Ask a coach what a sideline headset system costs and you will usually get the sticker price. That number is the smallest part of the answer.
The real cost of putting your staff on headsets shows up over three or four seasons: batteries, repairs, the unit that gets stepped on in October, the belt pack that quits at halftime, and the full replacement cycle that lands right when your budget is thinnest. Programs that only budget the sticker price end up surprised. Programs that budget the whole picture make better decisions.
Here is how to figure out your actual number.
The upfront number is the easy part
A traditional wireless headset setup for a high school staff is commonly quoted somewhere in the $600 to $800 range for an entire system, depending on how many headsets you need and which tier you buy into. College and larger programs go well past that.
That price generally covers the base station or transmitter, a set of headsets, belt packs, and a charging case. It is a real, defensible number and it is what most athletic directors write into the request.
It is also the last time the system will be that cheap.
The costs that never make it onto the invoice
Batteries
Rechargeable packs lose capacity. By season two or three you are buying replacements, and you are buying them for every unit, not just the one that failed. Some programs keep a full spare set on hand just to survive a doubleheader Friday.
Repairs and replacements
Headsets live in a bag, in the rain, on a bus, and on the ground. Cables fray. Mic booms snap. Ear cups separate. Out of warranty repair on a single unit is rarely cheap enough to feel good about, which is why most programs just buy another one and keep the broken one for parts.
Coverage gaps you solve by buying more
The system that works fine on the sideline gets thin when your coordinator goes up to the press box. Extenders, higher power base stations, and additional units are all solutions that cost money.
Staff growth
Every system is sized for the staff you had when you bought it. Add two assistants and you are either buying two more units at whatever they cost now, or you are running a staff where two coaches are cut out of the conversation.
Somebody’s time
Charging, labeling, distributing, collecting, testing, and troubleshooting on game night is a job. It usually falls to a young assistant or a manager, and it is unpaid, but it is not free.
The replacement cycle is the real budget line
Hardware has a life span. Whatever you buy this year, you will be having the same conversation with your AD again in three to five years, at a higher price, with a staff that is probably bigger.
That means the honest way to think about a headset system is not “what does it cost,” it is “what does it cost per year, every year, forever.” Take the system price, add the batteries and repairs you will realistically incur, and divide by the number of seasons you expect to get out of it. For most programs, the annual number lands meaningfully higher than they expected, because the sticker price was never the whole thing.
What an app based system costs instead
The Headset App runs on phones your coaches already own and already carry. There is no base station, no belt pack, no charging case, and nothing to replace in year four.
Pricing is per coach:
- $19.99 per user per month
- $99.99 per user per year
Because football runs roughly three to four months, a lot of programs run monthly and only pay during the season. A two coach setup on that pattern comes to about $120 to $160 for the whole season. A single coach on monthly for a four month season is $79.96, which is less than the annual price, so monthly is usually the better math if football is the only sport you are covering. The annual plan wins if your coaches are also on staff in the spring, or if you want the system live for offseason camps, 7 on 7, and spring ball.
Here is the same staff, both ways:
| 6 coach staff |
Traditional system |
The Headset App |
| Year one |
$600 to $800 system purchase |
$599.94 annual, or about $480 on monthly for a four month season |
| Batteries and repairs |
Ongoing, program pays |
None |
| Adding a seventh coach |
Buy another unit |
$99.99 for the year |
| Year four replacement |
Buy the system again |
No hardware to replace |
| Press box to sideline range |
Depends on the system |
Works anywhere there is cell or wifi |
What it looked like for one program
Coach Trevor Hudson at Pine Creek High School put 20 coaches on The Headset App. Outfitting a staff that size with traditional hardware would have run his program roughly $3,000, and that is before the first battery order.
Twenty coaches on the annual plan is $1,999.80, with no hardware to maintain, no charging routine, and no replacement cycle waiting in year four.
Run your own number before you buy
Before you sign off on any system, get answers to these:
- How many coaches actually need to be on the channel, including the press box and the JV staff?
- What does a single out of warranty replacement unit cost, and how many did you replace last season?
- What did you spend on batteries in the last two years?
- How many seasons did your last system last before it was replaced?
- What happens to your cost if you add two coaches next year?
- Who charges, distributes, and troubleshoots on game night, and what is that worth?
Add it up and divide by seasons. That is your real per year cost, and it is the only number worth comparing against anything else.
Try it before you budget for it
You do not have to model this out on paper. Put two coaches on The Headset App for a scrimmage and see how it holds up, then decide what your program actually needs to buy this year.
