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On Campus Stadium


memp600

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Some images of a proposed site Harold Byrd shows on the local news. This rendering is laid onto the UofM Masterplan so much of the land west of Patterson looks different than it does currently.

South of the tracks, east of patterson.

OnCampus1.jpg

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North of the tracks, west of patterson.

Capture10-11-2007-74121AM.jpg

I think both of these fit in well with the masterplan.

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Many academic programs seem to have a lot invested in working with the neighborhoods in the University District Initiative. I figure that investment and associated goodwill will go down the tubes once the University starts "acquiring" land for a use the neighborhoods don't want.

Given the University's ability to use eminent domain, however, I don't doubt that they can do it.

It will be a huge mistake for the University. Expending the massive resources (not all financial) will make all too clear to professors, researchers, graduate students, research foundations and adjoining neighborhoods that U of M wants to be #1, but not in research or education.

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Have you looked at the University's master plan? There are at least three facilities with the funding already approved ( law, nursing, and music ). They are already committed to expanding west of Patterson.

They have made it clear that the UofM wants to be a quality research university. Dr. Raines talks about this every time I see a statement from her.

I don't think committing to football sends a message that the university isn't committed to academics. Stanford just spent $85M on their stadium, are they not committed to the academic side? It is not an either or proposition. It's not like this money would be spent on academics if it was not going into the stadium. Companies don't commit 15M for the naming rights to a history building. Alumni don't buy personal seat licenses for a new on campus music building. The argument that it is either academics or athletics is a flawed argument.

The new stadium can help all areas of the university in a very important way. The biggest problem that the UofM has is the alumni disconnect. You graduate and then you never return to campus. Football can bring people back to campus. Alumni who return to campus are more connected, and that leads to a larger alumni association and more giving. If there was an OCS last year it would have brought over 200,000 visitors to the campus, the year before that it would have brought 280,000. This is good for the university, and what is good for the university is good for the entire university neighborhood.

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It's definitely not an either/or situation, but it is a priority situation.

Stanford spent $85 million dollars for renovated stadium in 2005. In 2002-2003, Stanford had $480 million dollars in donations. So Stanford spent 1/6 the giving of their donations from 3 years before (when Silicon Valley was still coming out of the dot-com bust) on their renovated stadium. The price tag for a new OCS at U of M will probably swallow multiple years of giving for U of M. I agree that donated money that doesn't go to a new stadium won't necessarily go to academics. But I do think state money will have to be diverted from academics to a stadium if donors can't pick up the whole tab. And the focus of the university will shift to fundraising for a non-academic cause, and the battles they will have with their former allies, the neighborhoods.

Of course it will still have academics, but will probably disappoint those interested in its primary focus as a forward-thinking research university.

By the way, the CA had a brief mention this morning of an upcoming University District meeting:

It might be interesting to attend to see how strong, or overstated, the OCS opposition is.

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I think both parties can be satisfied and what I mean by that is location. I have seen many of the possible locations for the planned OCS and the one that I think is best is the one south of the railroad tracks boarding highland. That location does not effect Dr. Raines masterplan for the University and it sits on top of property that has a couple of vacant houses and vacant commerical buildings. Although some apartments and houses that are occupied would have to be torn down or bought out. But that area is a haven for drunks, bums, and dealers.

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I attended the Highland Development meeting the other night, and the OCS wasn't really mentioned, with the exception of a couple of "no stadium" comments made by a couple of people.

My opinion is that the majority of the neighbors in that area are not fully aware of what type of situation an OCS would create in their area. They talk about lighting pollution, parking, traffic, etc., but the fact of the matter is, those factors would affect them 7, maybe 8 days out of the year, tops.

In addition, I think many of them assume their property values will drop, either by taking Melissa Pearce's e-mail as fact, or by picturing the Fairgrounds, part II. Neither of those is the case. I currently live in the area directly behind Tobey Field, and am affected by tailgating & football games each weekend they're in town. Our property values are going UP, as is Cooper-Young's. The only area in question is the Beltline, and it was in decline before the Liberty Bowl even existed.

The neighbors should be picturing something more along the lines of AutoZone Park or FedEx Forum, things that tie in with the area...this isn't going to be about creating a new concrete jungle.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looking more and more like this will have to be privately funded. Memphis politics are just way to messed up. Plus, with the status of our schools I just don't feel like a stadium would be very good for anyone but a few rich folk. I would love to see a new stadium, and I hope the school and some old boosters will find a way to make it happen. Just don't see Memphis pitching in on this, nor does it need to. Not with a perfectly fine 65,000 seat stadium that just needs some paint, new locker rooms and media center.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Looking more and more like this will have to be privately funded. Memphis politics are just way to messed up. Plus, with the status of our schools I just don't feel like a stadium would be very good for anyone but a few rich folk. I would love to see a new stadium, and I hope the school and some old boosters will find a way to make it happen. Just don't see Memphis pitching in on this, nor does it need to. Not with a perfectly fine 65,000 seat stadium that just needs some paint, new locker rooms and media center.
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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Well, the Feasibility Study is out. What does everybody think?

As a financial analyst by trade, I have to be skeptical of the revenues streams. These consultants can be awfully optimistic about those things. I'm trying to figure out where the $14M per year of revenue would come from.

Think about it...if you sold out a 40,000 seat stadium six times per year with an average ticket price of $25, your only talking about $6M. I realize that you can get lots of revenue from skyboxes, concessions, parking and so forth, but it's hard to believe that revenues from everything else could actually exceed general ticket revenue. And not all of that ticket revenue is incremental...they'll already getting revenue from ticket sales, and yet the football program loses money!

An on-campus stadium would be a great addition to the University, but is is really financially feasible?

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For sure. I've even heard some say that we should build it for a possible New Orleans Saints relocation. THat would be too risky. If the Saints come, then fine, let the City build the stadium after they say they'll come. But leave the UofM to themselves and let them build a nice 35,000 seat stadium for about 50 mil. I would even like to see a 20,000 seat on campus b'ball stadium that the men and women could share, possibly on the same site as the field house is on now.

Some day, when I rule Memphis, I'll donate 100 mil to the university like that Nike guy did for Oregon. :-)

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