Question

Two SSU Athletic programs (football and baseball) are compared at Savannah State University (SSU) in
terms of their annual operation costs. T he two programs can generate the same revenue (hence the focus on
the costs). T he football program has fixed costs of $10,000 a year and variable costs of $2.50 per spectactor
ticket. T he baseball program has a fixed cost of $4,000 per year and variable cost of $4.00 per spectator
ticket.
(a) [Points 1.5/10]. Determine mathematically the break-even number of visitors per year for the two rides
to have equal annual costs.
(b) [Points 1.5/10]. Develop a graph that illustrates the following (note: put spectators per year on the
horizontal axis and costs on the vertical axis).
(b.1) Accurate total cost lines for the two athletic programs (show lines and slopes).
(b.2) T he break-even point for the two athletic programs in terms of number of spectators.
(b.3) T he range of spectators per year where each alternative is preferred.

Answer 1

A.

Let, breakeven number of spectators = X

10000 + 2.5*X = 4000 + 4*X

X = (10000-4000)/(4-2.5)

X = 4000 number of spectators

So, break even number of spectators are 4000 in number.

==

B.1, B.2, B.3

Number of spectators	Total cost for football program	Total cost for baseball program
0	10000	4000
1000	12500	8000
2000	15000	12000
3000	17500	16000
4000	20000	20000
5000	22500	24000
6000	25000	28000

Up to and below 4000 spectators per year, baseball program is preferred. Above 4000 spectators, football program is preferred. At 4000 exact numbers, any of the two programs can be selected.