We would go through similar problems if we landed in the BIG and we aren't going there either. Think Vanderbilt and Indiana.
Obviously, you aren't aware that we are playing Tennessee in 2015 and 2016 here and there.
I think when people get educated they are impressed by what is going on up here. This is a brief summary that I put together for the FSU fans (since they hurt us in the last round of expansion) and what I think we need to be getting out into the national consciousness. I think it really paints Cinci's 'plans' as a complete joke when compared to UConn's commitment to excellence:
Part 1/2
The University
1. The school is in the final phases of a $2.3 billion dollar infrastructure upgrades that started about 15 years ago. (Link)
2. On the back of this project, the school President and Governor have announced another $2.1 billion dollar investment in STEM fields with the goal of adding nearly 7,000 new undergraduates within 10 years. (Link)
2. The schools is entering phase 2 of what it is calling "Storrs Center" which is a dense apartment/restaurant center that the school has been lacking for many years and is really changing the character of the university. (Link)
3. Our medical school and Jackson labs have broken ground on a $750 million dollar research space to address genomics which will lead to the development of individualized pharmaceuticals based on your DNA. This will put the University and state ahead of virtually everyone in the world regarding this technology. (Link).
4. The school has just announced a 900,000 square foot technology part on its campus that will partner with regional IT and aerospace (CT is home to United Technologies) companies to develop new technology. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin shortly. (Link)
Football Team
1. We have struggled the last two seasons, no doubt, but the school is making the investments needed to compete. And I would add that since making the jump to FBS UConn already has winning head-to-head records against the recent acquisitions of Pitt, UConn, and L'Ville (and beat L'Ville on the road this season, along with Maryland on the road).
2. We have a $48 million dollar practice football complex that is only a few years old and nearly everyone who has visited it places it in the top 10 nationally. (Link)
3. Our home stadium is relatively small (40,000 seats), but it already has footings in place to take it to 55,000 without any major investment (just as an aside - the Cinci project is smoke and mirrors and even with their expansion won't even be 40,000 seats), and from what I understand can get to 80,000. Just looking at the building will validate what I am saying. (Link) Also, if you have never visited for a tailgate it is among the best anywhere it terms of space and layout.
4. We are addressing the offensive issues this season - we brought over Cincinnati's wide receivers coach to run the offense, and brought in some pretty big (for us) QB recruits. Coupled with our defense (which is about to send another 4 players to the NFL this season) and we are cautiously optimistic.
M. Basketball
1. We are not falling off of our 3 National Titles in 12 years. We just finished a season with no chance of the BET or NCAA, hobbled by injury, short of scholarships and still won 20 games and would have qualified for the NCAA tournament (wins against Syracuse, MSU, Cinci, ND, etc.). We have some nice size coming in from NYC next season, added to the return of nearly the entire team and we are expecting to be a Top 10 team at the beginning of the season.
2. We have also just broken ground on a $35M practice basketball facility that will have separate wings for the men and the women. (Link - the intro gets me pysched
W. Basketball1. I am not going to try to sell anything here with this team, but they are incredibly well supported here, which if nothing else indicates the support for this university - also see the details on our market below.
M. Hockey
The University
1. The school is in the final phases of a $2.3 billion dollar infrastructure upgrades that started about 15 years ago. (Link)
2. On the back of this project, the school President and Governor have announced another $2.1 billion dollar investment in STEM fields with the goal of adding nearly 7,000 new undergraduates within 10 years. (Link)
2. The schools is entering phase 2 of what it is calling "Storrs Center" which is a dense apartment/restaurant center that the school has been lacking for many years and is really changing the character of the university. (Link)
3. Our medical school and Jackson labs have broken ground on a $750 million dollar research space to address genomics which will lead to the development of individualized pharmaceuticals based on your DNA. This will put the University and state ahead of virtually everyone in the world regarding this technology. (Link).
4. The school has just announced a 900,000 square foot technology part on its campus that will partner with regional IT and aerospace (CT is home to United Technologies) companies to develop new technology. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin shortly. (Link)
Football Team1. We have struggled the last two seasons, no doubt, but the school is making the investments needed to compete. And I would add that since making the jump to FBS UConn already has winning head-to-head records against the recent acquisitions of Pitt, UConn, and L'Ville (and beat L'Ville on the road this season, along with Maryland on the road).
2. We have a $48 million dollar practice football complex that is only a few years old and nearly everyone who has visited it places it in the top 10 nationally. (Link)
3. Our home stadium is relatively small (40,000 seats), but it already has footings in place to take it to 55,000 without any major investment (just as an aside - the Cinci project is smoke and mirrors and even with their expansion won't even be 40,00 seats), and from what I understand can get to 80,000. Just looking at it you can validate what I am saying. (Link) Also, if you have never visited for a tailgate it is much better than nearly everyone is expecting.
4. We are addressing the offensive issues this season - we brought over Cincinatti's wide receivers coach to run the offense, and brought in some pretty big (for us) QB recruits. Coupled with our defense (which is about to send another 4 players to the NFL this season) and we are cautiously optimistic.
M. Basketball
1. We are not falling off of our 3 National Titles in 12 years. We just finished a season with no playoff change, hobbled by injury, short of scholarships and still won 20 games and would have qualified for the NCAA tournament (wins against Syracuse, MSU, Cinci, ND, etc.). We have some nice size coming in from NYC next season, coupled with this team and we are expecting to be a Top 10 team at the beginning of the season.
2. We have also just broken ground on a $35M practice basketball facility that will have separate wings for the men and the women. (Link - the intro gets me pysched
W. Basketball
1. I am not going to try to sell anything here with this team, but they are incredibly well supported here, which if nothing else indicates the support for this university - also see the details on our market below.
Olympic Sports
1. Our men's soccer team is consistently a Top 5 team (last championship was 2000), and is typically in the top 3 in attendance - last season they were #2. In fact, this season they would have been #1 in the country if not for the fact that our stadium (5,500 seats) was consistently sold out which constrained the number.
2. The university is in the process of developing an expansion not only for soccer, but for baseball (which nearly made the CWS and has sent a number of players to the pros) and softball as well. (Link).
About our Market
1. I think it is well known that the Hartford/New Haven market is #30 in the nation and that there is literally no competition for the University (thus the heavy investment in the school).
2. What I don't think is known is that 1/5 of Connecticut is not counted in the Hartford/New Haven DMA but is actually allocated to the NYC DMA. So without having to have any exposure in NYC (we do have it, addressed below) we literally bring part of NYC with us.
3. The above does not even mention that our school pullls from the Springfield, MA area, Rhode Island, Westchester County, NY and has a significant alumni presences in Boston which is only about 1:15 from campus.
4. UConn has nearly all of its sporting events picked up by Sportsnet New York which does pregame, post-game and coaches shows for every sport. And the numbers have been off the charts. To give you just one example - a midweek women's game against Georgetown (they are not good) drew an 8.52, against Syracuse a 9.1, beating virtually everything on TV in its slot except modern family which it barely lost out to (Link).
5. In fact, to further drive this point home, SNY taped delayed a Syracuse Men's game in NYC to air a UConn women's game. Why I think this is important is that any university who comes to visit will get prime-time play in the nations #1 market.
