UNCC 49'ers new 45 mil stadium

[golfnut69]

well I tried to link the pic...45 mil...14 months to build

[JDTulane]

So 45 mil only bought them 12,000 seats with ability to expand to 40,000. And we want to spend 60 mil for 45,000 expand to (?) ?



Sounds like Tulane needs to rethink the budget. If I hear the number 30,000 I will throw up.

[HoustonWave]

$45MM for 12,000 seats? Are the seats gold plated? That's a bad bad bad deal. Surely one can do better than that in the current economic environment when almost nothing is being built. The lastest I've heard is that we are looking at the low 30's with expansion possibilities built into the design-- with very creative use of space and materials. Also, keep in mind, the number of seats doesn't necessarily equal the capacity of a stadium--think about it.

[golfnut69]

the article I read did not have a seating capacity noted...I agree..45 mil for 12,000 seats !?!?!?....

[RWR]

We're trying to build a 25,000 max stadium for $60 million.And when Tulane says 25,000 it means 20,000. Like 3,600 is really closer to 2,500 and 5,000 is closer to 4,000. Sounds like the rest of our goals. Build on the cheap w/no place to park and therefore no place to tailgate.

[msdos]

Doing an internet search, I found that there is no longer a stadium capacity minimum for D1A competition. Then I got this sinking feeling that RWR is going to be right.

[sader24]

Everything I've heard that was even from a remotely reputable source has been 25,000. I'm not saying that's right, I'm just saying I have yet to hear anyone with any know suggest that it's even 30 much less low 30's. I am admittedly less in the know now than I was even 5 years ago, but that's the only number I've heard. I also think it's going to be interesting when they build this stadium so we can tailgate and then are forced to build 5+ story parking garages to accomadate parking like the Superdome already has and there is nowhere to tailgate. I've parked in garages for every baseball game I've been to in a 4-5,000 person stadium, how's a 25,000 person stadium going to be different. Am I missing something?

[Green Wave]

Everything I've heard that was even from a remotely reputable source has been 25,000. I'm not saying that's right, I'm just saying I have yet to hear anyone with any know suggest that it's even 30 much less low 30's.

[quote]A 25,000- to 35,000-seat on-campus football stadium is in the works, and if the funds are secured, the facility will be built on the existing football practice field, according to a source close to the athletic department as well as longtime Tulane supporter Scott Slatten.[/quote]

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... s_foo.html

The only printable source I have found cooberating 25K as one of the possibilities not the possibility.

[sader24]

Do you have a printable source corroborating 38,000? As far as I can tell there aren't any printable sources corroborating anything.

[Green Wave]

Do you have a printable source corroborating 38,000? As far as I can tell there aren't any printable sources corroborating anything.

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... s_foo.html

25,000 to 35,000 thats it. If you have have a legit news agency saying something different, I would like to see it.

[HoustonWave]

From what I've been told, the final seating capacity will be driven by the fund raising. The good news, is the fund raising seems to be going quite well, which should put us closer to the high end of any range. Plans indicate the OCS will have suites and private boxes--I strongly recommended generous use of private boxes. It's coming--and sooner than many would have expected.

[msdos]

I'm sorry to pry, but

From what I've been told, the final seating capacity will be driven by the fund raising.

By whom?

The good news, is the fund raising seems to be going quite well

Based on?

It's coming--and sooner than many would have expected.

I'm always leery of "insider information" when there are no sources.

If it's a rumor, please indicate. I've been enjoying how this is a no BS zone for Tulane Athletics, and would like ot keep it that way.

[jonathanjoseph]

From what I've been told, the final seating capacity will be driven by the fund raising. The good news, is the fund raising seems to be going quite well, which should put us closer to the high end of any range. Plans indicate the OCS will have suites and private boxes--I strongly recommended generous use of private boxes. It's coming--and sooner than many would have expected.

So let me get this straight. If fundraising didn't go well, they would go ahead with a stadium in the 25K range? And this is the kind of leadership you are ok with making these decisions?

That's not exactly how you should decide the capacity for a football stadium.

[JTLiuzza]

So let me get this straight. If fundraising didn't go well, they would go ahead with a stadium in the 25K range? And this is the kind of leadership you are ok with making these decisions?

That's not exactly how you should decide the capacity for a football stadium.

Absolutely right. If HW's info is correct, add that to the long list of reasons why Cowen should be laughed out of New Orleans.

For Cowen this would be his out. Remember that he is a skunk. So when he shows up with plans for a high school stadium, he can say, "It's not my fault. If you wanted a bigger stadium you should have ponied up the money for it."

[Fred Dowler]

From what I've been told, the final seating capacity will be driven by the fund raising. The good news, is the fund raising seems to be going quite well, which should put us closer to the high end of any range. Plans indicate the OCS will have suites and private boxes--I strongly recommended generous use of private boxes. It's coming--and sooner than many would have expected.

The whole key is the $20 million or so size donation from a single individual.

If they were to rely mainly on getting numbers of modest size donations from different individuals from a broad group of people that approach would fail. There isn't nearly the group of people of alumni and others of sufficient size to make that work.

Ergo, if fund-raising is going that well, it can only be going well because the one person has made the large donation that would get the whole endeavor over the hump.

Now either that event has transpired or it hasn't.

I say that it hasn't happened yet, i.e. that, at most, they're still out there looking for the person to make that donation but haven't found him or her just yet.

It just seems like, given the devotion of this certain contingent of people to this concept of that there simply has to be the on-campus football stadium, if that large donation had actually been made and they had knowledge that it had been made they would be crowing about it having happened from the rooftops.

Just the vague talk of fundraising "going well" sounds a bit like wishful thinking.

If anything such talk is par-for-the-course tactics of Cowen/Dickson who emphasize the packaging and smoke and mirrors over the actual on-field product.

A new stadium with the same-old program that doesn't win games will not be a major boost to things but rather, especially if it's the 25,000 seat size that's been much talked about, could well be and probably will be an(other) embarrassment (and even if it's only about 25,000 seats -- which I highly doubt that there's any kind of space for anything much larger than -- parking is still probably going to be a horrible fiasco which, when it was a fiasco for the opening night of a 5,000 seat baseball stadium, you've got to figure that it would be for something several multiples of that size).

[HoustonWave]

My sources are from within the adminsitration, and I consider them reliable. That said, it will or will not happen. Indications of significant progress in the fundraising will be evident when they go public, with about 30% of the funding still outstanding. I expect that will be before the end of the year. Given expansion is built into the design, it is not unreasonable to base the initial seating and capacity on the levels of funding realized. Yes it could all be a scam, but I don't think so--time will tell.

[msdos]

That said, it will or will not happen.

umm...yep

[Green Wave]

Does original stadium size really matter?

I have compiled graphs of old Tulane and present SEC stadiums listing their original sizes and their final capacities. All stadiums are on campus or a short walk away from campus.

I have found that original stadium size has very little to do with final stadium size and much more to do with program success. As football became more popular and teams began to draw crowds the stadiums grew to match the fan numbers. Of the 13 stadiums listed, only Kentucky’s stadium started off larger than 35k and only two were 35K. The remaining ten started off 30K or under. The smallest original stadium size was Tennessee with a capacity or 3,200.

In the end, Program success will dictate what size the stadium will end up as. In the mean time, an OCS will help stop the hemoraging and provide Tulane with a reachable break even point. Hope it happens soon since the only stip put on the program in 2003 was for it not to lose money.

BTW

The vote by the board in 2003 to keep football D1 was unanimous.

[Fred Dowler]

The "unanimous" vote was done strictly for appearances and, besides, President Cowen has by now appointed almost all if not all of the Board and even has voting powers himself. The Tulane of 2011 has but one Chief and all of the rest are mere tribe members.

[Green Wave]

The "unanimous" vote was done strictly for appearances and, besides, President Cowen has by now appointed almost all if not all of the Board and even has voting powers himself. The Tulane of 2011 has but one Chief and all of the rest are mere tribe members.

So your saying that the board lied about the vote? Based on what exactly?

Let me be clear here Fred. Cowen as President does not appoint board members. He has one vote cant be chair and his position as President is accountable to the board not the other way around.

[Fred Dowler]

I'm not saying that anyone lied. Only that I understood that what was done in the "unanimous" vote was done for appearances.

Also, when has the whole Board not accepted anyone that Cowen nominated?

If anyone thinks that Tulane is not run like a corporation now with Cowen as CEO they're on another planet.

[JTLiuzza]

That said, it will or will not happen.

umm...yep