What Improvements and How Much???

[OmahaDawg]

[quote:cb39e6306e="DeepGreen"]


How did we pay for it? Sold corporate ads. Pretty simple stuff.

Simple stuff that the administration at Tech just doesn't seem to be able to grasp.

And I agree wholehartedly about stadium expansion/renovations. You don't always wait until you fill up your old stadium. In Memphis, the Redbirds AAA baseball team draws tons of fans becasue of the game day experience created by an outstanding stadium. People go, not just to watch the game, and not just because the home team is a winning one, but to experience the stadium and the whole game day experience. Its not that big of a stadium, but man, it is damn NICE! Before, Memphis had a decent baseball team, but they played in a $hithole of a stadium, and nobody went. To that end, I think any work Tech does to the stadium should not be to just add as many seats as we can afford, but to enhance the "feel" and "experience" of the place, while perhaps adding a few seats in the process. We don't need it to be that big, but it needs to be really nice, with a big-time "feel" See Southern Miss' stadium expansion plans, for example.

Also, here is a picture and link to Memphis' Autozone Park if you're interested:



http://www.memphisredbirds.com/Ballpark/tours.asp

http://www.memphisredbirds.com/Ballpark/azpfacts.asp



[/quote:cb39e6306e]

Wanna know why Memphis got a new stadium...because the team they had LEFT. The old owner tried for years to get a new stadium with no luck. He got Jackson TN to build one and Memphis flipped out. To their luck AAA Louisville needed somewhere to go becasue another AAA franchise was moving to Louisville therefore kicking out the old Louisville team. Memphis got their team because they agreed to build the stadium. They did it right and are drawing crowds (they are trying to make $$$ now although it has been tough paying the bills for them).

FYI

Martie

[OmahaDawg]

[quote:8906f5bf3b="Memdawg"]Cool Pics Nathan...

Never seen those before...

I'm in that crowd drinking beer and eatin' some bbq nachos, and sausage and cheese plate, and hotdogs, and bbq sandwiches from Rendezvous, and bbq pizza, and hotdogs and pizza, and cotton candy, and bbq chicken from Rendezvous.... Did I say bbq?

Amen on the BBQ, brother! I was in town this past weekend and went to the game on saturday. It sucked that the game got rained out, but per your endorsement I tried some of the BBQ nachos....MAN! Those things are fantastic and almost made the trip in the rain worth it!

Sausage and cheese plate got a big thumbs-up too!

But if you come to Tech game, you can get a bargain basement hot dog just like the ones they serve at Jr. High basketball games. Although I have had turkey legs at JAS that were pretty darn good. They could probably make a lot of extra money if they had a little more variety in the concessions. Perhaps they should work out deals with local restaurants to serve food in addition to the concessions they have now. I for one would love some Ponchatoula's gumbo, Monjuni's cheesey bread, or Dowling's BBQ at a Tech game. It would give a lot of variety in the food, be great advertising for the local businesses, make more money, and give a great local "feel" to the games. Man, I can't believe I just came up with such a great idea! Must be all the food talk. Someone needs to suggest this idea to someone at Tech who can do something with it. Any volunteers?[/quote:8906f5bf3b]

It is all about Food Service. Anyone know what the current agreement is???

If marketing / Sponsorships were involved, then the people that want their product sold or marketed would pay BIG $$ for it (if done right). Here in Bham we get nearly 225-250K for our nealry 500K people that come thru our stadium each year. The people want their product sold, then they have to pay...
Examples:
we get $14K+$10K in free product from Hot Dog vendor, $100K from Coke, $3K from Funnle Cake, $4K from Dippin Dots, $10K from Frito Lay and on and on...

Martie

[OmahaDawg]

.......

[OmahaDawg]

And if you didn't know, the Memphis Redbirds are a non-profit organization and give back way more to the community than any other entity in town.

The BBQ Nachos are great, as are the Red Hots!

All the food is great...Ovations does a good job as do the local vendors at AutoZone Park...

mmmm stuff

[OmahaDawg]

CHC,

I happen to have the former CFO of the Redbirds standing over my shoulder as I type... WE JUST HIRED HIM!!!!!

He's ok for a yankee and a UCONN man!!!!

He says your posts re. Memphis are right on!!! No one will ever "grow a set"... Therefore, it's Briarcrest forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, he also says the Techsters need to drop to Div 2, so they will have a real chance to win the big one again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are trying to drop down aren't we...LOL

[Bossdawg]

Is there such a thing as the BIG one in DII

[NathanDarby]

[quote:6a8f55c449="NathanDarby"][quote:6a8f55c449="Memdawg"]Cool Pics Nathan...

Never seen those before...

I'm in that crowd drinking beer and eatin' some bbq nachos, and sausage and cheese plate, and hotdogs, and bbq sandwiches from Rendezvous, and bbq pizza, and hotdogs and pizza, and cotton candy, and bbq chicken from Rendezvous.... Did I say bbq?

Amen on the BBQ, brother! I was in town this past weekend and went to the game on saturday. It sucked that the game got rained out, but per your endorsement I tried some of the BBQ nachos....MAN! Those things are fantastic and almost made the trip in the rain worth it!

Sausage and cheese plate got a big thumbs-up too!

But if you come to Tech game, you can get a bargain basement hot dog just like the ones they serve at Jr. High basketball games. Although I have had turkey legs at JAS that were pretty darn good. They could probably make a lot of extra money if they had a little more variety in the concessions. Perhaps they should work out deals with local restaurants to serve food in addition to the concessions they have now. I for one would love some Ponchatoula's gumbo, Monjuni's cheesey bread, or Dowling's BBQ at a Tech game. It would give a lot of variety in the food, be great advertising for the local businesses, make more money, and give a great local "feel" to the games. Man, I can't believe I just came up with such a great idea! Must be all the food talk. Someone needs to suggest this idea to someone at Tech who can do something with it. Any volunteers?[/quote:6a8f55c449]

It is all about Food Service. Anyone know what the current agreement is???

If marketing / Sponsorships were involved, then the people that want their product sold or marketed would pay BIG $$ for it (if done right). Here in Bham we get nearly 225-250K for our nealry 500K people that come thru our stadium each year. The people want their product sold, then they have to pay...
Examples:
we get $14K+$10K in free product from Hot Dog vendor, $100K from Coke, $3K from Funnle Cake, $4K from Dippin Dots, $10K from Frito Lay and on and on...

Martie[/quote:6a8f55c449]

So you're saying the companies donate the food for free, just for the sake of having their products and advertising placed in front of a buying public? I guess it is part of their payment for the advertising, correct? A sweet deal, since they can give y'all food that cost them, say, $5000 to produce, but you sell it for $15,000. That essentially allows them to pay $5000 out of pocket for $15,000 worth of advertising, right?

So how would you propose to carry this idea over to Tech? Are there any colleges that use similar arrangements that you know of? I don't know if a small operation like Minjuni's or Poncatoula's would go for something like that. I don't know that they would recoup the costs of a lot of donated food from the increase in their business advertising at the games would create. I would think they would be more agreeable to selling their product and dividing the profits with Tech for the priveledge of selling to a captive audience at games. The bottom line is Tech could really use some improvements in the concessions department, and I can see a lot of potential for increased revenue and community goodwill in the process of them doing so, IF IT IS DONE RIGHT!

Tech clearly isn't doing enough to generate funds for both operating expenses and facility improvements. Corporate sponsorship money reported on the operating budget actually DECREASED from 2000 to 2003. If Tech personnel are either unwilling, incapable, or being prevented from doing what it takes, changes must be made.

Tech's facility improvements can and should be largely funded from corporate sponsponships that include stadium naming rights. Naming rights are often paid for with an initial lump-sum payment and then smaller annual payments. For Aillet Stadium the initial naming rights payment plus other specific outside fund-raising could be used to start a press box/luxury suite project and a jumbotron could also be included. Both of those projects would then produce additional revenue once completed, and those amounts could go toward other improvements and maintenance.

All of this likely can be done with minimal impact on funding for the annual operating budget. Many advocating a Sun Belt move try to base their point on shifting money from current expenses into facilities. But we're only looking at a $300K-$400K per year difference since both revenues and expenses would decrease between the WAC and Sun Belt. That's not nearly enough by itself to fund all of the needed projects in an acceptable timeframe. That would still leave Tech behind where it needs to be, and Tech will never get there until it fully utilizes all potential revenue sources.

[oledawg66]

RC - With the reduced travel, we could use the money saved and our ho monies to improve our facilities. Believe me, I would much rather see us develop some corporate partners and stop prostituting our selves to the BCS but that just doesn't seem to be part of our "plan." One of our biggest problems is our 1AA stadium with its high school concessions and should be a major priority.

RC - With the reduced travel, we could use the money saved and our ho monies to improve our facilities. Believe me, I would much rather see us develop some corporate partners and stop prostituting our selves to the BCS but that just doesn't seem to be part of our "plan." One of our biggest problems is our 1AA stadium with its high school concessions and should be a major priority.

$300K-$400K extra per year in savings for the Sun Belt over the WAC might be enough to cover basic maintenance, but it couldn't fund the major projects that are needed now.