HBCU Alabama A&M College has seen many years of ticket monitoring points have immediate a serious shift in how followers attend sporting occasions. Starting this fall, all ticket gross sales on the HBCU’s athletics occasions will transfer to a totally cashless system—a transfer designed to deliver larger transparency and accountability to an space repeatedly flagged in state audits.
The change follows years of audit findings that exposed Alabama A&M’s lack of ability to correctly reconcile ticket gross sales, notably at high-attendance occasions like Homecoming. In a single instance from 2012, auditors discovered a $1,600 discrepancy between receipts and itemized parking ticket gross sales. A later audit, spanning 2018 to 2022, revealed that whereas the college reconciled some game-day gross sales, it failed to completely account for reductions and complimentary tickets. Auditors concluded the Athletics Division had not maintained full accountability for printed and bought tickets.
HBCU athletics packages usually function financial and cultural pillars for his or her establishments, and mishandling income from these occasions can undermine each belief and funding. Alabama A&M’s administration is taking steps to deal with that.
“When the president employed me, he stated, amongst a number of priorities, this was a serious one,” Athletics Director Paul Bryant informed AL.com. “He stated, ‘AD Bryant, I want you to repair this technique.’”
Since his appointment in 2022, Dr. Bryant has carried out new protocols to overtake ticketing. His division now reconciles each sport’s ticket information inside 48 hours and has launched a complimentary ticket coverage. The college has partnered with Hometown, a digital ticketing platform, and inside auditors are actually concerned in routine oversight.
In keeping with broader business traits, the HBCU can be transitioning to a totally digital, cashless system. Followers will use bank cards, Apple Pay, or digital codes on their telephones—mirroring experiences at concert events and professional sports activities occasions.
“Going cashless makes us that rather more accountable for the whole lot that we do,” Dr. Bryant stated. “The whole lot is on the system.”
For HBCUs like Alabama A&M, embracing fashionable know-how is greater than comfort—it’s a step towards long-term monetary well being and institutional belief.
