There’s a big change awaiting Cavalier fans as the new sports season dawns with a pair of University of Virginia soccer games on Saturday: they can now watch more of the Wahoos shine without paying a dime.
More than 100 home UVA sporting events will be free to attend over the next nine months, beginning with Saturday’s soccer doubleheader – a men’s 5 p.m. exhibition match against Virginia Military Institute and a women’s 8 p.m. exhibition match against DC Power FC – at Klöckner Stadium.
Palmer Park is home to one of the fastest-rising softball programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers are coming off consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
UVA Athletics announced last month that all men’s and women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and softball regular-season home games will no longer require tickets and will be complimentary to the public. The sports join a slew of others that already offered the same access, including volleyball, field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming, wrestling, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s golf, rowing and men’s and women’s squash.
The only UVA sports requiring paid admission are football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse and baseball.
Tyler Jones, UVA’s deputy athletics director for external operations, said several factors sparked the change, including an evaluation of ticket operating expenses.
“Some of those sports, we weren’t breaking even with the ticketing component,” Jones said. “So, we had an economical decision. To be profitable, we probably needed to increase ticket prices, which may have impacted the number of folks who are attending the game.”
The UVA women’s lacrosse program, which plays its home games at Klöckner Stadium, is approaching 30 straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. (University Communications photo)
In the end, Jones said, UVA Athletics wanted to ensure Palmer Park, Klöckner Stadium and other venues are full.
“Given the economic climate, we didn’t want it to be a deterrent for fans to come and watch. So, going to a complimentary model affords those programs to continue to grow their fan base and get people into the venue to experience high-level Division I athletics, rather than increasing the price and risking attendance dropping, which then ultimately impacts the student-athlete experience,” he said.
UVA’s recent 12th-place finish in the 2024-25 Learfield Directors’ Cup marked the school’s sixth consecutive top-15 ranking in the annual competition that evaluates the overall performance of collegiate athletics departments.
