The whole situation is complicated by the fact that the University is a State of California entity. So certainly not capitalism whereby the actors are private entities.

But, in the case of the University, it is foolish in my opinion. The parking folks don't care a bit about how many folks come to a LB basketball game. But, in deciding if coming to a game is a reasonable expenditure, individuals take the cost of parking into account. Athletics does not get a dime of the parking money (as I understand). When I was attending games, parking was not a factor for me since I had an employee permit (not free, but much cheaper than $15/day). One of the reasons I stopped going to Dodger stadiums was the outrageous cost to park. But, the Dodger sell over 4 million tickets a year, and there is great demand, they can charge what they want. The Beach might sell 25-30,000 tickets a year, the small arena is seldom anywhere near full, and I think parking cost is a deterrent to folks.

In jabbing my friend Fire, I would note that he is usually on the side of the student not having to pay more, he has been vocal against increasing the student contribution to the cost of athletics. I find it odd that he is all for the unconscionable rate charged by parking for students.