I uninvited my friend from our annual football trip because he expected us to cover his ticket.

By @nicosorta · Sports

After months of promising he would pay his share for our game tickets and Airbnb, my friend announced days before the trip that he was broke and expected the group to eat the cost. I sold his ticket and told him not to come, but now our friend group is split on whether I crossed the line.

The full story

Our group of six has held an annual fall college football road trip since junior year of college, rotating who plans the itinerary and buys tickets. This year was my turn. Back in July, I laid out the total: $380 per person covering upper-deck game tickets, an Airbnb near the stadium, and parking passes. Everyone confirmed in the group chat and agreed we’d settle up by October 1st. Four people paid promptly. My buddy who works in sales kept kicking the can, promising he was good for it once commissions hit. Cut to Monday morning before we leave—he hits the chat saying money is tight, he still wants to come hang out at the tailgate and crash on the Airbnb couch, but he asked if we could just 'absorb' his $190 ticket cost across the five of us or find a stranger on campus to sell it to outside the gate. I told him absolutely not. I’m not spending my Friday afternoon scalping a single digital ticket in a stadium parking lot, and nobody else signed up to sponsor his weekend. When he refused to pay by Tuesday night, I listed his ticket on an exchange for cheap just to recoup whatever I could, and told him if he hadn't paid his housing share either, he wasn't welcome on the trip. Now half the group chat thinks I blew up an eight-year tradition over two hundred bucks, saying we could have easily fronted him and let him pay back over the holidays. But if you can't afford the trip, don't RSVP yes and leave your friends holding the bag three days before kickoff.

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