Facilities and Arena discussion

[JimP]

Binghamton University has incredible baseball facilities after a $60 million donation. I attended a game this season and the crowd was tiny despite it. There were a couple of furries down a row and to my right.

 

[Old Man]

Solely from a ROI perspective, we’ll never get back the probable millions of dollars it will take to build a new stadium. For those that are fans of the baseball team I totally get it, but I think the argument that there’s this massive group of people who will attend games that haven’t in the past because our facilities are subpar isn’t rooted in reality. I’d rather spend whatever the minimum needed to renovate the current field and pour the rest of that money into basketball.

If ROI was an actual consideration with regard to college sports, most sports programs, at virtually all schools, would be shut down.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Solely from a ROI perspective, we’ll never get back the probable millions of dollars it will take to build a new stadium. For those that are fans of the baseball team I totally get it, but I think the argument that there’s this massive group of people who will attend games that haven’t in the past because our facilities are subpar isn’t rooted in reality. I’d rather spend whatever the minimum needed to renovate the current field and pour the rest of that money into basketball.

I'll play devil's advocate here and say that we need to get all of our facilities into at least the later third of the 20th century if not purely for image reasons. Part of shedding the commuter school image is going to consist of having at least respectable facilities for every sport. For the love of God they need to replace Mason Stadium and the Field House. They're such prominent eye sores that so much traffic passes by.

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

ALL of our facilities need to be updated (not just the ones the mens and womens basketball team uses)

 

[GMUgemini]

ALL of our facilities need to be updated (not just the ones the mens and womens basketball team uses)

Other than maybe swimming and diving. The aquatic center is pretty top notch. Oh, and the RAC is still in good shape (volleyball and wrestling).

But yes, the soccer stadium and track need to be decoupled, the baseball field needs to be completely redone. I haven’t seen where we play tennis (unless that’s the tennis courts by the RAC and then yikes, yes, I’ve seen neighborhoods with better tennis facilities).

Does field hockey use the soccer stadium?

 

[Pablo]

Other than maybe swimming and diving. The aquatic center is pretty top notch. Oh, and the RAC is still in good shape (volleyball and wrestling).

But yes, the soccer stadium and track need to be decoupled, the baseball field needs to be completely redone. I haven’t seen where we play tennis (unless that’s the tennis courts by the RAC and then yikes, yes, I’ve seen neighborhoods with better tennis facilities).

Does field hockey use the soccer stadium?

GMU does not have a field hockey team. Besides soccer and track & field, the stadium is used by the women's lacrosse team and the Old Glory DC rugby team.

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

Where are we getting the money to fund all of these new facilities?

 

[Ben Chwarmer]

Solely from a ROI perspective, we’ll never get back the probable millions of dollars it will take to build a new stadium. For those that are fans of the baseball team I totally get it, but I think the argument that there’s this massive group of people who will attend games that haven’t in the past because our facilities are subpar isn’t rooted in reality. I’d rather spend whatever the minimum needed to renovate the current field and pour the rest of that money into basketball.

I think the bigger issue isn’t casual fan attendance, it’s corporate sponsorship dollars. A new stadium could help with naming rights, premium hospitality, and donor opportunities, but from a pure ROI standpoint, it’s hard to see those revenues ever covering the millions it would cost to build.

La Salle is a good example because they creatively rethought the space. By reorienting the court and reconfiguring seating, they added premium seating and hospitality areas that generate sponsorship and donor revenue without the cost of a new venue.

La Salle University Unveils Basketball Arena Renovation Project - La Salle University Athletics

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University announced Wednesday the unveiling of its arena renovation project that will elevate the new home for Explorers men's and women's

goexplorers.com

 

[jkh1978]

But why am I seeing very little corporate sponsorship? Too much going to DC teams? I’m not trying to get a hate discussion going I just don’t see why companies aren’t throwing money at athletics. I thought Wegmans was to be a sponsor but never saw it.

 

[Ben Chwarmer]

But why am I seeing very little corporate sponsorship? Too much going to DC teams? I’m not trying to get a hate discussion going I just don’t see why companies aren’t throwing money at athletics. I thought Wegmans was to be a sponsor but never saw it.

Because they don’t get enough out of it. They can’t wine and dine their clients on metal folding chairs.

 

[Jack Strop]

But why am I seeing very little corporate sponsorship? Too much going to DC teams? I’m not trying to get a hate discussion going I just don’t see why companies aren’t throwing money at athletics. I thought Wegmans was to be a sponsor but never saw it.

For one, a company has its own ROI to consider when entering into a sponsor relationship. If no one is there to see the company's logo then ROI is not worth the dole.