Cost to rent Aggie Memorial for Cruces-Mayfield game comes with hefty price tag

$45,000. That’s what Las Cruces Public Schools will have to pay to use Aggie Memorial Stadium for the Las Cruces-Mayfield High School rivalry game.

It’s one of the biggest high school football rivalries in the nation and it draws thousands of fans, young and old. As the crowd gets bigger, so does the game’s pricetag.

“In the past four or five years, it’s gone up from 15,000,” Las Cruces Public Schools Athletic Director Ernest Viramontes said.

Las Cruces Public Schools paid a whopping $45,000 to rent Aggie Memorial Stadium. NMSU says that pays for the facility itself, ushering staff, cleanup and more.

“But the primary and largest item cost is really in the security costs for the event,” NMSU Special Events Director Scott Breckner said.

“NMSU police are responsible for all the traffic coming in and out of the facility, we’re responsible for the bag searches at the gates, we’re responsible for security in the parking lots, security inside the facility and security down on the field level,” NMSU Police Chief Stephen Lopez said.

Chief Lopez says under state regulations, a sell out crowd would call for a staff of 120. Attendance as been as high as 28,000 in years past. Staffing is based on the district’s estimates.

“So if they overestimate their numbers, it’s going to mean they end up paying additional expense if the estimate had been more accurate,” Chief Lopez said.

The district is looking into one day moving the game to the field of dreams, but LCPS officials say the stadium need to be expanded first. So until then, bulldawg and trojan fans will have to face off in Aggie land.

“Sometimes I think it’s a little bit too much, but that’s what we have to pay and we pay it to have the event there because it is a big event and as of right now we’ve always had to have it there,” Viramontes said.

Chief Lopez says they’ll need 44 security guards and 47 police officers to work the game. LCPS expects at least 14,000 fans to attend.