Here is a school that once thought bringing in Louisiana Tech was the biggest game in their 1-A history. Now they are building indoor facilities,selling out their stadium and adding suites, club seating, and upgrading all around.
It makes me sick to think that the overall lack of vision and leadership in our athletic program has let schools like Boise and Marshall pass us up.
BSU to move forward on indoor facility design
The State Board of Education gave Boise State permission Monday to spend up to $80,000 to hire a consultant to design plans for the indoor practice facility that football coach Dan Hawkins craves.
"When we renegotiated coach Hawkins' contract, he told me the one missing ingredient from our sports program was the indoor facility," BSU president Bob Kustra told the board at a monthly meeting in downtown Boise.
Kustra was joined by athletic director Gene Bleymaier and Stacy Pearson, the vice president for finance and administration, in making the request.
The next step in the process is to hire the consultant, and then return to the board in a few months to ask for final approval. The likely timetable for that measure is April.
"What we will bring back is the full project and how we want to proceed," Bleymaier said, adding that the proposal will include all of the specifics, including how it will be funded and where it will be located.
The project — with a full-sized football field and an estimated cost of $8 million — most likely will be built between the Boise River and the north end zone of Bronco Stadium. BSU hopes to break ground this summer, and construction could last six to eight months.
Bleymaier told board members the school has raised $3.27 million. The university plans to raise additional money through ticket surcharges, reserved parking sales and pre-game parties.
Also Monday, Boise State unveiled results of a feasibility analysis regarding its proposed expansion of Bronco Stadium, which could happen in time for the 2007 football season.
The analysis, which was conducted by Conventions Sports & Leisure International at a cost of $75,000, showed there is significant interest in private suites, indoor club seats and the expansion of general stadium seating.
Here are the findings of the study, based on contact with 1,033 booster association members, football season ticket holders, local corporations, top program supporters and game-day fans:
• Bronco Stadium can support 25 to 35 private suits that could seat 16 people apiece. The cost for each suite would be approximately $40,000 per year (tickets not included).
• Bronco Stadium can support 360 to 950 indoor club seats, ranging in price from $1,500 to $2,500 (tickets not included).
• Premium seating could generate $1.67 million a year in revenue that would be available to fund the project, which could cost $32 million to $44 million and take 30 years to finance.
The funding potential over 30 years is $32.2 million, according to the study. The gap for additional funding could be made up from facility naming rights, capital gifts, ticket surcharges and vendor rights.
• In regard to the general expansion of Bronco Stadium, the study said demand from BAA members and season ticket-holders could support 1,750 additional season tickets and 1,350 additional individual tickets per game. That would produce an estimated annual revenue of $471,000, the study said.
With the potential of additional ticket sales from the general public in new areas of the stadium, BSU anticipates $7 million in potential funding over 30 years.
The estimated cost of expanding Bronco Stadium could hit $15 million. The $8 million gap would be funded through ticket sales, naming rights, capital gifts, ticket surcharges and vendor rights, according to the study.
• Based on naming rights of other collegiate football stadiums, BSU could get $445,000 annually for the naming rights of Bronco Stadium.
• The study pointed out that the region has 280 corporate headquarters with $5 million or more in annual sales and 25 or more employees, and 493 corporate branches with 25 or more employees, that do not donate to the Bronco Athletic Association or hold football season tickets.
"It will be imperative that premium seating marketing efforts aggressively target this market segment in addition to BAA members and current football season ticket holders,'' the study indicated.
There was no board action on the potential expansion of Bronco Stadium. Monday's presentation simply was to keep the board informed of any progress, Bleymaier said.
"We're going through the procedures and the proper steps," he said.
The next step for BSU is to start marketing the project, which could be completed no earlier than the 2007 football season, Bleymaier said.
The big news of the day was the first step in making the indoor facility a reality.
Kustra told the board members of recruiting breakfasts he's attended and how that facility is going to make a difference.
"We are right now on the verge of being able to compete, team for team, with any team in the Pac-10 to our west," Kustra said. "There's just no question these kids we see now on Saturday mornings (on recruiting visits) are not here because they can't go to the Pac-10 or get stuck playing the second string in the Pac-10, they are coming to us because they want to play at Boise State as opposed to UCLA.''
But there are kids who "still look at schools who have facilities that can make them the best athletes they can be. Frankly, (the indoor facility is) more important than stadium suites as far as I can tell, and I think it's more important than filling in the seats around the stadium to make it 45,000 instead of 30,000."
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Originally Posted by hookdown
