Warde Manuel expresses interest in expanding the stadium. . .

[itgoeslike]

by 10,000 seats. From the Hartford Business Journal:

To drive more revenue, UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel wants to add another 10,000 seats to Rentschler Field — home of the university's football team — sometime in the next 10 years, generating an additional $2 million in ticket revenue.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/art...boost-athletics-business#.U15l8NixNi8.twitter

Also, a good read from SNY's John Silver

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/football/stadium-expansion-and-search-for-revenue/

 

[Dooley]

I like Silver's piece. Basically, again, reminds everyone to support football. I found this interesting...

The last NCAA men’s champion not to play major college football was Villanova in 1985. The last non-power conference team to win an NCAA title was UNLV in 1990 (we’ll call UConn a power school since it had access to the BCS this year).

 

[StevieDude]

Actually what about the '99 champion? I don't believe they played major college football?

 

[itgoeslike]

Actually what about the '99 champion? I don't believe they played major college football?

Good point. UConn had agreed to moving to D-1A in 1997 but didn't start playing a partial D-1A schedule until 2000 (I think).

 

[Husky25]

I like Silver's piece. Basically, again, reminds everyone to support football. I found this interesting...

The last NCAA men’s champion not to play major college football was Villanova in 1985. The last non-power conference team to win an NCAA title was UNLV in 1990 (we’ll call UConn a power school since it had access to the BCS this year).

The UNLV stat is correct as stated, but only on a technicality. While the WAC (and later the MWC) are not "power" conferences, they are D1A (or FBS). By definition, UConn was the last school to win the Men's championship and not also sponsor a Div. 1A/FBS football team. Villanova was the last school to win a Men's basketball championship and play in a conference that did not sponsor D1A/FBS football.

 

[jostar1]

HFD has a plan.
Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
As fans we have talked about expanding to 50k a lot. This was the first public mention of it and it was very directed to a audience

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
In 2018 the rent can be sold to uconn by the state if uconn wants to purchase it. Also, naming rights are legal.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
What warde is laying ground for is for the naming rights to be sold for a 15-30 yr deal.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
That $ will be paid mostly up front as part of a good deal for both sides. Uconn then takes that money and expands to 50k asap

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Why 10 years? Because it tells you where we are heading. Takes time. I get it. Start beating the drum now. Why?

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Because several ct based companies would love to have its name on uconns stadium. Bidding war starts to day.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Then some political pressures. And word of mouth in high circles starts flying around.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
The b1g already knows this plan. Susan and warde have it mapped out to a degree. This is not for forums, this is real in convo

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
The next step is to beat this drum and to come out with a pic or 2 of what 50k would look like

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
We need a fan base rally cry. That grass roots goes door to door. Small business, neighbors, softball teams. Everything. It's now or never

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
50k in 2018 or bust. This is the movement. #HuskyUp

 

[Fishy]

The Rent has to be named Rentschler Field until 2018.

After 2018, naming rights can be sold by the state. The state would share the revenue with UConn, but UConn does not control the rights in any sense.

However, there are conditions - UTC has the right of first refusal on naming rights and if they opt not to purchase naming rights, they do hold the right to reject any proposed stadium names within reason. (It would also have to include the words 'at Renschler Field' in the name.)

UConn is not buying the Rent in 2018 either - I can't think of a single reason why they would want to. Let the state deal with it...UConn can pay their rent per game and offset a good amount of it with the naming deal.

Really encouraged by seeing Warde and Global bring the 50,000 expansion into the discussion.

 

[sportsart]

"The Boneyard at Renschler Field". Has a nice ring to it. I'm told there are some pretty wealthy people who hang out here. Let's do it.

 

[Marty Jackson]

does adding 10K seats automatically add $2M of revenue.
doesn't there have to be an underlying assumption that the added 10K seats would be sold?

totally get the fact that you need to start the discussion somewhere, but are we at that point now?

 

[itgoeslike]

"The Boneyard at Renschler Field". Has a nice ring to it. I'm told there are some pretty wealthy people who hang out here. Let's do it.

We would have to be wealthy or destitute. How else could we afford to burn some much time on this board. . .

 

[itgoeslike]

does adding 10K seats automatically add $2M of revenue.
doesn't there have to be an underlying assumption that the added 10K seats would be sold?

totally get the fact that you need to start the discussion somewhere, but are we at that point now?

Like Fishy eluded, it's think it could be significant that it was mentioned publicly. 6 games x 10,000 x $33.33 avg. cost per ticket works out to be $2M. The only teams that would generate that kind of attention would be Michigan (as we saw), Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin. . .

 

[Duncan Idaho]

HFD has a plan.
Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
As fans we have talked about expanding to 50k a lot. This was the first public mention of it and it was very directed to a audience

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
In 2018 the rent can be sold to uconn by the state if uconn wants to purchase it. Also, naming rights are legal.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
What warde is laying ground for is for the naming rights to be sold for a 15-30 yr deal.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
That $ will be paid mostly up front as part of a good deal for both sides. Uconn then takes that money and expands to 50k asap

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Why 10 years? Because it tells you where we are heading. Takes time. I get it. Start beating the drum now. Why?

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Because several ct based companies would love to have its name on uconns stadium. Bidding war starts to ing day.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
Then some political pressures. And word of mouth in high circles starts flying around.

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
The b1g already knows this plan. Susan and warde have it mapped out to a degree. This is not for forums, this is real in convo

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
The next step is to beat this drum and to come out with a pic or 2 of what 50k would look like

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
We need a fan base rally cry. That grass roots goes door to door. Small business, neighbors, softball teams. Everything. It's now or never

Dream B1G or Go Home@B1GConn · 4h
50k in 2018 or bust. This is the movement. #HuskyUp

Dan can start by buying a ticket.

 

[Skiblets]

Like Fishy eluded, it's think it could be significant that it was mentioned publicly. 6 games x 10,000 x $33.33 avg. cost per ticket works out to be $2M. The only teams that would generate that kind of attention would be Michigan (as we saw), Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin. . .

Michigan St, Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa

 

[itgoeslike]

Michigan St, Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa

I could see Michigan State. Perhaps Maryland and Rutgers over time. Iowa has a big fan following, but not sure what their presence is in the Northeast. I could have added Nebraska. Their fans would travel pretty much anywhere to watch a game.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Naming rights... Jeez, the GE Aerospace Division at Rentschler Field? I doubt UTC would like that...!

 

[whaler11]

"The Boneyard at Renschler Field". Has a nice ring to it. I'm told there are some pretty wealthy people who hang out here. Let's do it.

It's impressive that 3 posts after 10 tweets from HFD you are still the biggest tool on the page. Well done.

 

[MSNDfan]

by 10,000 seats. From the Hartford Business Journal:

To drive more revenue, UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel wants to add another 10,000 seats to Rentschler Field — home of the university's football team — sometime in the next 10 years, generating an additional $2 million in ticket revenue.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/art...boost-athletics-business#.U15l8NixNi8.twitter

Also, a good read from SNY's John Silver

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/football/stadium-expansion-and-search-for-revenue/

Didn't I read an article linked on this board that said UConn averaged fewer than 23,000 last year (in the seats, with 30,000 or so average tickets sold)?

If you can't fill 40,000 all the time, isn't paying a small fortune to expand to 50,000 economics so bad that only the Federal Government and Maryland's athletics department would go for it?

Is that the plan? Be as fiscally irresponsible and incompetent as Maryland to make the BeeOneGee hot for you?

 

[Pudge]

Didn't I read an article linked on this board that said UConn averaged fewer than 23,000 last year (in the seats, with 30,000 or so average tickets sold)?

If you can't fill 40,000 all the time, isn't paying a small fortune to expand to 50,000 economics so bad that only the Federal Government and Maryland's athletics department would go for it?

Is that the plan? Be as fiscally irresponsible and incompetent as Maryland to make the BeeOneGee hot for you?

We regularly sold our 40K. Then we Pasqualoni'd. I give us a mulligan. One good Diaco can return the enthusiasm.

 

[Fishy]

Didn't I read an article linked on this board that said UConn averaged fewer than 23,000 last year (in the seats, with 30,000 or so average tickets sold)?

If you can't fill 40,000 all the time, isn't paying a small fortune to expand to 50,000 economics so bad that only the Federal Government and Maryland's athletics department would go for it?

Is that the plan? Be as fiscally irresponsible and incompetent as Maryland to make the BeeOneGee hot for you?

F--- off and die.

Seriously, what a bag.

I'm inviting you to go --- away before we actually make you go --- away.

 

[BlueMAB]

Didn't I read an article linked on this board that said UConn averaged fewer than 23,000 last year (in the seats, with 30,000 or so average tickets sold)?

If you can't fill 40,000 all the time, isn't paying a small fortune to expand to 50,000 economics so bad that only the Federal Government and Maryland's athletics department would go for it?

Is that the plan? Be as fiscally irresponsible and incompetent as Maryland to make the BeeOneGee hot for you?

You're either an educated or an ignorant . Either way the common denominator is .

 

[ConnHuskBask]

$33.33 per ticket seems high considering what would be better seats go for $25 a game with "The Top of The Rent" promotion.

Oh yeah, there's the matter of them selling those tickets.

Look, I'm absolutely all for this if it doesn't take money away from the other resources in the AD. I just don't see how this is going to not going to cost a ton of money and end up not paying for itself.

 

[BlueMAB]

$33.33 per ticket seems high considering what would be better seats go for $25 a game with "The Top of The Rent" promotion.

Oh yeah, there's the matter of them selling those tickets.

Look, I'm absolutely all for this if it doesn't take money away from the other resources in the AD. I just don't see how this is going to not going to cost a ton of money and end up not paying for itself.

The naming rights could pay for a substantial amount of the cost. We need the additional seats to show the commitment to football. Without an invite there won't be any money for anything else anyway. You have to spend money to make money.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The naming rights could pay for a substantial amount of the cost. We need the additional seats to show the commitment to football. Without an invite there won't be any money for anything else anyway. You have to spend money to make money.

I can appreciate the stance that stadium expansion is basically a big risk that's essentially a lottery ticket.

I think the time to expand would've been around 2007, and I don't buy into the ideathat because it was once a good idea it will always be a good idea.

At the end of the day, I don't see how the financials work but I guess as you say were almost forced to take an enormous risk

 

[WestHartHusk]

It's too bad they couldn't get a concession on the naming rights out of UTC when the state just forked over $400M to them this week.

 

[BlueMAB]

I can appreciate the stance that stadium expansion is basically a big risk that's essentially a lottery ticket.

I think the time to expand would've been around 2007, and I don't buy into the ideathat because it was once a good idea it will always be a good idea.

At the end of the day, I don't see how the financials work but I guess as you say were almost forced to take an enormous risk

We don't know the exact cost or the revenue for the naming rights, so we don't know the financials. We do know that a ticket to the B1G is worth somewhere around $40 million more a year than we are getting now.

Calling it a lottery ticket is BS. UConn is constantly mentioned as a potential candidate and there is one thing alone holding us back. This is a major step toward resolving that.