Arms Race

[Palatine]

The tiny town of Mansfield has passed it's verdict. No stadium. Period.

The only way this ever passes the tiny town council is paying off the citizens and the council of Mansfield.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Ideally you would have a stadium on campus easily accessible to students, however I was under the impression from reading this board that the local townships would shoot down any major construction near campus. My comments were basically comparing the costs of renovating The Rent vs. Beaver Stadium. Theoretically a really nice renovation could be done at The Rent for a fraction of the cost of renovating Beaver Stadium due simply to the size and scope of each project.

I don’t know, but wouldn’t the states power of eminent domain shoot down what local townships say? Maybe building an on campus stadium might even invigorate the local economy. I can see some locals being against it but I also can see many being for it. It definitely would increase property values in local towns around the campus. The only losers would be Rent lovers who complain ad nauseum about the drive to Storrs vs Rentschler Field.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Mansfield will never let it happen. Look at the roads leading to UConn, think Mansfield would approve expanding the roads?

It’s tough nuggies for Mansfield, the state will do what it wants. You have heard the “power of eminent domain”? If Mansfield wants compensation the state might give it to them, much like the many small towns that were completely displaced when they built 84 & 91, Lake Candlewood, etc. Who said anything about expanding roads anyway, the stadium will be on state owned land, and actually property values outside the campus would definitely see a bump up as would the local economy.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Yeah, the stadium is in East Hartford because the Storrs and Mansfield locals had no juice.

 

[Kembafan]

If football becomes a winning program that attracts fans, stadiums (stadia?) will fall from the sky and there’s nothing Mansfield et al will be able to do about it.

 

[Alum86]

The students got their butts on busses and filled their section of the stadium when we were good. Ask RG3.
It ain’t that big an ask. The Rent is easy for us Not living out in East Bumf…(most alumni) and is not obsolete and has not outlived its usefulness.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The students got their butts on busses and filled their section of the stadium when we were good. Ask RG3.
It ain’t that big an ask. The Rent is easy for us Not living out in East Bumf…(most alumni) and is not obsolete and has not outlived its usefulness.

Had to expand the student section too.

 

[Vowelguy]

Even if some consultants tell us to spend $200 to $300M on the Rent (which is a conservative estimate) to provide UConn an up to date Power 4 stadium, would you rather put it into an aging complex located 40 minutes or more away from the campus or would you rather spend a bit more and get a complex that students could walk to and could be used for a single university graduation.

Ok, you got the private funding to do it?

Because there is no way taxpayers are going to spend that kind of money to fund a bad to mediocre team, not in a P4 conference, that would need major infrastructure improvements, and would have vocal local opposition.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Ok, you got the private funding to do it?

Because there is no way taxpayers are going to spend that kind of money to fund a bad to mediocre team, not in a P4 conference, that would need major infrastructure improvements, and would have vocal local opposition.

Lol. I don’t know what planet you’re from but taxpayers do definitely have to pay their taxes, and realistically have very little say on where that tax revenue goes.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It shows how profitable college football can be if done right.

College football has gotten a lot less profitable in the last month with the House settlement. Programs are going through their own overhead with an axe right now. Football has 85 scholarships, roughly 60 that need significant NIL payments, and a huge staff to manage. There are only 7 home games to pay for it.

Basketball plays 30 games a year, with at least 15 home games by the P4 + BE. Against that revenue, there are only 13 scholarships, only 8 or 9 players that receive meaningful NIL, and a small staff.

When the NCAA/P4 needed to settle the House case, it is no coincidence that it had to dip into the basketball revenues to do it. Football may have a lot more total revenue, but that is not the same as profitability.

 

[kemba]

The students got their butts on busses and filled their section of the stadium when we were good. Ask RG3.
It ain’t that big an ask. The Rent is easy for us Not living out in East Bumf…(most alumni) and is not obsolete and has not outlived its usefulness.

Yea. While personally I’d be fine with giving up the convenience of the rent for an on campus stadium if they did it right, given the state of the fan base right now and all the unknowns about college football and our place in it going forward, I’m not sure building an on campus stadium right now is the right choice. Even if they could figure out the money, politics, etc.

 

[CL82]

Mansfield will never let it happen. Look at the roads leading to UConn, think Mansfield would approve expanding the roads?

Why do they have to be improved for six weekends a year? Especially when you remember that this is a football game when people tailgate before and after the game. The answer to any issue, if one actually exist, getting people in and out of stores isn't building a super highway up to the front gate, it's longer tailgate hours.

 

[Vowelguy]

Why do they have to be improved for six weekends a year? Especially when you remember that this is a football game when people tailgate before and after the game. The answer to any issue, if one actually exist, getting people in and out of stores isn't building a super highway up to the front gate, it's longer tailgate hours.

I haven’t been to Gampel in awhile but recall a major traffic backup getting to 84. If those roads couldn’t handle 10k people, how is 30k a feasible idea?

 

[CL82]

I haven’t been to Gampel in awhile but recall a major traffic backup getting to 84. If those roads couldn’t handle 10k people, how is 30k a feasible idea?

Reread my post and see if you can figure out the answer.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, the stadium is in East Hartford because the Storrs and Mansfield locals had no juice.

As has been discussed many times on this site, the reason why the stadiums in East Hartford is because of the patriots dalliance with moving to Hartford. Mansfield residence had nothing to do with it.

 

[Hamms30]

I haven’t been to Gampel in awhile but recall a major traffic backup getting to 84. If those roads couldn’t handle 10k people, how is 30k a feasible idea?

30k? If the goal is a power conference, at least double that.

 

[Vowelguy]

Reread my post and see if you can figure out the answer.

Yeah 20000 people are going to stay for hours postgame.

If we are going to engage in hyperbole, then why aren’t we discussing building a bullet train from Storrs to Hartford?

 

[CL82]

Yeah 20000 people are going to stay for hours postgame.

If we are going to engage in hyperbole, then why aren’t we discussing building a bullet train from Storrs to Hartford?

I agree, the notion that we have to spend millions of dollars building a super highway up to the front gate of a stadium on campus for six weekends a year is equivalently silly to the notion spending millions of dollars building a bullet train to Hartford.

On the other hand, solving the problem the way virtually every other college that plays football on campus does probably is a little more sensible.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

CL, I like you a lot but I believe you are wrong with some of your assessments here.

When the Rent first opened, we played to packed houses at more than double the capacity of any game we had hosted prior to the Rent being our home. The largest factor for this was location. The proximity of the stadium to highway access and to the intersection of 91 & 84 played a tremendous role in people from our geographically small but extremely congested state being willing to check out games. If we had built an on campus stadium, we likely would have had very few games 20 years ago (when there was a tremendous amount of excitement behind the program) where the crowd reached 30k.

Yes, there are schools that have on campus stadiums where fans/alumni endure far longer road trips to get there and need to deal with extreme traffic congestion for much longer than the stretch from 84 to the Storrs campus, but this has evolved over many decades (or longer). Our basketball fans aren't willing to stay for the entire game in seasons where we win national titles. There is no way football fans would endure something far worse (it would be far worse) unless it was something they have been doing for an extended time supporting a successful program.

Additionally, comparing the traffic impact 40k plus football fans would have to vs 10k basketball fans should need no explanation, even if you could (not as feasible as you are implying) stagger the arrivals and departures over a number of hours. I'm curious as to when you last attended a packed house at Gampel as anyone who has any recollection of arrival/departure would laugh at the idea of four times as much traffic, even if it were to be spread on a coordinated basis (really can't be done) over four to six hours (that much time isn't something anyone would be willing to consider).

Fortunately the idea (for now) is more of a dream than the football program winning consecutive titles.

 

[pj]

This is Rutgers or Pitt type talk. They use it as a go to insult when their sub-par fandom is called into question. Not sure why UConn Fans would buy into that losing mentality as you seem to parallel Penn State in many ways as a strong public school with a diverse and successful AD. Both schools have strong Ag backgrounds as well.

Their fans don't understand what it means to be passionate about sports because they have nothing to be passionate about. They are bad to middling at just about everything. Only a few of them truly care, and even that group may be more passionate about their "rival" losing than their teams winning.

Being cultists ourselves, we have a lot of respect for the Penn State cult.

 

[AllHusky]

I had to laugh when I read the "dominated the surrounding landscape" line. 100,000 seat football stadiums aren't exactly subtle. It is in the middle of their athletic campus and it is surrounded by parking. It's not like it's located on their equivalent of Horsebarn Hill.

Kind of a weird take in my view.

Would love kind of ugly!!

 

[LoyalFanCT]

The students got their butts on busses and filled their section of the stadium when we were good. Ask RG3.
It ain’t that big an ask. The Rent is easy for us Not living out in East Bumf…(most alumni) and is not obsolete and has not outlived its usefulness.

Busses means kisses. Buses is the plural of bus. Maybe you also could tell us how many FBS football programs play in a non-pro stadium that is a 40-minute drive from campus.

 

[CL82]

CL, I like you a lot

Back at you!

When the Rent first opened, we played to packed houses at more than double the capacity of any game we had hosted prior to the Rent being our home. The largest factor for this was location.

Well, respectfully, I would say the largest factor was actually stadium capacity. Memorial Stadium was what like 16,000? So if you fill the rent to 80% capacity that's going to be double the maximum amount that you could've done in Memorial Stadium. That has nothing to do with limited access highways and everything to do with math.

Additionally, comparing the traffic impact 40k plus football fans would have to vs 10k basketball fans should need no explanation, even if you could (not as feasible as you are implying) stagger the arrivals and departures over a number of hours

People complain about traffic leaving Renschler field as well, but as you know well, that's a bigger problem for people rushing out at the end of the third quarter than it is for people who leave after having a beer and a sandwich after the game. People complain about leaving games at Michie stadium at West Point. I've never had an issue, Because I don't struggle to rush out. Instead I'll walk down to the monuments, or often join at y tailgate as a guest of West Point fans. it really doesn't take much time to avoid traffic.

Again, I think the comparison to gamble isn't apples to apples because everyone arrives at practically the same time and everyone leaves at practically the same time.

I can't believe that Storrs CT Is the only place in the world that can't host football games without a limited access highway leading up to the front gate. West Point leverages tailgating, Rutgers leverages smart traffic management techniques, dedicated one direction roads etc. It's eminently "doable" without investing millions in infrastructure for six games a year.

The better question is should we do it, to which my answer is no while Rentschler Field remains a viable alternative and does not need substantial additional investment. That should be true for at least the next 10 years.

 

[Alum86]

Your last paragraph CL82 Epitomizes it. Rent is fine, we are turning the corner. Just have to rationalize pulling the grill and tailgate stuff outta the SUV each week or leave it in the car for the 6 game homestand.

 

[CL82]

Your last paragraph CL82 Epitomizes it. Rent is fine, we are turning the corner. Just have to rationalize pulling the grill and tailgate stuff outta the SUV each week or leave it in the car for the 6 game homestand.

The Rent is more than fine. It is a terrific place to see a game with great tailgating and not a bad seat in the stadium. I wish it was 30 miles east, and I wish, like the vast majority of college teams, we were allowed to fully profit from it instead of subsidizing a famously poorly run quasi public agency like the CDRA. but those are tiny things compared to having a place to play.

At some point in the future, a decision will have to be made about reinvesting in the Rent or building on campus. In the near term, I'm looking forward to watching the games. Time will tell, but this season seems like it the team will finally have a passing game. There are a lot of new pieces but it feels as if we've upgraded talent across-the-board. I'm excited to see what that looks like on the field.

 

[cohenzone]

I had to laugh when I read the "dominated the surrounding landscape" line. 100,000 seat football stadiums aren't exactly subtle. It is in the middle of their athletic campus and it is surrounded by parking. It's not like it's located on their equivalent of Horsebarn Hill.

Kind of a weird take in my view.

Why so defensive? It’s out in the countryside and isn’t all that attractive.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I haven’t been to Gampel in awhile but recall a major traffic backup getting to 84. If those roads couldn’t handle 10k people, how is 30k a feasible idea?

It must of been a night game at Gampel during the week, mix that with evening rush and you will get a major backup. Four or five Saturday mornings during the Fall will not be a big deal, traffic will be heavy for sure but not especially bad when you consider that upwards of 10 to 15,000 will already be on campus.

 

[CL82]

Why so defensive? It’s out in the countryside and isn’t all that attractive.

Lol, and how was I defensive exactly?

It's on their campus, and surrounded by blacktop. It's not as if it's in pristine countryside. Here's the thing, when you build a building to house 100,000 fans, it is tough to make it unobtrusive.

I actually like Penn State athletic campus quite a bit. Putting all the buildings together allows those parking lots which surround the stadium to support the other areas. It's smart planning. Our athletic campus seems to take a page out of the same book.

 

[CL82]

I think you can keep the area rural and built a stadium. What is required is building into the earth instead of up and adding a classic coliseum design with brick, ivy, proper landscape it with trees instead of stripping everything for ease. You get buy-in from many.

195 doesn’t need to widened. It’s just needs a better traffic flow. Many stadiums are a pain to get to.

If they built it right it could be a real iconic jewel that people would love to play at.

I agree with you conceptionally. I suspect, though, that creating a bowl is probably more expensive. If I remember correctly from the Toscano environmental impact stuff, one side of a proposed site in the athletic campus is rock ledge which either could facilitate this, or makes it way more expensive.

 

[cohenzone]

Lol, and how was I defensive exactly?

It's on their campus, and surrounded by blacktop. It's not as if it's in pristine countryside. Here's the thing, when you build a building to house 100,000 fans, it is tough to make it unobtrusive.

I actually like Penn State athletic campus quite a bit. Putting all the buildings together allows those parking lots which surround the stadium to support the other areas. It's smart planning. Our athletic campus seems to take a page out of the same book.

What ever. All I said is that it dominates the landscape. It does A bowl doesn’t. It has nothing to do with the arrangement of their athletic facilities and I’m sure is fun on game day.