Fans attending Knox County Schools games will now have to pay a higher ticket price. Football and basketball games will cost $2 more and all other games will be $1 more.

Currently, a football game ticket is $8 and basketball is $6. They will now cost $10 and $8. All other sports and middle school basketball will increase from $5 to $6.

Several districts near Knox County - Alcoa, Anderson, Blount, Hamilton and Maryville - already have increased prices.

District officials said the increase was needed to help cover rising costs associated with running sports programs.

"Cost has changed dramatically since the last time we set ticket prices, which was 2015," Assistant Superintendent of Academics Keith Wilson told the board at its July 8 meeting.

District officials intended to propose the change in 2020, but didn't due to the pandemic.

If ticket prices weren't increased, athletes' families would have to pay higher participation fees, Bryan Brown, athletics specialist at Knox County Schools, told the board. The increased funds will stay with individual schools.

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Board chair Betsy Henderson suggested updating district's policy to tie the price to a formula that can be updated consistently.

The high school football season is about a month away, kicking off Aug. 1 with the first regular-season games starting Aug. 22.

This past May, several Knoxville teams attended this year's TSSAA Spring Fling. The Olympic-style event showcases state tournaments in baseball, softball, boys soccer, track and field and tennis in the Murfreesboro area.

The average cost for a team that attended for four days was about $10,000 to $12,000 outside of their normally budgeted money, Brown told the board.

"This (ticket price increase) could offset that dramatically for those teams that are good enough to go," he said.

Everything from staying overnight to chartering buses for travel has gotten more expensive in the recent years, he said, with some bills running into several thousand dollars.

Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @AreenaArora and on Instagram @areena_news.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools football and basketball ticket prices go up