Superdome / Benson Revenue

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Fred Dowler
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Interesting.

I had no idea about any of this going on.

The Superdome wants Tulane out and these other games in.

If all of this is happening it would very much tend to reinforce the notion that Tulane is "mid-major," moving to a smaller "children's stadium" while these other games move in and play in the "adult stadium."

As long as Tulane stays in a league, as well, that's rapidly falling below the radar screen of the average college football fan if not farther and farther away from being on the radar screen you can bet on crowds of 10,000 or less and Tulane will not be playing any name opponents in this new stadium and also you can forget about the Superdome being happy to let Tulane back in even for one game in a season.


Tulane sports: small football stadium, very small basketball arena, w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶s̶, h̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ , but, hey, now there's tailgating.
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tpstulane
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Fred Dowler wrote:Interesting.

I had no idea about any of this going on.

The Superdome wants Tulane out and these other games in.

If all of this is happening it would very much tend to reinforce the notion that Tulane is "mid-major," moving to a smaller "children's stadium" while these other games move in and play in the "adult stadium."

As long as Tulane stays in a league, as well, that's rapidly falling below the radar screen of the average college football fan if not farther and farther away from being on the radar screen you can bet on crowds of 10,000 or less and Tulane will not be playing any name opponents in this new stadium and also you can forget about the Superdome being happy to let Tulane back in even for one game in a season.
The bottom line is the dome wants to maximize revenue. Don't for one second think that the bldg that has just seen over one half a billion dollars in renovations is going to stay vacant on Saturdays during the fall once Tulane leaves. With that said they would love to see 45K in there like we had in the early 80's with the Terrace Level open. They will let us play once a year, but at a price. Not the sweetheart rent we now have.
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Fred Dowler
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tpstulane wrote:The bottom line is the dome wants to maximize revenue. Don't for one second think that the bldg that has just seen over one half a billion dollars in renovations is going to stay vacant on Saturdays during the fall once Tulane leaves. With that said they would love to see 45K in there like we had in the early 80's with the Terrace Level open. They will let us play once a year, but at a price. Not the sweetheart rent we now have.
Sounds like a further dent in the notion that there's big money to be made (net) by Tulane playing home football games in the new stadium.

Let's see...with the new stadium Tulane will be losing the sweetheart deal with the Superdome, bearing lots of different costs that it doesn't have to bear right now and not really be able to whole lot of $$ from parking -- and will have a very small stadium, to boot.

Look for ticket pricing to be where Tulane will look to recoup the investment...and for C-USA and given Tulane's own on-field product let's see how well that flies.

Maybe it's no wonder that Tulane has not released any financial projections.
Tulane sports: small football stadium, very small basketball arena, w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶s̶, h̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ , but, hey, now there's tailgating.
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tpstulane
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Fred Dowler wrote:
tpstulane wrote:The bottom line is the dome wants to maximize revenue. Don't for one second think that the bldg that has just seen over one half a billion dollars in renovations is going to stay vacant on Saturdays during the fall once Tulane leaves. With that said they would love to see 45K in there like we had in the early 80's with the Terrace Level open. They will let us play once a year, but at a price. Not the sweetheart rent we now have.
Sounds like a further dent in the notion that there's big money to be made (net) by Tulane playing home football games in the new stadium.

Let's see...with the new stadium Tulane will be losing the sweetheart deal with the Superdome, bearing lots of different costs that it doesn't have to bear right now and not really be able to whole lot of $$ from parking -- and will have a very small stadium, to boot.

Look for ticket pricing to be where Tulane will look to recoup the investment...and for C-USA and given Tulane's own on-field product let's see how well that flies.

Maybe it's no wonder that Tulane has not released any financial projections.
+1
And expect new seat licenses fees for the current season ticket holder. Better seats will require more TAF just as we now have in Turchin. A small stadium because it will create an artificial ticket demand even with a poor product at first. I'm sure Tulane will just continue to take the easy route and hammer away at the small diehard fanbase instead of getting new fans in the fold by putting a good product out and competing with "football" schools as we once did, not "directional" ones.
I know Tulane wants to make more money but they never seem to go about it the correct way. They are very good at running people off. In fact they are experts as to "how not to run an athletic program" based on the last 10-14 years or so.
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RWR
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tps that is just one game in Dallas. Tulane doesn't get in the way w/ just 6 home games. That's why I say the Dome can have the best of both worlds w/such a marquee game and then Tulane itself playing one of those (lswho,bama,Texas,Ok,Ok St.)plus one or two more against Ole Miss, USM and Miss. St. that will draw 50,000 or more if we are successful. I know Tulane is short sighted but I give those that run the Dome a whole lot more credit than that.

As for the initial uptick in sales if the new stadium is built I don't think it will be nearly what they hope it will be. The lack of fundrasing shows that. And yes the much higher annual TAF donation and ticket prices plus the one time PSL will keep many away.
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RWR wrote:tps that is just one game in Dallas. Tulane doesn't get in the way w/ just 6 home games. That's why I say the Dome can have the best of both worlds w/such a marquee game and then Tulane itself playing one of those (lswho,bama,Texas,Ok,Ok St.)plus one or two more against Ole Miss, USM and Miss. St. that will draw 50,000 or more if we are successful. I know Tulane is short sighted but I give those that run the Dome a whole lot more credit than that.

As for the initial uptick in sales if the new stadium is built I don't think it will be nearly what they hope it will be. The lack of fundrasing shows that. And yes the much higher annual TAF donation and ticket prices plus the one time PSL will keep many away.
I agree 100%.
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TPS is 100% right on the money on this thread. I would venture to bet you'll see an Alabama vs. Texas game in the Dome in the near future and you'll see Tulane battling Old Dominion on campus in front of 2800 miserable die hards. It's not just Benson that wants us out, but its downtown as well, we bring nothing to the table. We could, but we choose not to. I cant even describe how much I hate Scott Cowen.
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I hope Tulane has some very strong support at the courthouse supporting Tom Benson and his lovely wife Gayle a Tulane Board Member. Tom started with nothing and these kids are trying to take all from him. He made the money and can place it wherever he wants.his kids are spoiled .Remember this Tom and his wife gave 10 million dollars to Yulman Stadium,
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DfromCT wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:59 am tufinal4, that's exactly my point: it makes more sense to play Tulane every year than it does to play some of the rent-a-wins they play each and every year. It would take some creativity, and probably some concessions from the 'Dome, (like splitting the gate, parking and concessions in New Orleans) as playing that game at Yulman is highly unlikely.
The Dome doesn't have to make any concessions. I long ago disproved the lie that Tom Benson gets every penny from every event at the Dome. The way it was when we made the deal with Bertman is they got 30-35k of the tickets and made every penny on that. Instead of the low rent agreement Tulane had for all those years you just pay a higher rate and then get money from the parking and concessions and what have you. The schools decide on a split of that. It would just taking LSwho getting a set of nuts.
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6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:15 am
DfromCT wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:59 am tufinal4, that's exactly my point: it makes more sense to play Tulane every year than it does to play some of the rent-a-wins they play each and every year. It would take some creativity, and probably some concessions from the 'Dome, (like splitting the gate, parking and concessions in New Orleans) as playing that game at Yulman is highly unlikely.
The Dome doesn't have to make any concessions. I long ago disproved the lie that Tom Benson gets every penny from every event at the Dome. The way it was when we made the deal with Bertman is they got 30-35k of the tickets and made every penny on that. Instead of the low rent agreement Tulane had for all those years you just pay a higher rate and then get money from the parking and concessions and what have you. The schools decide on a split of that. It would just taking LSwho getting a set of nuts.
Here’s what Benson gets:


http://www.neworleanssaints.com/tickets ... uites.html
Under the Annual Lease Option, suites may be available in three, five and seven-year lease terms. There are many benefits to leasing a suite year-round. Not only do you get all of the exciting action of Saints games, you also get access to all events in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome! That includes any other scheduled events such as Sugar Bowl, Tulane football, Bayou Classic, New Orleans Bowl, LHSAA football championship games as well as Essence Festival and other concerts. (Due to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome's concert configuration, certain suites are out of view for concerts.) Tickets and catering are not included in the annual lease price. Catering is purchased by you directly from Centerplate Catering, the catering operator of the Superdome's Suite Level. They offer a variety of culinary favorites, all provided with quality products and service.
Again, the Saints get the benefit on Saints game days. Plus most all other events.

Here’s the Tulane deal we had with the Dome:

Here's exactly what we got:
Tulane/Tenant
Revenue/Split
Rent/Year
First year of lease (1975) $10,000 5%
increase for the remaining 4 years; See
Game Payment details below
Also pays percentage of Tulane’s Share of the
Gate that exceeds the Floor Amount.
See Page 8 of Contract for further detail.

Ticket Sales
Tulane retains control of ticket sales

Concessions
District retains all revenue

Parking
District retains all revenue

Merchandise
Tulane retains revenue from program sales

Advertising
District retains all revenue from scoreboard
and display advertising; Tulane retains
revenue derived from all radio and television
rights for broadcasting

Operating Expenses
District to provide all materials, supplies, and
labor necessary to present a football game at
the Superdome, etc.

Notes
Game payment due in year of extended term
= "Game Payment for the fith year of the
primary term increase or decreased by the
percentage which is numberically equivalent
to the difference between the index number in
the colum under "All Commodities" in the
index entitled "Wholesale Price Index"
published monthly byu the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the US Dept. of Labor...";
Floor Amount = # of games x $50,000. The
same extention calcuation applies for the
Floor Amount if extended term

The Dome lease is automatically renewed each year. Benson has a separate lease agreement with the District. The District turns over all revenue to him. It was a terrible lease for the District when Tulane had only 5K-10K in there. They make nothing, in turn Benson makes nothing. Tulane got no revenue split other than program and t-shirts and what I already mentioned. Tulane had no leverage to get a better lease deal. If Tulane drew 45K like we use to Benson would have been happy to have us because he would get a bigger cut from the District. But then it would cost us money because there's no upside incentive for Tulane other than ticket rev's.
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winwave
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Like I said Benson doesn't own the Dome and doesn't get all the revenue from every event there as you told people for years. The HS championships are played there and they get cuts of all the revenue. Tulane chose the low rent option. There are other options so that you get a slice of the revenue. What you posted there is about people renting suites.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
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6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:49 am Like I said Benson doesn't own the Dome and doesn't get all the revenue from every event there as you told people for years. The HS championships are played there and they get cuts of all the revenue. Tulane chose the low rent option. There are other options so that you get a slice of the revenue. What you posted there is about people renting suites.
I’ve since added the actual deal Tulane had. The HS may not be playing at the dome in the future. The cut they got this past year was a lot less because of all the games now.

Tulane Dome Lease:

Here's exactly what we got:
Tulane/Tenant
Revenue/Split
Rent/Year
First year of lease (1975) $10,000 5%
increase for the remaining 4 years; See
Game Payment details below
Also pays percentage of Tulane’s Share of the
Gate that exceeds the Floor Amount.
See Page 8 of Contract for further detail.

Ticket Sales
Tulane retains control of ticket sales

Concessions
District retains all revenue

Parking
District retains all revenue

Merchandise
Tulane retains revenue from program sales

Advertising
District retains all revenue from scoreboard
and display advertising; Tulane retains
revenue derived from all radio and television
rights for broadcasting

Operating Expenses
District to provide all materials, supplies, and
labor necessary to present a football game at
the Superdome, etc.

Notes
Game payment due in year of extended term
= "Game Payment for the fith year of the
primary term increase or decreased by the
percentage which is numberically equivalent
to the difference between the index number in
the colum under "All Commodities" in the
index entitled "Wholesale Price Index"
published monthly byu the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the US Dept. of Labor...";
Floor Amount = # of games x $50,000. The
same extention calcuation applies for the
Floor Amount if extended term

The Dome lease is automatically renewed each year. Benson has a separate lease agreement with the District. The District turns over all revenue to him.
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winwave
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Benson could never make anything off of Tulane games or any other event . He got all revenue from his game days. You're just wrong on this and always have been. There are various lease options. Tulane chose the cheapest. The HS's chose to pay more rent in order to get revenue from parking and concessions, etc..
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 1:44 pm Benson could never make anything off of Tulane games or any other event . He got all revenue from his game days. You're just wrong on this and always have been. There are various lease options. Tulane chose the cheapest. The HS's chose to pay more rent in order to get revenue from parking and concessions, etc..
Are you kidding. It was one of the greatest leases ever signed in sports. We paid practically nothing to play in the Dome for over 40 years. Only Benson’s deal with the State of La trumps that.

The floor amount after the initial $10000 per game +5% which was the $12,500 per game is what we started with. That number would have been increased each year by the bureau’s commodity index. The index varied slightly keeping the rental amount at $12,500 per game. The second part of the rent was based on attendance. It would have increased rent dramatically if we would have had attendance above the threshold - which we never did.
The check for superdome rental each year was approx. $70000.
It was the best deal ever for Tulane - no event anywhere could match it.
In comparison, we paid $35000 for one basketball ball game in the arena.
The 1975 contract stayed in force because it was a perpetual roll over with no escalation.
Next to getting out of the SEC, financially leaving the Dome was Tulane athletics biggest mistake. Benson has a separate lease agreement with the District. The District turns over all revenue to him. The big money is made on Suite revenue and Benson gets all of that for every event but SuperBowls.
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tpstulane
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There were no various lease options. The lease had two parts to determine the rent - there were no other lease options in the Superdome contract - the Dome (Benson) received all concessions, parking, and advertising - we kept program and merchandise sales - Tulane was not allowed to post ad signs in the dome - all those $ to the Dome - Tulane kept all ticket sales for part 1 of the contract - never got to part 2 which prorated sales above the floor - we also paid 1/2 of police traffic control and paid the cost of end zone painting - all total the costs ran $70000-$75000 for the entire season depending on a 5 or 6 game home schedule.
No other lease options.
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winwave
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Not kidding. I never said we didn't have a good lease. I said we chose the cheapest one which based on how they let the program go to shit was good. There are other lease options as the one HS championships took proves. I have posted the article about their lease every time you have come back on here and claimed that Benson gets every penny from every event. He doesn't.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
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6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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Just concede. Yes other entities have different contracts with the Dome today obviously - But the Tulane contract was initiated in 1975 the first Year the Dome was available. It was beneficial at the time for all parties and became hugely beneficial to Tulane years later. There is only one option in it - the fact that there would be no New Orleans Saints without Tulane, the sweetheart deal was given. Once again there was only one rental option in the Tulane-Superdome contract.
Tulane scored the lease of a lifetime. Just concede and call it a day.
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LOL. How pathetic. Nothing to concede. The HS Championships have been held there for 40 years. That overlaps with Tulane's lease. The High schools had a different lease. Once again you can't admit you have tried to mislead Tulane fans on a substantive issue. Things never change. You can try to yoggie this site all you want but it won't work.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:44 pm LOL. How pathetic. Nothing to concede. The HS Championships have been held there for 40 years. That overlaps with Tulane's lease. The High schools had a different lease. Once again you can't admit you have tried to mislead Tulane fans on a substantive issue. Things never change. You can try to yoggie this site all you want but it won't work.
Wrong again. HS Prep Championships came after our 1975 lease in 1981 and had nothing to do with Tulane’s lease.
Trying to divert again. This is all about Tulane’s lease.
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The opportunity was always there. As usual Tulane took the low road. So do you.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:12 am The opportunity was always there. As usual Tulane took the low road. So do you.
What opportunity? Please explain?
Tulane had one of the greatest sweetheart leases of all time. They could never get anything near that today. They paid virtually nothing for 40 plus years to use one of the most premiere stadiums in the country.
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We were actually drawing good crowds when we moved in. But again this isn't about Tulane's lease. This is bout the fact that Benson doesn't own the Dome. But we all know you'll never admit you're wrong.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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tpstulane
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winwave wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 12:20 am We were actually drawing good crowds when we moved in. But again this isn't about Tulane's lease. This is bout the fact that Benson doesn't own the Dome. But we all know you'll never admit you're wrong.
No Benson doesn’t own the Dome. He has a better deal than the owner.
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The Dome is doing just fine.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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since I bashed him when he was alive, I will continue to bash Benson...in my mind, the man was a thief...he stole almost 30 million dollars from the tax payers of Louisiana in the form of a "loan' which he never repaid...ole Tommy Boy was almost 30 mill short of the purchase price, the morons in elective office "loaned' him the money to complete the deal...it has never been repaid, time of the state to begin asking his "estate" for the bucks.....
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