for students and coaches are the gear and accommodations they offer. 

This leads to the big question. How much do they spend? 

Chaparral’s primary uniform and gear provider is Nike. 

From the football team to the baseball team and everything in between Nike is the main apparel supplier according to Peter Heikka, Chaparral’s assistant Athletic Director.

Every team will have Nike branded apparel. 

Neither the district nor the school decided to disclose how much they pay for the jerseys. 

However, equipment manager Ryan Ramirez revealed that the jerseys aren’t cheap and depending on the sport the price fluctuates.  

“Any sports uniforms are going to be up there. Depending on the sport and how many jerseys you need,” said Ramirez. 

Jerseys are only part of the obligation that school has to fulfill.

They also have to make sure that the teams are well equipped to practice and that their safety is addressed. 

Football is a sport that is known for causing injuries, particularly concussions so players need to be protected. 

“Football has so many players and player safety is a high priority. Football Helmets are probably most expensive. After every season you have to recondition the helmets that were worn- they get repainted, cleaned, and new padding on the inside. That usually costs $5,000 -$10,000 depending on how many helmets we send in which is usually around 150. Also, I try to order 10-20 brand new helmets a year since each helmet has a lifespan of 10 years,” said Ramirez. 

Money spent on player safety is money well spent but the expenses of the helmets being so high it raises some questions. 

Do ticket sales cover the expenses?

Is there a profit? 

The Scottsdale Unified School District revealed that as of right now Chaparral High School has taken in $71,530 in gate receipts, according to the district’s Student Activities office.

The SUSD communications team stated, “Tickets are sold through the GoFan platform, so we are unable to easily determine how many tickets were sold for each sport, but it would be safe to assume that a majority of the sales are from football games.”

It is no secret that some sports are more popular than others and as a result some sports don’t do well from a ticket sale perspective. 

Chaparral’s Athletic Director Jack Bagley and the school have implemented strategies to help boost student attendance for sports not so sought after. 

“The students get excited and show up for the football games but we need more to attend our other sporting events. This year's student council has put on some amazing assemblies in which the students have enjoyed participating in,” said Bagley. 

“Communication is the key to let me know what sporting events are happening on campus. We have students get on the announcements at the beginning of the week to go over the sports calendar and we announce scores and recognize top performers. We also have started doing a boys and girls athlete of the month,” said Bagley. 

The more students show up the more revenue they get.

Prices fluctuate depending on if they are playoff games or regular season games.

“All tickets are $5.00 for parents and students. The prices go up to $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students when they reach the playoffs,” said Heikka. 

Based on the gate receipts and the snack sales it seems like Chaparral at the very least is breaking even if not making a profit. 

Chaparral athletics has a decorated history so it is not a surprise that its student body is passionate about their sports teams.