ArenaGear University · For Athletic Directors

The Hidden Costs of Sports Timing Systems: What Schools Actually Pay Over 5 Years

The purchase order says one thing. The five-year ledger says something else.

When an athletic director searches for an affordable timing system for schools, the sticker price is usually the only number on the table. On many timing platforms, though, the sticker price is only the start. Roster fees, feature unlocks, restocking charges, short warranties and batteries you can't replace in the field quietly turn a "cheap" system into one of the more expensive things in your equipment room.

Where the costs hide

1. Per-athlete roster fees

Some platforms charge about $1 per unique athlete. That sounds trivial until you do the math: a program with 500 athletes pays $500, and a camp that sees 2,400 new athletes a year pays $2,400 every year. ArenaGear charges $0 roster fees. Unlimited athletes, forever.

2. Vertical jump unlocks

Vertical jump is often sold as a paid upgrade: about $500 for a lifetime unlock or $200 a year. Over five years, the annual option alone is $1,000. ArenaGear's vertical jump is $99, one time.

3. Paying to see your own data

Ask whether storing, viewing or exporting results costs extra. With ArenaGear, TEAMS, our free cloud data management service, is included: unlimited athletes, post-session analytics, and exports sorted by class, athlete or drill.

4. Restocking fees

A 15% restocking fee on a $940 system is $141 gone for a box you barely opened. ArenaGear charges no restocking fee when the system is returned clean.

5. One-year warranties

Timing gear lives outdoors, rides in truck beds, and gets set up by a different student manager every week. ArenaGear backs the RM-510 with a 3-year warranty.

6. Batteries you can't replace in the field

When a USB-charged gate dies at an away meet, you stop timing until you find a charger. The RM-510 runs about 80 hours on AA batteries you can buy at any gas station, and battery status shows live in the app.

The 5-year math: $798 vs $1,940

That's $1,142 per system. A district buying 6 systems saves $6,852, money that goes back into uniforms, buses or another gate set instead of fees. (See the full RM-510 vs Dashr Silver breakdown.)

What $798 includes

• 0.001-second accuracy, timing up to 600 meters
• Eye-safe infrared gates, never lasers
• Self-aligning, wireless, waist-height gates
• Automatic hands-free video with a security watermark of each athlete's name and time
• Live leaderboards and unlimited viewer devices
• NFC wristband athlete ID
• Free AI athlete profiling and an open API
• Military-grade build, made in McKinney, Texas

Five questions to ask every vendor

1. Do you charge per athlete, now or later?
2. Is vertical jump included, or an unlock? Lifetime or annual?
3. Can I store and export my data without a subscription?
4. What's the restocking fee if it doesn't fit our setup?
5. How long is the warranty, and are the batteries field-replaceable?

If a vendor can't answer all five cleanly, you've found where your budget is going to leak.

ArenaGear is the most cost-effective professional timing system on the market, used by thousands of schools and professional teams.

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