Badger faithful going to Saturday’s football game against UNLV in Las Vegas will have to rely on their iPods to hear On Wisconsin, If You Want to Be a Badger and other classics, as the UW Marching Band will not be there to play them.
Dean of the College of Letters and Science Gary Sandefur said the band would not be making the trip simply because there was not enough money to send them over, likely a result of the game being on Labor Day weekend, when hotels are at a much higher demand.
“Normally they’re able to get free hotel rooms in Vegas… [this year] we don’t have the resources,” Sandefur said
UW senior and marching band member Daniel Schally said the announcement the band would not be going to did not come as a shock to him. He said the band’s schedule had not been set at the beginning of the summer, and there had been rumors all summer the band would not be going to Vegas.
“It was definitely disappointing, but I think most of us kind of saw it coming,” Schally said.
He added while the band not being there will take some of the fun out of the game and tailgate, he trusts Badger fans to bring just as much excitement to the game.
Schally added he was a sophomore when the band last went to Vegas in 2007, and he is not too upset about not having to march in the 109 degree heat they experienced last time.
An unsuccessful last minute push was made to send the band to Vegas by the partners at Badger Trips, a student owned company that provides more affordable lodging and travel for students attending away-sporting events.
Co-Founder of Badger Trips Michael Garson said he heard the band was not going around three weeks ago. He said after doing some research he and his partner thought there might be something they could do to help.
Garson said the cost of sending the band was approximately $100,000. After a fundraising campaign and an aggressive search for cheaper planes, they were able to cut the cost down to $40 to $50 thousand.
The cost was lowered even more as one plane had an extra 30 seats. Garson said they were planning on selling seats on the plane to people on the wait list for the trip.
“Travel with the band to Vegas, make it a promotion,” he said.
With that extra revenue, the cost was lowered to $25,000, and Garson said he was optimistic about the outcome. The story did not have a happy ending, however, as by the time he had heard back from Marching Band Director Mike Leckrone, the inexpensive airplanes were no longer available.
“It was sort of too little too late,” Garson said. “I really think if we had found out about this at the beginning of the summer I was pretty sure we could have made it happen.”
The band hasn’t made a trip for an away football game since 2008, when several band members were accused of hazing on the bus ride to the Wisconsin-Michigan game in Ann Arbor.
