527 replies to this topic

[jednc]

Urbanity, on 25 September 2010 - 07:29 AM, said:

Everyone has probably already seen the renderings for the new stadium by now, but I noticed a link to them wasn't yet posted in the thread.

http://gmine.blogspo...renderings.html

Thanks for posting. I had briefly seen these renderings on the news (well, one of them) but had not had the time to go digging for them. I have mixed feelings about the project as laid out on the link. I'm excited UNC-Charlotte is getting football. I also realize they can't build everything they want at once. I do wish the stadium was going to include lights and a video scoreboard from the beginning. I completely understand the decision to build it first to hold 15K with the possibility of expansion to 40 or 60K later. BUT, the renderings of the 15K size do look a little underwhelming. I'm not too sure about the architecture of the project either. I can't say really what I'd rather see, but again, it's a little underwhelming. I'm sure the first time I see it in person, I'll get over any concerns. I can't wait until 8/31/13.


I'd be interested to see what others with some architechtural credentials think of this stadium. I'll be honest, I think I'd like to see some glass and perhaps a more modern look (regardless of the current campus push for classical architechture).

[rworkman09]

The only problem with glass and modern is they look like hell in 20 years and people clamor for them to be replaced. This certainly isn't the most outstanding architectural structure, but it blends with the research institute at least.

The no lights is no big deal. Ohio State and many of your other older stadiums do not have lights either. They simply bring in temporary lights whenever they have to play a night game.

One positive about the 15,300 seat capacity setup is that there is a lot of space left in the area above the seats. This will allow the school to bring in temporary bleachers if demand warrants it. Duke did this last week against Alabama and increased their capacity by 4,00. With abundant space all around the horseshoe shape, it wouldn't surprise me if Charlotte could get it's stadium capacity up to 22-25000 before expansion.

If Old Dominion can average 20,000 at their place, there is no reason Charlotte can't do the same or better. Both schools are in similar standing in their respective states, but Charlotte has the advantage of being located in a larger city that 40,000 alumni call home.

[rworkman09]

Charlotte has hired former DC from Wake Forest, Brad Lambert as head coach and former OC Jeff Mullen from WVU as OC.

Also, per the beat writer for UNCW, Charlotte was offered a full membership for the Colonial Athletic Association, but turned it down over the weekend.

[AuLukey]

monsoon, on 28 June 2006 - 05:53 AM, said:

It's not a question of "can".   Most people in Charlotte don't see the point in building a football team at UNCC.

Just fyi, the ground breaking ceremony for the stadium was today.  Sadly, I was at work so I couldn't attend.

[rworkman09]

aussie luke, on 28 April 2011 - 05:37 PM, said:

Just fyi, the ground breaking ceremony for the stadium was today.  Sadly, I was at work so I couldn't attend.

I couldn't make it either since I now live in DC, but I had many friends that went. There was a good crowd of over 3,000. Not bad.

[NLP]

monsoon, where you at?  Don't you want to talk Charlotte Football?

[AuLukey]

NLP, on 18 May 2011 - 08:44 AM, said:

monsoon, where you at?  Don't you want to talk Charlotte Football?

my thoughts exactly!  

[rworkman09]

It was announced today that the football field (not stadium) will be named McColl-Richardson field.

In his speech, McColl says this:

Quote

UNCClt_News: McColl says he and Richardson haven't failed at much and this 49er Fball will be no exception.

Very excited to see two of the most influential figures in Charlotte get involved in the program!

[dbull75]

^Great news. I was hoping some influential Charlottean would step up. Sounds like we got just that.

[rworkman09]

Hoping we get a corporate donation for Stadium naming rights. Lowes or Wells Fargo would be nice. The Lowes CEO is a Charlotte graduate and Wells Fargo may be looking to put its name on some structures in Charlotte with the recent change over.

[ah59396]

^^^^^^^^^

You WANT the stadium to have a corporate name??  Man, I couldn't disagree more.  I long for the days when stadiums just kept their given names.  College in paticular still holds on to this tradition, Charlotte would be one of a small few that would have a corproate entity as it's title if it goes in that direction.

That being said, I'll take Cleveland Municipal Stadium, The Boston Garden and Candlestick Park over the crap they have out there now.

[rworkman09]

$ for the school. $5 million to be exact.

The naming rights to the stadium are only for 10 years. I doubt an individual would donate to have their name on the stadium for only 10 years.

I'll take donations from anyone, just can't imagine an individual would sign up for that deal.

[ah59396]

As an App grad, I'd upgrade my donation in a heartbeat to prevent renaming Kidd Brewer Stadium if we needed money.  But I suppose if the UNCC football is brand new, it's not like they are dumping tradition for dollars.  Just getting dollars for the sake of it.

[tozmervo]

As much as UNCC already struggles with it's identity, a corporate stadium name would be tragic.

(I, for one, would disown Tennessee if Neyland Stadium sold naming rights)

[rworkman09]

ah59396, on 04 November 2011 - 12:19 PM, said:

As an App grad, I'd upgrade my donation in a heartbeat to prevent renaming Kidd Brewer Stadium if we needed money.  But I suppose if the UNCC football is brand new, it's not like they are dumping tradition for dollars.  Just getting dollars for the sake of it.

Everything in the stadium is up for naming rights pretty much. The field house as a price of $2.5 million and the stadium is $5. I believe the press box and other more minor areas are up for naming as well.

Someone that has proven to be in the know over at the 49ers board has said that Jerry and Hugh have taken this on as a personal project and their involvement will go beyond this initial donation. They want it to be successful.

[teshadoh]

I wouldn't be surprised if there will be several more new FBS teams in the next 10 years that were previous commuter colleges without football that transitioned into major urban universities.  UT San Antonio is one relatively new FCS team that will play FBS next year, as I noted years ago the college I went to Georgia State is now playing FCS & could be planning on a jump to FBS in the next several years.  One thing that does seem to be common is that for these large universities, it doesn't matter at all if they are necessarily successful in FCS to jump to FBS, but they have deep financial pockets & can fill a 15-20k stadium.

[ah59396]

^
As an avid App supporter, I can assure you the shift is coming.  I've heard quite a bit of blabbering around the ASU message boards about the "big move".  I could live w/out seeing App in the Sunbelt due to the match-ups and with the potential for ECU heading to the Big East, CUSA is less appealing.

The point of all this is what I would really like to see...  App, UNCC, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and company all forming a new FBS conference.  Add in Old Dominion, James Madison, Nova if they don't go Big East, Richmond and maybe a Sunbelt team or two (think MTSU, EKU or Troy) and I think you have a very nice regional conference that would include immediate rivalries within driving distance (which I believe is the key to a great conference).  Also would be a nice basketball conference (Charlotte, ODU, Richmond and Nova being the flagships).

It's a pipe dream, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.

Edited by ah59396, 05 November 2011 - 01:07 PM.

[rworkman09]

ah59396, on 05 November 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

^
As an avid App supporter, I can assure you the shift is coming.  I've heard quite a bit of blabbering around the ASU message boards about the "big move".  I could live w/out seeing App in the Sunbelt due to the match-ups and with the potential for ECU heading to the Big East, CUSA is less appealing.

The point of all this is what I would really like to see...  App, UNCC, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and company all forming a new FBS conference.  Add in Old Dominion, James Madison, Nova if they don't go Big East, Richmond and maybe a Sunbelt team or two (think MTSU, EKU or Troy) and I think you have a very nice regional conference that would include immediate rivalries within driving distance (which I believe is the key to a great conference).  Also would be a nice basketball conference (Charlotte, ODU, Richmond and Nova being the flagships).

It's a pipe dream, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.

I want some teams in there with basketball success. I'm personally not a big college football fan. Hard to be when the average margin of victory for D1 football is 31 points.

Richmond and Nova cannot support a D1 team. ECU is not getting into the Big East. Contrary to what ECU supporters will have you believe, they're not a good program. They have 4 winning seasons in 10 years. 4. Other than baseball, their other sports teams are terrible. They're in a crappy town with no TV market. They have applied to the Big East 27 times! They've been passed on 27 times!

I'm hoping Temple and Memphis do not make it into the Big East and UTEP jumps to the Mountain West Conference. Would love to see Charlotte, App, Temple, and ODU get an invite to CUSA. That league becomes more East Coast centric and adds two quality basketball programs in Temple and ODU and another (Charlotte) that performed very well while previously in CUSA. App brings attendance that exceeds the conference average and provides close by rivals for Charlotte and ECU.

That is likely just a pipe dream as well, but it'd be a good basketball conference and decent for football.

[rworkman09]

Charlotte will be going back to Conference USA in 2013.

Rumors out there that the stadium will be expanded quicker than anticipated.

We have expansion to 40,000 in the budget for 2014, but temporary seats may be introduced to bring capacity to 25,000 until a permanent structure is completed.

[ah59396]

They do realize they actually need people to sit in the stands first right?  UCF, Houston and ECU are the only 3 teams in that conference that average over 30k, and about half the conference averages 20k or less a game.  I think it'd be a lot better for the school to pack out a 15k field for 3-5 years as opposed to building for 40k and having 50% capacity...