Warde on Record: 10,000 More Seats (Hartford Business Journal)

[rich1122]

Get 3

Debbie: This trend has been going on across the country.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/02/17/Colleges/Attendance.aspx

Rutgers expanded, then got the invite. Louisville expanded, then got the invite. TCU expanded, then got the invite first from the Big East, then Big 12. Of course there were other factors, but name one school that got an invite to a P5 conference and THEN upgraded.

In 2012 RU had avg attendance of almost 50K while we had attendance of 35K. The last year of PP was even worse. In 2013 RU was 47K and UCONN 31K. If we get 28K ST this year then I say we have to begin to think about it. Otherwise we just have to wait for the fan momentum.

 

[BlueMAB]

Get 3

In 2012 RU had avg attendance of almost 50K while we had attendance of 35K. The last year of PP was even worse. In 2013 RU was 47K and UCONN 31K. If we get 28K ST this year then I say we have to begin to think about it. Otherwise we just have to wait for the fan momentum.

What would their attendance have been if they didn't upgrade the stadium in 2009?

 

[BlueMAB]

You're wrong for disagreeing with Duncan, and the only real thing to argue there is the semantics of it. That's what I pointed out. UCONN is actually the example you asked for when you wrote the statement including: "name one." in a post above. We are actually the ONLY one to ever make the move(s) that we did.

I write my history lessons repeatedly most for the continuing stream of new readers this website generates to spread the word about what UCONN really is.

I have been a vocal proponent of expanding the stadium for many years. The stadium was initially designed for a 50k capacity, and I was against the two stage building project that was eventually arrived it, I wanted it built all at once - for exactly the reasons we have not yet expanded. As a tenant and not an owner, UCONN doesn't actually make the call on such a matter. The ideal circumstances to expand and build out to the originally designed specs, and complete the project - was in 2008-2009 fiscally, with momentum of the program and ticket sales. By then, Lew Perkins was 4 years removed, and Hathaway/Austin et.al. were sitting around with their thumbs in the bunghole.

As it is now, Rentschler field in 2014, remains an uncompleted state construction project that is over a decade old now. It's not a matter of expansion yet - semantics really, and truthfully as well - as it is completing the originally designed structure.

And you are completely mistaken if you think, that UCONN does not need to have a proper 'alignment' of success, ticket sales, revenue generation through hard cash means, to get the momentum going necessary for the actual decision makers involved - to get the stadium completed.

IF UCONN owned the facility, I believe it would have been completed and finished out to 50,000 at least before the 2013 season and the Michigan game. It would definitely be in the process of completion under the current president/AD leadership of the school. But we don't own it. So we have to sell completing the project to the state, and the management contractors of the facility.

The way that you continue to point out that the Big East was the only BCS conference that actually wanted 1AA teams to upgrade and join...

and you STILL don't get the point about the way the B1G operates is mind-numbing.

I said P5 conferences for a reason. The Big East no longer exists for a reason. That you guys insist UConn got an invite to a P5 conference isn't semantics. It's the point you're missing. The Big East had a small time mind set. UConn had a small time mindset. The programs that have proven themselves to behave like the big boys, are sitting with the big boys. If we want a seat at that table we have to drag this state there, not pray at the altar of Diaco. We can't afford to wait on a bunch of fair-weather, front-running fans to start buying season tickets when they can get tickets to for $20 in the parking lot.

We've shown the ability to sell out the big games. We've shown that when we have a winning team, we'll sell out more than half our games. We have to assume we're going to have a winning team, that's always the goal, isn't it? While Diaco starts winning games, we have to control the narrative that we must expand to survive. If you aren't growing, you're dying. If we get ourselves in a B1G conference, the ticket sales will follow. Just like they did when we upgraded from Memorial to the Rent.

 

[rich1122]

What would their attendance have been if they didn't upgrade the stadium in 2009?

43K I checked.

So you guys mean to tell me that we are going to go from 31K to 50K where the biggest game of the year had 50% of the opposing team's fans. Show me the money. 28K ST this year and I am all in, otherwise I do not trust our fan base.

Don't take me wrong guys. I have never missed a Home Game and I am hoping every second that I am wrong, but it will take 5 years to get to another conference.

 

[BlueMAB]

43K I checked.

So you guys mean to tell me that we are going to go from 31K to 50K where the biggest game of the year had 50% of the opposing team's fans. Show me the money. 28K ST this year and I am all in, otherwise I do not trust our fan base.

Don't take me wrong guys. I have never missed a Home Game and I am hoping every second that I am wrong, but it will take 5 years to get to another conference.

1) you checked, and still miss the point. Had they not expanded, that's 7k, and 4k tickets they would have left on the table the last two years.
2) Nobody said we were going to go from 31 to 50k. Expansion is not done for what happens the year after it's completed. It's for what will happen for the few decades after it's been completed.
3) No way Michigan had 50% of the fans there, I was there too, you're full of it. You're also ignoring the 38 other sellouts. Did all of those teams fill half the stadium too?
4) Yes, it will likely take 3-5 years to get to another conference. Which is why you start beating the drum for expansion now. We already waited too long, waiting again could be the nail in the coffin. If the AD and Pres don't push expansion, they aren't doing everything they can to save the program. That's not hyperbole (unlike your Michigan attendance comment) that's the truth.

Thank God our AD doesn't share this small time thinking.

 

[Dooley]

At the very least, I think the UCONN AD needs to send the message that our stadium was designed and built to get to a minimum of 50,000. Hire a sketch artist and come up with a few drawings of what an expanded stadium could look like. We need to make sure that it is crystal friggin' clear that our football stadium can easily and quickly be expanded.

I'd prefer the proactive approach too and get the stadium to 60K right now. If UCONN never gets a P5 invite, then a bigger stadium would help recruiting and help OOC scheduling. Curtain the upper deck off like Oakland A's baseball for games against Memphis and Tulane and shut down concessions to reduce game by game overhead. Only open it for the "big" games. Even if all the seats aren't sold, 43,000 is still better than 40,000. But I'd think that expanding the football stadium now would send quite a message to everybody who views UCONN as not being interested in football. UCONN can do both: be an elite basketball program AND be competitive in football.

 

[BlueDogs]

43K I checked.

So you guys mean to tell me that we are going to go from 31K to 50K where the biggest game of the year had 50% of the opposing team's fans. Show me the money. 28K ST this year and I am all in, otherwise I do not trust our fan base.

Don't take me wrong guys. I have never missed a Home Game and I am hoping every second that I am wrong, but it will take 5 years to get to another conference.

Come on. If you put good opponents on the field fans come in droves. There have been plenty of games where the place has been packed to the gills - West Virginia, Michigan, BC, Pitt, etc.. What doesn't get great pull is Buffalo, Stony Brook, etc...

1) you checked, and still miss the point. Had they not expanded, that's 7k, and 4k tickets they would have left on the table the last two years.
2) Nobody said we were going to go from 31 to 50k. Expansion is not done for what happens the year after it's completed. It's for what will happen for the few decades after it's been completed.
3) No way Michigan had 50% of the fans there, I was there too, you're full of it. You're also ignoring the 38 other sellouts. Did all of those teams fill half the stadium too?
4) Yes, it will likely take 3-5 years to get to another conference. Which is why you start beating the drum for expansion now. We already waited too long, waiting again could be the nail in the coffin. If the AD and Pres don't push expansion, they aren't doing everything they can to save the program. That's not hyperbole (unlike your Michigan attendance comment) that's the truth.

Thank God our AD doesn't share this small time thinking.

Ill add this. You can check our official attendance history and you can see pre the PP nightmare, the Rent was more than capable of filling to capacity at 40K. The two keys are putting a viable product on the field and scheduling enough big boys that people come out for the season and stay interested. We had some pretty decent name teams at the Rent in the past. There is no question UConn football can support a 5oK stadium. Its time to act BIG!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Expanding a stadium is like planting a tree.

The best time to it was 10 years ago.

Second best time to do it is today.

With expansion you are either early to need or late to need. And late to need can't ever be backfilled.

Look at the model of Lville, Rutgers, UCF and most others. Build it early, accept some empty and discounted (free) tickets and be ready for demand when it catches up.

 

[Dooley]

Expanding a stadium is like planting a tree.

The best time to it was 10 years ago.

Second best time to do it is today.

With expansion you are either early to need or late to need. And late to need can't ever be backfilled.

Look at the model of Lville, Rutgers, UCF and most others. Build it early, accept some empty and discounted (free) tickets and be ready for demand when it catches up.

Spot on Chin. You don't expand expecting 50-60,000 sellouts right away. Sure, it would be nice. But you expand to show that you are confident in your program's ability to grow.

 

[rich1122]

1) you checked, and still miss the point. Had they not expanded, that's 7k, and 4k tickets they would have left on the table the last two years.
2) Nobody said we were going to go from 31 to 50k. Expansion is not done for what happens the year after it's completed. It's for what will happen for the few decades after it's been completed.
3) No way Michigan had 50% of the fans there, I was there too, you're full of it. You're also ignoring the 38 other sellouts. Did all of those teams fill half the stadium too?
4) Yes, it will likely take 3-5 years to get to another conference. Which is why you start beating the drum for expansion now. We already waited too long, waiting again could be the nail in the coffin. If the AD and Pres don't push expansion, they aren't doing everything they can to save the program. That's not hyperbole (unlike your Michigan attendance comment) that's the truth.

Thank God our AD doesn't share this small time thinking.

Reality check. August 30th.

 

[BlueMAB]

Reality check. August 30th.

Obtuse, stupid, short-sighted, or all of the above?

 

[rich1122]

Obtuse, stupid, short-sighted, or all of the above?

Reality check . August 30th. I hope the landing is not too hard.

This is not a movie. If you build it they will come.

 

[BlueMAB]

Anybody here know how many season ticket holders we had here before building the Rent? Carl must.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Expanding a stadium is like planting a tree.

The best time to it was 10 years ago.

Second best time to do it is today.

With expansion you are either early to need or late to need. And late to need can't ever be backfilled.

Look at the model of Lville, Rutgers, UCF and most others. Build it early, accept some empty and discounted (free) tickets and be ready for demand when it catches up.

There really is no other way of looking at this. Note to UConn and Connecticut fans . . . stop with the idea that its OK being college football's equivalent of "the world's tallest midget".

 

[Carl Spackler]

Anybody here know how many season ticket holders we had here before building the Rent? Carl must.

Not as many as we have now.

 

[Dooley]

In addition to the expansion, I hope UCONN considers a cover for the fans like the new Atlanta Braves stadium...

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24562200/braves-unveil-first-rendering-of-new-ballpark

 

[upstater]

In addition to the expansion, I hope UCONN considers a cover for the fans like the new Atlanta Braves stadium...

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24562200/braves-unveil-first-rendering-of-new-ballpark

A cover in Connecticut would be worse weather-wise since most games are played in the day, and this would block out the sun.

The best thing for the conference is for the southern schools to get more late in the season games and for Cincy, Temple and UConn to get early season games. For some reasons, the AAC scheduler has things reversed. It could be UConn asked for things this way, so the southern boys can visit during the cold weather.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Look, I've been lukewarm on expanding the stadium as I think money could be better spent elsewhere but I also think at this point maybe we go all in and just do it.

That being said, " the build it and they will come" mantra is about the dumbest thing on here besides going Indy.

Also, comparing season ticket bases as a D1AA/ transitioning FBS school playing at memorial stadium vs playing legitimate BCS football in a 40,000 seat stadium is pretty close in terms of flawed logic.

I mean really. Apples to oranges doesn't even do that parallel justice.

 

[SubbaBub]

The two keys are putting a viable product on the field and scheduling enough big boys that people come out for the season and stay interested. We had some pretty decent name teams at the Rent in the past. There is no question UConn football can support a 5oK stadium. Its time to act BIG!

Ding.

 

[Dooley]

I don't want to speak for others, but I am for expanding the stadium now. Not because I think we are going to suddenly sell 55k tickets, but because interest rates are low and that kind of move shows serious commitment to football.

UCONN's potential role in a P5 conference is ELITE basketball and competitive football. Our football program will never achieve Alabama stature, but then again, neither will our other northeastern rivals. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on the athletic department that has a long history of success in most sports. That AD is very clearly UCONN.

Expanding the Rent now is the equivalent of a company CEO purchasing millions of dollars of his/her company's own shares at a time that they feel the stock price is undervalued. Bet on yourself, no one else. I am completely confident in our schools ability to grow programs. So should UCONN.

 

[Dooley]

A cover in Connecticut would be worse weather-wise since most games are played in the day, and this would block out the sun.

The best thing for the conference is for the southern schools to get more late in the season games and for Cincy, Temple and UConn to get early season games. For some reasons, the AAC scheduler has things reversed. It could be UConn asked for things this way, so the southern boys can visit during the cold weather.

I like to seating cover concept because it eliminates weather excuses for fans to leave their seats (or not show up). Keep the field exposed to our New England winters though to preserve our home field advantage in Nov and Dec.

 

[Pudge]

Expanding a stadium is like planting a tree.

The best time to it was 10 years ago.

Second best time to do it is today.

With expansion you are either early to need or late to need. And late to need can't ever be backfilled.

Look at the model of Lville, Rutgers, UCF and most others. Build it early, accept some empty and discounted (free) tickets and be ready for demand when it catches up.

I get the impression that some of you would not understand any of the Feasibility studies that have been used for massive Hotel construction nor the boom in Student Housing nor lots of Mixed Use projects.

None of this was obvious ... and it took a little projection to come up with the viability of anyone putting financing into any of these. And some fail. But ... on whole ... you have an industry - unlike your thinking - that has gained the confidence of financial institutions. And that is how major projects in North America happen. They don't "fill" the seats. They PROJECT what is coming.

And again ... we have the simplest FINANCE structure in place. We have the capacity to raise the needed dollars on pure current Cash Flow and collapse/refinance the current bonding. Who is impacted? I don't think it changes a Credit Agency's view of the State or the Public Authority one bit.

 

[Husky25]

Not as many as we have now.

Div. 1-AA does not and cannot remotely compare to Div-1A or FBS. I lived across the street for 3 out of the 4 seasons in Storrs and I went to maybe 3 or 4 games a season (including Yale Bowl), even thought student tix were $5. I lived in Ellsworth during my Senior and could see the south end from my dorm window. The most well attended games were obviously Homecoming and the first night game in Storrs in '95 ("Let There be Lights!"), and even then there was far less than the 19,000 capacity Memorial Stadium.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I get the impression that some of you would not understand any of the Feasibility studies that have been used for massive Hotel construction nor the boom in Student Housing nor lots of Mixed Use projects.

None of this was obvious ... and it took a little projection to come up with the viability of anyone putting financing into any of these. And some fail. But ... on whole ... you have an industry - unlike your thinking - that has gained the confidence of financial institutions. And that is how major projects in North America happen. They don't "fill" the seats. They PROJECT what is coming.

And again ... we have the simplest FINANCE structure in place. We have the capacity to raise the needed dollars on pure current Cash Flow and collapse/refinance the current bonding. Who is impacted? I don't think it changes a Credit Agency's view of the State or the Public Authority one bit.

Maybe we should draw up a proposal. Authored by the Boneyard. My only stipulation to be included in such financing/capital investement and construction project proposal, is that upon completion, that "Dog Pound" be renamed the "Boneyard" and have it on the padding around the stadium at field level.

 

[Husky25]

Reality check . August 30th. I hope the landing is not too hard.

This is not a movie. If you build it they will come.

1. Assuming you are talking about the BYU game, you're going to miss it if you go to East Hartford on the 30th. the game was moved from August 28th to Friday August 29.

2. A single game does not prove the point one way or the other.

3. How about this cliche'? Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

4. UConn does not own the stadium. They pay ~ $170,000 per game. If the stadium were to be expanded, Global Spectrum could then book more dates, including bigger name concerts, USNT (both Mens and Womens) Intl friendlies, visiting European soccer clubs, etc. to offset the capital cost to the State. Since it's inception, the facility has been cash flow positive, if not made a profit, in all but less than a handful of years, and that's only because of non-cash items such as depreciation.