Expand the Rent.

[SubbaBub]

Here is Penn State's gameday traffic and parking plans: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...13/misc_non_event/12_PreGame_Traffic_Flow.pdf. If Penn State can jam 100,000 people into some small podunk of a town in central PA, then I'm positive that UConn can figure out a way to get 60,000+ people into a small podunk town in eastern CT. Widen 195 and 44 by 2-4 lanes and have traffic flow one-way in 5 of 6 lanes (similar to Gillette Stadium) depending on if it is before or after the game. Instead of building hotels in East Hartford next to a Cabella's, build them in Storrs for visiting fans, conference centers, and campus activities.

Until then, UConn (or whoever manages the Rent) absolutely, positively MUST open a Dairy Bar stand this year. UConn pride!

As someone who knows a little about PSU's and Uconn's TMP (traffic management plans) this is an excellent example for comparison.

PSU:Storrs

Capacity 100k+:~50k assumed
Access points 4:1
No drive 20k:7k tops
Direct interstate exits within 1/2 mile of the stadium 2:0

There is also the matter of the towns. State College can absorb a several thousand cars and can the academic campus itself. Mansfield can't. In recent years PSU has converted former stadium parking to academic buildings and an arboretum and traffic has actually improved. They have way more capacity than Storrs.

Bottom line is there are severe infrastructure problems with a campus stadium. They can be overcome with a lot of $$$ and some really large changes to the campus. Having the land for the stadium isn't enough.


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[TouchdownHusky]

If we ever get into the b1g why not play a Michigan in Gillette or MetLife or Yankee stadium. Same for Ohio st.

Once maybe. Beyond that. . . big time schools play home games at . . . well, home.
Better solution . . . expand the Rent into a big boy stadium (at least 60K). If you play in a small stadium, you look small time. If you look small time, you're perceived as small time and you'll recruit small time. If you recruit small time then you'll probably Win/Lose more small time than not. Then you're view as small time, etc. etc. Go Big or Go Home.

 

[Waquoit]

Bottom line is there are severe infrastructure problems with a campus stadium. They can be overcome with a lot of $ and some really large changes to the campus. Having the land for the stadium isn't enough.

We're talking at how much money, a billion dollars? So a couple of guys can enhance their gameday experience?

 

[pj]

To have a campus football stadium, they should build a 4-lane limited access freeway (think the Merritt) from one of the exits 68-71 on I-84 to the north side of campus, and extend I-384 to the south side of campus.

They should do at least one of those even without a football stadium.

Realistically, the Rent is in a great location. It is highly accessible to both New England and New York. The B1G is thinking about alumni access to games; it wants to tie its New York and New England alumni closer to the universities. Don't underestimate the logistical barrier of having to learn how to navigate Storrs. People will be comfortable going to a stadium right off a freeway they've driven many times.

 

[CL82]

As someone who knows a little about PSU's and Uconn's TMP (traffic management plans) this is an excellent example for comparison.

PSU:Storrs

Capacity 100k+:~50k assumed
Access points 4:1
No drive 20k:7k tops
Direct interstate exits within 1/2 mile of the stadium 2:0

There is also the matter of the towns. State College can absorb a several thousand cars and can the academic campus itself. Mansfield can't. In recent years PSU has converted former stadium parking to academic buildings and an arboretum and traffic has actually improved. They have way more capacity than Storrs.

Bottom line is there are severe infrastructure problems with a campus stadium. They can be overcome with a lot of $ and some really large changes to the campus. Having the land for the stadium isn't enough.


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False comparison. Think Rutgers. They manage their stadium traffic on roads that slow to a crawl during the work week. They do it by making two lane roads one way for exit traffic. Getting out of there is pretty easy. You could do that with Gurleyville Road to Route 198, Storrs Road to Route 44 North and South Eagleville Road to the south to Route 32. Keep in mind that Rutgers stadium is not on campus, so their isn't the feathering that you'd have in Storrs with some staying on campus. Are you saying they can do things better in Jersey?

Michie Stadium at West Point is another example. They move people through check points to get on campus and still it is manageable. Parking is pretty far away and people either take shuttle busses or walk through campus. If you arrive early and stay late, something that we struggle to do, the drive is easy.

So figure 15k cars over three routes 5k each. Spead that out over an hour (and the smarter ones would wait longer.) You are looking at @417 cars on any exit route over any five minute increment. It would probably be easier to get out of Storrs after football game with well managed traffic plan than after a basketball game. It is completely manageable. It also is a fantasy in the near term.

 

[HuskyHawk]

1) We would need state money to expand a stadium that the state owns.

2) Naming rights can be sold after 2018, but it's the state that would sell them - UConn would have to get a cut and the state would also have to make sure that the naming rights deal squares with the tax-exempt status of the bonds.

3) It is worth expanding the stadium? Unless we think that the Big 12 is going to call, conference realignment is over for the foreseeable future and likely will not need an extra 10,000 seats for Tulane and SMU.

I'd rather let the Rent be and look into the (probably unlikely) possibility of building something on campus down the road.

Fishy, you're being logical, since when has that ever been well received here. Agree that the Rent is fine for where we are now. If the B1G or Big 12 called and conditioned entry on expansion of the Rent, we do it. If no call comes for the next 10 years, on-campus is the way to go.

 

[hthusky74]

Maybe I will! Bottom line, it seems the line between big time and small time is 50k. Adding 10k will suffice.

No the difference between small time and smaller time is 10,000

 

[hthusky74]

I've sat for long times on the off ramp at 384 exit 1. IT WILL BE WORTH IT BECAUSE THE GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE WILL BE EXPONENTIALLY BETTER. Even if you don't tailgate after you can hang around campus, grab food at a place that isn't Kahoots or Margarita's.

Get used to the idea that it won't be built in Storrs. At least not in the next 30-40 years or more. Go back and read up on why it was built in East Hartford. Those same reasons were valid then and they are valid now. As a UConn alum my heart says the stadium should be on campus, but my brain says otherwise. I used to love living in Eddy Hall and on football Saturdays we would leave the window open. As soon as we heard the marching band start playing the National Anthem, we would grab our bottled "water" and walk to Alumni Stadium just in time for the kick-off. Unless we went up on the hill and grabbed some beer from the guys with the kegs in their vans and watched the game from there. Sadly, it just isn't feasible to be built on campus in the near ot even midterm future.

 

[Dooley]

This is the reason why I wish I would win PowerBall already. My very first phone call would be to Storrs to see what they need to either expand the Rent or build an on-campus stadium. I don't care if I build them a 70,000 seat stadium and they curtain off the top 2 decks for games against Memphis and Tulane for a few years. I want that stadium ready to go for when we're AAU and Delany realizes that Rutgers alone can not deliver NYC (and he wants a huge slice of New England too!).

 

[TouchdownHusky]

This is the reason why I wish I would win PowerBall already. My very first phone call would be to Storrs to see what they need to either expand the Rent or build an on-campus stadium. I don't care if I build them a 70,000 seat stadium and they curtain off the top 2 decks for games against Memphis and Tulane for a few years. I want that stadium ready to go for when we're AAU and Delany realizes that Rutgers alone can not deliver NYC (and he wants a huge slice of New England too!).

Exactly! The saying was never "If they come, then you should built it". Get a big time stadium in place.

 

[SubbaBub]

We're talking at how much money, a billion dollars? So a couple of guys can enhance their gameday experience?

Roadways, Stadium, Parking, Water is probably close to $300 Million give or take. The campus expansion to fit 35,000 students puts it over $1B.


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[Waquoit]

Roadways, Stadium, Parking, Water is probably close to $300 Million give or take. The campus expansion to fit 35,000 students puts it over $1B.

You can't even get the stadium for 300M.

 

[spsct]

Not exactly something to brag about. It just means everyone else found a home.

Exactly what I thought when I read that.

 

[Adios]

All the schools that are part of "major" conferences now have been playing FBS level football since before we won a title in basketball. Are we supposed to demand an invite to an upper-tier conference when every other school has been serving time at the FBS level far longer than we have?

We became relevant recently. Get used to it.

 

[Atross]

The fights by different towns along the way would be intense. I can't see people putting up with the kind of traffic that would result if an on campus facility were built. The access is too limited.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If the ACC expanded 2 years ago, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

UConn would be in as a rising football product and Louisville was coming out of the Kragthorpe era.

Louisville didn't get in because of a bigger stadium.
Rutgers didn't get in because of a bigger stadium.

Louisville turned into a top 25 football program and we got Coach P.
Rutgers is in the NYC DMA. Period.

We still need to invest in UConn football, but instead of blowing state money on a stadium upgrade that isn't warranted whatsoever, we need to invest big time, into a big time coaching staff.

Football is all about coaching and QBs.

I like Whitmer and I'm very excited about Lagow and Boyle. Once P is fired, i think the program can get back on the upswing.

Take off the UConn colored glasses for a second. expanding the stadium today would be a monumental waste of money.

Also the on.campus.stadium is sheer fantasy.

We can't get 30,000 some days to show up to the most convenient stadium location in the state and now we're going to 50,000 to go an extra half hour not even including traffic?

Comparing PSU experience and fan tolerance for drive time and traffic? Come on.

 

[Atross]

If the ACC expanded 2 years ago, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

UConn would be in as a rising football product and Louisville was coming out of the Kragthorpe era.

Louisville didn't get in because of a bigger stadium.
Rutgers didn't get in because of a bigger stadium.

Louisville turned into a top 25 football program and we got Coach P.
Rutgers is in the NYC DMA. Period.

We still need to invest in UConn football, but instead of blowing state money on a stadium upgrade that isn't warranted whatsoever, we need to invest big time, into a big time coaching staff.

Football is all about coaching and QBs.

I like Whitmer and I'm very excited about Lagow and Boyle. Once P is fired, i think the program can get back on the upswing.

Take off the UConn colored glasses for a second. expanding the stadium today would be a monumental waste of money.

Also the on.campus.stadium is sheer fantasy.

We can't get 30,000 some days to show up to the most convenient stadium location in the state and now we're going to 50,000 to go an extra half hour not even including traffic?

Comparing PSU experience and fan tolerance for drive time and traffic? Come on.

In a tight economy where expenditures such as this have to go through the legislature where will the money come from? Does UCONN have enough private capital to do it?

 

[noeynox]

I'm not against expanding the rent but realize that this is a tough economic environment to try this. Besides, this should have been in the works when Louisville and RU were doing theirs. Looking back, teams were jockeying for position while we stood idly by, resting on our on field successes. Easy for me to mmqb, I guess.