Tailgating is big business. Two week ago at Giants Stadium, I saw a custom-made RV with a fold-out barbecue pit and walk-in refrigerator in the luggage compartment. But that’s the pros. Yoy might even pay to tailgate at a big college football game. But how much would you pay to tailgate at a Norfolk State football game?

(She’s gonna cost you a little more than $100.)

Yes, the Norfolk State Spartans, those 3-6 juggernauts of the 1-AA MEAC conference, are charging $100 a car and $125 an RV just to crack open a few brewskis in the parking lot before a game. That doesn’t even include a ticket to the game. The only recourse for fans is to try and drink $100 worth of Natty Ice to offset the fee. That’ll end well.

The money, (a whopping $9,045 last year), all goes to the tennis team, of all things. NSU’s athletic director says that tennis, as a non-revenue sport, needs all the help it can get. SbB’s crack investigative team has uncovered another possible reason: the guy in charge of the school’s tailgating? He’s also the tennis coach.

Fans are nonplussed:

“I thought it was going to the football team and band,” said Isaac Lee, standing next to his modest tailgate area, a cooler full of beer and soda.

“Tennis should raise their own money,” said his buddy Rob Combs. “Anybody can wash cars.”

Oh, Rob Combs. You warm my heart with your neanderthal outlook on life.

So what does your $100 get you? As the saying goes, not a pot to piss in; one fan says the parking lot’s port-a-potties are filthy and often locked.

And forget about bringing friends, classmates, or elderly parents:

Benjamin Fuller, operating a rotisserie in his space, doesn’t think $100 is unreasonable but is disappointed he is only allowed to park one vehicle.

During homecoming, his mother drove to the game, was unable to find parking and left, a common story among older Spartan fans. Fuller has tried to get his mother into the handicapped lot with no luck.

“They should at least give you two parking spaces with that $100,” he said.

You know what they should give you for that $100? Tickets to a good team’s games.