Cajun Evaluation Complete

exflash · Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:37 pm

The consultant hiring of a former U of Missou A D has led to a report on UL athletics and its present and future role! Results will be used to make UL athletics reach its full potential in all areas---great news for the school!!!

DrBox · Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:46 am

Wonderful. Let me guess: another consultant compiled a bunch of public information and concluded that you need to tap the taxpayers and the students for even more funds in order to implement the plan.

exflash · Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:47 pm

Well you are correct in some ways---Information was gathered from many different parts of the UL nation--this discovery/ compilation/studying and plans carried out is a great M O----Yes (remember it is a tax write off) our RCAF will continue to grow as it has each year since its start---Hopefully a student fee will be passed to allow the university to function as nearly all non Louisiana schools do presently----But other revenue raising options were discovered and will be in the mix immediately-----I am pumped up with the coming construction or retail and residential buildings (bottom floor businesses and top 4 floors residential) to generate athletic income---It will have a European look and be located on what is now UL property---performing arts , entertainment, dinning, and other excitement will encompass the Cajun themed area---as you can imagine we are pumped and ready to get after it!!!

DrBox · Fri Apr 08, 2016 11:45 pm

exflash wrote:Well you are correct in some ways---Information was gathered from many different parts of the UL nation--this discovery/ compilation/studying and plans carried out is a great M O----Yes (remember it is a tax write off) our RCAF will continue to grow as it has each year since its start---Hopefully a student fee will be passed to allow the university to function as nearly all non Louisiana schools do presently----But other revenue raising options were discovered and will be in the mix immediately-----I am pumped up with the coming construction or retail and residential buildings (bottom floor businesses and top 4 floors residential) to generate athletic income---It will have a European look and be located on what is now UL property---performing arts , entertainment, dinning, and other excitement will encompass the Cajun themed area---as you can imagine we are pumped and ready to get after it!!!

You guys are amassing a lot of debt, as most of those improvements were paid for by borrowing. Debt requires debt service, and the taxpayer spigot for athletics won't last forever. Yes, you should use student fees...but that requires a vote and will only replace the current taxpayer draw (but would be a more stable means of financing). This may not be the most opportune time to ask the students to pay a few hundred a year. But you best get on with it, because eventually the legislature will step in and you'll have no choice.

exflash · Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:54 am

The debt was made less by contributions, but the students vote on a fee for the Master Plan of the university which includes many athletic phases is a done deal--(BTW the increasing enrollment projected to reach 20K will even bring more to the pot)----But the need for a student athletic fee is so very important----We have fixed track/soccer, baseball starts the final phase after the season, Indoor practice facility and athletic performance center done, Cajun Dome gets a complete redo and more basketball friendly----But the construction/addition of the 55-60 K football complex with administration offices, ballroom, restaurants, academic tutoring, etc will be great---notice that this too will be a money maker for any commuter students also!!!

ccap05 · Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:27 pm

Cajun Troll- Your projections about awesome future progress for Lafayette facilities is indeed great news for anyone who cares about UL-L athletics. I suggest that you publish this information but focus on websites where you think there might actually be a group of people who have an interest in UL-L athletics. With any luck your projection of state of the art new facilities along with your soon to be implemented student fees will be enough to help convince the SBC that going into the 2020s ULL might be a good choice as one of the long standing members to host championships. I have always wondered why the SBC held championships in NOLA where there are no SBC level schools instead of in Lafayette which has a longstanding Sun Belt membership tradition as well as a seemingly long term commitment to continuing rising with the SBC.

DrBox · Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:59 pm

exflash wrote:But the construction/addition of the 55-60 K football complex with administration offices, ballroom, restaurants, academic tutoring, etc will be great---notice that this too will be a money maker for any commuter students also!!!

Wonderful - if you want to build a complex with 45K-50K empty seats, that's fine. But your fans need to pay for it, something they don't like to do.
Note, you couldn't get 10K to your stadium for the last 2 games.

cajunfanatico · Sun Apr 10, 2016 6:05 pm

DrBox wrote:
exflash wrote:But the construction/addition of the 55-60 K football complex with administration offices, ballroom, restaurants, academic tutoring, etc will be great---notice that this too will be a money maker for any commuter students also!!!
Wonderful - if you want to build a complex with 45K-50K empty seats, that's fine. But your fans need to pay for it, something they don't like to do.
Note, you couldn't get 10K to your stadium for the last 2 games.

Cajun baseball is averaging 4200 per home game this year, so I'd hardly characterize Cajun fans as not willing to pay, especially for a good product. You guys will be treated to that Ragin Cajun home atmosphere on Tuesday evening.

Last year's football team sucked and attendance suffered as a result. That's hardly news. Put a decent product on the field and fans attend. Hud's first year saw the largest percentage increase in attendance in the nation for an FBS school that year. Fans respond to success.

There's plenty of huge hurdles to overcome, being stuck in the SunBelt being just one. Despite that, and the craptastic football season we had last year, fund raising by the RCAF, which was reorganized just a few months ago, is at an all-time high from what I understand. We're doing just fine so far and with some decent guidance from this consulting group, we should be able to exploit untapped gameday revenues as well as licensing and other fees. I think we're at least pointed in the right direction and the university president is engaged on the issue of improving athletics.

Facilities improvements don't lie. We're on the move.