Many WSU fans expressed frustration on the Die Hard Cougs Facebook page last week when the Cougar Athletic Fund announced parking passes for RV’s and campers for football games this upcoming season had sold out.

The CAF sold out of RV parking passes June 11 after opening their availability June 4. Those who missed out on passes were upset with the new system the CAF put in place which gave preference to larger donors.

Ric Fernandez, a season ticket holder for seven years, said this was the first year he and many other season ticket holders were disgruntled after being unable to purchase RV passes.

“I will attend some games but most likely will not renew my season tickets if something isn’t done to expand RV parking,” Fernandez said. “Due to the amount of late afternoon and evening games, the option of driving to and from a game is very hard for most people.”

Adam Ganders, assistant athletic director of the CAF, said they were pleased with how the process went.

“We are really happy with how it went,” Ganders said. “We wish we had more passes just like we always wish we had more passes.”

CAF split the dates in which passes were available to season ticket holders based on a ranking system that factored in how much money they donated.

The first 249 CAF members were eligible to purchase RV passes June 4 and each day they became available to a certain amount of people until they sold out June 11.

This made purchasing an RV pass possible for only the first 3500 CAF members.

The CAF switched to selling RV passes for a full season after having them available on a per game basis in previous years.

Ganders said the decision was about rewarding their largest donors for committing to WSU with the ease of purchasing a pass for a whole season.

“We know that RV parking is part of Washington State football culture,” Ganders said. “Unfortunately that’s the inventory we have and we just try to make it as fair and as objective as possible.”

Ganders said they have seen an increase in donations from people looking to increase their chances of getting RV passes. CAF scores for RV pass priority went into effect May 1, a date Ganders said was made clear well in advance.

The CAF separates their zoned RV parking into three donor levels.  Zone 1 costs $875 and requires an additional annual donation of $1000. Zone 2 costs $700 and requires an additional annual donation of $750 and Zone 3 costs $700 and requires an additional annual donation of $700.

WSU has a capacity for 330 RVs and campers on home football weekends.

Fernandez said he isn’t concerned about having to donate more money but is worried about the supply of RV passes as the CAF continues to grow.

“The CAF would do themselves a lot of good from a [public relations] perspective if they would get out in front of this and let people know they are working on solutions for this issue.”