Some would call it price gouging at the public’s expense. Others say it’s just a sharp business move. Whatever it is, it’s got at least one county councilman upset in football country. With as many as 200,000 folks heading into the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area in April for the NFL draft, you might find getting an RV site hard. Now a local RV dealer is going to make it harder—and make a profit along the way. It’s the NFL draft campground price hike, and at least one county official says it’s business as usual.
NFL draft campground price hike
With a finite limit on how many motel rooms are available in Brown County, Wisconsin, local leaders figured out a way to help. They’ll open county-owned campgrounds before the normal camping season to put up RVers streaming in for the NFL draft festivities, which officially run April 24 through April 26. While the county will charge more than their normal camping rates during the big event, they’re still constrained. The county can’t charge more than it actually costs to operate and maintain a site. So come for the NFL hoopla, and you’ll pay $100 a night.
But local RV sharpshooter Paul Quinnette, of Paul’s Trailer and R.V. Center, has a better idea. RVtravel.com staff phoned Mr. Quinnette this morning, mentioning they’d heard-tell that the RV outfit could make them an offer they wouldn’t refuse. What if a group of football fanatics from the West Coast wanted to fly in for the big draft? Could Quinnette accommodate them? Sure, if the half-dozen guys wanted to rent a nice trailer from his company, he’d see to it that the rig was ready for them, right on a site in Bay Shore Park Campground.
All it would cost, with the site fee included, is $1,000 a night for a rig that would sleep six. And, uh, that’s a minimum of four nights. Our group would bring its own sleeping bags and eat out. Then we wouldn’t need to worry about an additional $375 charge for linens, and paper cups and plates. But, by the way, we could eat at the concession trailer right there at the park—at an additional charge, of course.
Keys will be in the water heater compartment
We have no idea how many sites Paul Quinnette has already reserved at $100 a night. But since he’s shelling out $100 a night for however many sites he’s already nailed down, that $900 a night for a trailer rental looks like a good return on his investment. He told us we should probably tie up the deal before the end of January, holding it with a $1,000 down payment. And when we show up at the park, why, heck, the keys will be waiting for us, right there in the water heater compartment.
While Paul Quinnette calls it business, Patrick Evans is livid. Evans is the County Board Supervisor. “This is a county campsite,” Evans told local news media Fox 11 News. “It has been funded by the taxpayers of Brown County. It’s maintained by the taxpayers of Brown County. We can’t make profit on it. But then you have somebody that is coming in that’s going to make $1200 per night and it’s only costing them $100 per night to rent it… It burns me because this is a county, this is a public entity.” (A rig fit to accommodate eight folks rents for $1,200 a night.)
Patrick Evans has formally asked the county’s legal counsel for an opinion on the NFL draft campground price hike. But the park board superintendent says as far as he’s concerned, it’s not only legal, but it’s a “been there, done that,” matter. During the regular camping season, other entities have rented out a site from the county, then turned around and sub-rented it for a profit.
How would you feel if you got aced out of a campsite by a commercial entity?
The NFL draft campground price hike. For many RVers, the whole thing smells bad. Maybe it is “business as usual,” but it’s a nasty business for the little guy who is traveling to see the greatness of the land.
More articles you might really like
• The 7 red flags of potential bad RV neighbors
• Campground worker explains the 10-year rule and why campgrounds enforce it
• RVers saying goodbye to RVing; ‘Who wants to spend $100 a night to stay at crowded park?’
• Reserved but empty campsites: The campground’s side of the story
• RVer says ‘the kind of folks camping has really gone downhill’
• Why I canceled my Thousand Trails membership after just using it once
##RVT1193b
Thank you for the information, Russ and Tina! $100/night seems high, but maybe less so if full utilities. Seems the best thing is bring your own RV, or come once the draft hoopla is well ended. Have a great week and safe travels!
Waiting for the inevitable howling “it’s all corporate greed” comment. We all know it’s actually the Supply and Demand Economic Model. Recent example: 2025 Albuquerque Balloon Festival – $130 per night avg w/no hook ups. Approx 600 sites sold out in less than 30 minutes. Some will scoff “I wouldn’t pay that much”, and that’s fine – 600 folks did.
it’s all corporate greed!
So, if your boss offered you a raise, you would turn it down? Or, would you be greedy and take the raise?
The County is opening the campground earlier than normal to accommodate the influx. That means they are incurring additional costs, possibly to remove snow, or bring more gravel in for soggy roads, etc. Are they being greedy for offsetting their additional costs?
How about the RV dealer? He is renting a unit that he will no longer be able to sell as “new”, so he has costs involved. He also has to pay someone to put the trailer in the campground, then go and get it. He pays for people and equipment to do that. So, between losing the value of the trailers from “new” to “used” (con’t)
(con’t) he also has to clean the units. More cost. Any damage? He pays for that.
So, while you are all upset about “gouging”, you seem to forget that there are real costs involved with his business venture. Look at the details, not just the hyperbole.
Hotels have ‘special’ rates for large scale events too. Usually 2 to 3 times the regular nightly rate. In some cases, more.
I expect the government agency will enact an ordinance to prevent future schemes.
Business greed, yet they receive large tax giveaways.
🤣🤣🤣
I live 30 miles away from Green Bay Wisconsin. On brown county’s website there rates are 22 for rustic and 32 for water and electric for bay shore park. The supervisor raised the rates for 100 dollars a night for the draft at bay shore park. Who’s taking advantage of who. If you go on to shawano county’s website. Shawano county park is opening up there campground and are charging the nightly fee of 30 dollars a night like they do all summer. Come to the city of shawano Wisconsin and only drive 30 miles to green bay.
Everyone seems spring-loaded to comment on “greed”, but not the notion that people are willing to spend thousands of dollars to watch not a game, but the draft. Which to me seems daft.
Interesting. Many state parks have rules against renting out a site you have reserved for exactly this reason. They do not allow commercial activities without a permit and this is a clearly a commercial activity. I’ve seen a few where they disallow delivery of a rented RV even when a camper has reserved the site … which seems a bit much. Maybe Brown County needs to decide exactly how much regulation they are willing to accept.