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Athletic director outlines cashless Hometown ticketing plan; board and community press for cash accommodations
Summary
Athletic Director Sean Jimenez proposed switching district ticketing and concessions to the Hometown app, citing presales, analytics and service; parents and board members expressed concerns about cash-dependent families, calendar-style fundraisers and concession fees.
Athletic Director Sean Jimenez presented a plan to move the district’s ticketing and concessions to the Hometown app, saying the system provides presales, efficient gate entry, detailed analytics and district-dedicated support.
Jimenez told the board Hometown would allow presale and point-of-sale sales while keeping the advertised ticket price the same. “So right now, we charge $8 a ticket. That is not gonna change,” he said, and described the platform fee model as roughly a flat-dollar fee plus a percentage and transaction charge: “They’re gonna get a dollar per ticket plus 2.9% plus 30¢.” He said those backend fees would be absorbed so families would still see an $8 price at purchase.
Jimenez described additional features — season passes, remote redemption and integrated fundraising through a partner platform — and said the company provided equipment and incentives for signing. He said last year the district sold about 14,167 tickets and that Hometown offered scale incentives tied to presales and concession revenues.
Board members and attendees raised concerns about the effects on cash-reliant households and community fundraisers that depend on cash calendars. One board member asked how calendar-style fundraisers or door-to-door cash sales would work; another asked whether someone who shows up without a card would be turned away. Jimenez responded that the district would aim to accommodate people who cannot pay electronically: “If they...show up and they don’t have the money, I’m not gonna deny somebody seeing their grandson, granddaughter. I will let them in,” he said.
Discussion also focused on concessions fees. Jimenez said concessions would likely incur per-transaction fees and that the district was negotiating whether the fee would be taken off the back end or passed through to customers; he committed to keeping concession prices at community-friendly levels and said he would continue negotiating terms with the vendor.
The board asked administration to develop transition rules (honoring presales, limited cash handling or an accommodation box for small fundraiser cash collections) and to return with a recommended implementation timeline.
