I understand the economy is tough and it's a tough sell with budget cuts (I really wish they would halt work on that stupid busway and we can redistribute funds to a stadium expansion!). My best guess at the cost would be around $90-$100M. If UConn could raise $15M-$20M from private funds, they can issue bonds for the remaining cost following RU's model. I dont' know what the best way to raise $100M is (other than jacking those dudes from Arizona and Missouri who won the PowerBall!), but I'm concerned that our complacency and conservative approach to funding our athletic programs are leaving us in the dust. If a promise to the B1G that we'll expand immediately after acceptance is enough, I'm all for it. I'm just not certain it will be. Anyway, here is the info you asked for:
Rutgers (mostly bond issuance):
Expansion Financing Plan
The $102 million price tag of the expansion project was to originally be financed via private fundraising ($30 million) and the issuance of bonds ($72 million).
[15] The private fundraising effort, however, fell significantly short of the original goal.
[16]
This situation prompted the Board of Governors of Rutgers University to approve a new financing plan for the stadium expansion in which the entire amount of $102 million was to be borrowed. Specifically, the university issued $85 million in bonds, and borrowed the remaining $17 million by way of low-interest commercial paper.
[12] In addition, a few aspects of the stadium expansion project were scaled back, including a reduction in the number of new seats (the original plan called for 14,000 seats, but only 11,500 were actually added). Also included in the original expansion plan was the construction of new locker rooms in the South end zone. The construction of these locker rooms was deferred to a later date.
[12]
Louisville (mostly state funded):
Stadium expansion
In October 2006, an official rendering and details were released of what an expanded stadium would look like and cost. The ambitious original plan called for an additional 21,600 seats and 70 suites added via a new upper deck on the side opposite the main press box area, all for an estimated price tag of $63 million, which is almost identical to the cost to build the original stadium.
On August 27, 2007, John Schnatter donated $10 million in support of the expansion, and extended naming rights through 2040. The
Kentucky General Assembly, the state legislature, provided the balance of funding for the project. The stadium is therefore about 46% state-funded in total.
On December 1, 2008, construction started on the east side of the stadium, and the expansion was finished in Fall 2010. The expansion was scaled down from the original plans with about 13,000 additional seats (1,725 of which are higher-priced club seats) and 33 suites instead of the originally planned 70. There is also a 100-yard-long luxury room called the PNC Club, which is similar to the west-side Brown & Williamson Club but has a glassed-in view of the field. There is also standing space for 2,500 people on the new Norton Healthcare Terrace located on the south end (closed end) of the horseshoe-shaped stadium. The expansion, which eventually cost $72 million, also included 20 new restrooms, two new 345' x 3' LED ribbon boards located on the facia of the east and west sides of the stadium, a new 60' x 20' LED video board on the south end of the stadium, matching in size the existing board on the north end, and a new 13 x 9 LED board facing outside the stadium to the south.
