OP: OSU’s cookie-cutter tailgating packages are lame and I hate them

Is IMG Trying to Reinvent the Tailgating Wheel?

Ohio State is offering to “copy and paste” its football tailgating fan experience on Saturdays and it sucks.

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith and IMG’s Tailgate Club service are working together to offer Buckeye fans several options to pregame home football games near the Horseshoe with a ready-made tailgate setups available for purchase at a price not everybody can afford.

Here are the three new tailgating packages for the Rutgers game as an example:

Buckeye – A 10’ x 10’ Ohio State tent that would accommodate up to 10 people with five OSU-themed chairs, a 6’ folding table with linen and 1 Kottman Hall lot parking pass ($470 + tax)
Buckeye Plus – A 10’ x 20’ Ohio State tent that would accommodate up to 20 people with 10 OSU-themed chairs, two 6’ folding tables with linen, 1 cooler with ice and 1 Kottman Hall lot parking pass ($930 + tax)
Buckeye VIP – A 20’ x 20’ Ohio State tent that would accommodate up to 40 people with 15 OSU-themed chairs, three 6’ folding tables with linen, 2 coolers with ice, a media package and 1 Kottman Hall lot parking pass ($1,865 + tax)

For the game against That Team Up North—with the same packages detailed above—the prices for each package increase as follows:

Buckeye = $570 + tax
Buckeye Plus = $1,180 + tax
Buckeye VIP = 2,590 + tax

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For a season pass of five games —with the same packages detailed above—the prices for each package increase as follows:

Buckeye = $2,617.50 + tax (includes a 25% discount)
Buckeye Plus = $5,257.50 + tax (includes a 25% discount)
Buckeye VIP = $10,878.75 + tax (includes a 25% discount)

Gene Smith made the following remark in a press release:

“Buckeye Park by Tailgate Club provides a turnkey experience that will allow Buckeye fans to make the most of their visit to campus.”

A “turnkey experience?” Hell no.

Tailgating the old-fashioned way is a novel experience that should not be cookie-cutter.

My best tailgating memories are going to an RV that’s set up by family friends, identifiable by a unique flag waving in the air. Sitting outside with friends eating home-cooked food, playing cornhole and admiring other individually decorated RV’s and tents from Buckeye fans is priceless and part of the fun of college football Saturday.

Tailgating is a showcase of creativity.

The place to see an organized, streamlined sea of scarlet and gray is inside the Horseshoe cheering the Buckeyes across the field to victory.

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