Fully Cashless: How Gardner Edgerton Left Cash Behind with Bound
"The person who runs our concession stands told me, 'Let's just stay cash.' After we started with Bound, she said, 'I don't want to take cash anymore. I just want to do the digital.'"
Jason Radel | Gardner Edgerton High School Activites Director
Disconnected systems.
Before Bound, Jason Radel was managing Gardner-Edgerton's operations across a stack of disconnected tools — GoFan for ticketing, Arbiter, rSchoolToday, NFHS Network for streaming, and a layer of Google Docs and Sheets holding the rest together. Ticketing was partially online, but a large share of fans still paid cash at the gate. Concessions took cash only.
When Gardner-Edgerton moved to Bound at the start of the year, ticketing came online immediately. Concessions did too — the first time the school had ever accepted card payment at the stand. The difference showed up fast, and it came from an unexpected place: the staff member most resistant to the change became the one pushing to eliminate cash entirely.
Jason Radel
Athletic Director, Gardner Edgerton High School
The case Jason makes for cashless ticketing is primarily about security. No workers sitting at gates with large amounts of cash. No SROs escorting deposits. No concerns about money going missing from tills. Staffing also got easier — students can run a payment device, which widens the pool of people who can work an event. And because the school passes on taxes and fees rather than absorbing them, Gardner Edgerton keeps the full ticket price instead of paying taxes on the back end.
"You go to a Royals game, you go to a Chiefs game — you're not paying cash. I think that's just become a thing."
The same infrastructure has extended beyond athletics — Gardner-Edgerton ran prom fully digital for the first time and posted its highest revenue for the event since Jason arrived at the high school in 2015. Meanwhile, adoption has spread across the league: every school in the conference now uses Bound for scheduling, and Jason notes that districts across Kansas have been making the same move. For his part, the direction is settled.
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Bound has helped Jason...
Operate Cashless
By handling both ticketing and concessions in one system, Bound gave Gardner Edgerton a path to eliminating cash entirely — a move no other school in their area has made.
Reduce Risk
By removing cash from gates and concession stands, Bound has eliminated the security concerns, staffing constraints, and handling exposure that came with cash operations.
Keep More Revenue
By passing taxes and fees through at the point of sale, Bound has allowed Gardner Edgerton to retain the full ticket price rather than absorbing those costs on the back end.
