The 2018 Navy Home Tailgate Plan
by Gino Marchetti '70

USNA Class of 1970 Tailgating Profile: The United States Naval Academy Class of 1970 consists of graduates, former members of the Class, honorary members, and their spouses. The Class numbers about 775 individuals, with about 40-80 classmates/tailgate (including spouses, significant others and guests) expected to attend home games.

Scope: The scope of this plan includes the resources to facilitate tailgating at 5 regular home games in Annapolis. These resources include physical space (Spot #44A), tent set-up and rental expenses for each regular home game, and food costs for the Classes of 1970 and 2020 guests (ALITC).

The 2018 Army - Navy Tailgate in Philadelphia, PA: The Army-Navy tailgate has been discontinued for 2018. In the event someone steps up to manage the tailgate, a revised plan will be submitted for consideration and posted when approved.

Summary of the Tailgate Schedule and Menus: The table below provides details for each Annapolis home game.

Date Opponent Location Time Type Menu
08 Sep 2018 vs. Memphis Annapolis, MD 1530 Potluck Subs/Hoagies/Sandwiches
15 Sep 2018 vs. Lehigh Annapolis, MD 1530 Potluck Burgers & Dogs
13 Oct 2018 vs. Temple Annapolis, MD 1530 Potluck Backfield BBQ
20 Oct 2018 vs. Houston Annapolis, MD 1530 Potluck Brats and Beer
17 Nov 2018 vs. Tulsa Annapolis, MD 1530 Potluck Eastern Shore Soups
TBD AAC Championship TBA TBA TBD TBD
08 Dec 2018 vs. Army Philadelphia, PA 1500 None None

Tailgate Location: All home game tailgates will be held at Spot 44A on the southwest side of the stadium. See the Tailgate Map Showing Spot 44A for the specific location. The NAAA charges a flat fee of $1,000 for the season to reserve this spot, which defrays their costs for clean-up and sanitation. This amount has been approved by the Class Officers and already paid to the NAAA for 2018. This is a significant increase is space cost from previous years.

Pot Luck: Pot-luck is currently our preferred method for tailgating. While catering remains a viable option, we are using the pot-luck approach for cost and quality reasons. The main menu has been selected, and communicated to the tailgate email distribution list. Classmates and guests are expected to bring dishes for themselves and two other couples that complement the menu. Additional dishes include a variety of appetizers, sides, refreshments, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts.

ALITC: During this season we anticipate hosting 10-12 midshipmen from the Class of 2020 at each home tailgate. We will defray feeding costs for those midshipmen in attendance, regardless of food source.

Tent: It was proposed and approved by the Class Officers to contract with Select Event Rentals (SER) for a 20' X 30' tent to be set-up and taken down for each home game. SER is the sole source for game day tent rentals through the NAAA. The total cost for tent rental for the season is $3,125, or an average of $625 per game, including setup and take down (for all 5 home games). The terms of the lease agreement called for upfront payment, which was submitted on August 10, 2018 from the USNA '70 Checking Account via the USNAAA.

Costs: Due to the increase in costs for the location space and the tent rental, it was recommended that we recover these costs by charging tailgate attendees on a per capita basis as described in the cost and recovery tables below.

Cost Summary Table for 2018 Tailgating Plan

Cost Element Amount Remarks
Tailgate Location Spot 44A $1,000 Already Paid to the NAAA
Tent Costs for 5 Home Games $3,125 Already Paid to SRC
Class of 2020 ALITC Costs $600 Estimate 12 Mids for 5 games at $10pp
Total 2018 Cost $4,725

Cost Recovery Table for 2018 Tailgating Plan

Tailgate Cost Recovery Charge Amount
Season Cost per Person $95
Season Cost per Couple $190
Cost per Person per Game $20
Cost per Couple per Game $40

Updated: September 12, 2018
Curator: Ed Moore