New student fee to redo Arizona stadium

[Newportcat]

I 100000% agree with this fee and keep in mind I am a Wildcat Club member so I pay a fee to the athletics department every year. $200 is nothing and athletics are an important part of the University of Arizona experience. They could leverage this guaranteed income to raise a ton of debt to pay for the badly needed improvements to Arizona Stadium.

Maybe even get an indoor facility that the Rec could use too!

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/ ... letics-fee

[Merkin]

State cuts funding for academics, but the school raises the fees for athletics?

[azgreg]

[gronk4heisman]

Where is the money from this lucrative Pac 12 Network deal going? Not to the players that much is clear. I have always been proud that for the most part our athletic department is self sustaining and would not be a fan of this fee. Why should people who could not give two shits about athletics pay for someone to have a seat back at a football game?

[Merkin]

UA AD made a $4M profit last FY.

[azpenguin]

State cuts funding for academics, but the school raises the fees for athletics?

ASU has a fee, and I don't know if anyone has challenged it in court yet (I don't find anything online showing any challenges.) But I wouldn't be surprised if someone did, under the state constitution's "as free as possible" clause. The state has been able to survive challenges on tuition; a mandatory athletics fee might be a different animal.

[azcat49]

This is a tough one. On one side you need to keep up, but at what costs. Not sure if just charging the under graduates might be a solution but it is tough to be several million short annually in the facility race wars.

I do have to agree though it makes little sense to leverage the students to remake AZ stadium. Hey, Merk, maybe it's time to book Fleetwood Mac again and make some dough

[Salty]

Asu has a fee. We need a fee to remain competitive.

I had to pay a fee for the art and music departments when I was a student, as well as other costs for construction around campus that I had no involvement with. This is not an unfair fee.

[TucsonClip]

This is pretty common and has been over the last 20 years on campuses.

[Newportcat]

8 out of the 10 public universities in the PAC 12 have a yearly fee. We are talking about $200 a year. The students get to have a Zona Zoo pass too

When I went to U of A I could care less about our dance program or Theater program or etc etc but my tuition dollars went to that.

People pay a fee in their tuition for the REC Center but tons of kids never use that. Is that fair? Actually I remember they raised money to improve the REC center by charging students a fee, the vast majority of which were never going to be still students to use the REC Center.

The Athletics department is the face of our University. Students pay basically nothing to go to Football or Basketball games but get prime seats. To pay $200 is totally fair and reasonable.

Zanoni said the idea of making it so the whole student body has some sort of access to ZonaZoo is unrealistic, and that regardless, this is still an enormous burden for students who already have trouble paying tuition and living costs.

This guy sounds like a great future politician...$200 a year is Enormous

[btfd16]

I graduate in May so have at it GB! haha

[ASUHATER!]

Well you don't "get to have" a zona zoo pass. Gotta pay for that too.

Not a huge fan of thr fee but nearly every other big athletic program nationwide has it and if it helps the football program, then we might as well.

[84Cat]

Why don't one of you new grads create the next Nike so we can have all the nice things???

[Newportcat]

Well you don't "get to have" a zona zoo pass. Gotta pay for that too.

According to Byrne, the athletics fee would replace the current ZonaZoo membership fee. That way, incoming students who pay it would get an automatic ZonaZoo membership.

ASUHATER WRONG AGAIN!!!!

[ASUHATER!]

Well you don't "get to have" a zona zoo pass. Gotta pay for that too.

According to Byrne, the athletics fee would replace the current ZonaZoo membership fee. That way, incoming students who pay it would get an automatic ZonaZoo membership.

ASUHATER WRONG AGAIN!!!!

Actually no. You were talking about students currently "getting to have" a zona zoo pass. So, actually I was completely correct.

[Merkin]

Didn't UA students vote for those other fees? Don't force it on the students like ASU did.

[Newportcat]

Well you don't "get to have" a zona zoo pass. Gotta pay for that too.

According to Byrne, the athletics fee would replace the current ZonaZoo membership fee. That way, incoming students who pay it would get an automatic ZonaZoo membership.

ASUHATER WRONG AGAIN!!!!

Actually no. You were talking about students currently "getting to have" a zona zoo pass. So, actually I was completely correct.

When did I say Current Students??? I said Students who pay the $200 fee (based on the article a student who pays the fee has to be a future student as it can not be a current student based upon how they are structuring it) will get a Zona Zoo pass, it will be automatic. Current students will still have the option as the article states to be a zona zoo member but the fee will not be forced on them.

[Newportcat]

Didn't UA students vote for those other fees? Don't force it on the students like ASU did.

Current students will not be charged the fee so nothing is getting forced on them so then they would be voting on a fee that they do not pay for anyways. If a prospective student feels the fee is excessive or wrong, they can simply choose not to attend the University of Arizona.

By the way 99.9% of the people on this board would all pay for a Zona Zoo pass in college so none of us would have a problem with paying this fee if we were starting school in the fall.

In fact If you told me tuition was $100,000 a year and I could attend U of A again for four years starting in the fall I would sign up asap, take on all the student debt and be the happiest person in the world.

[Salty]

The fee is no different from current students having to pay for construction costs for dorms that won't be completed until after they've left school, or any other improvement.

This is an investment that will have a positive impact on the future of the school.

[Salty]

Well you don't "get to have" a zona zoo pass. Gotta pay for that too.

According to Byrne, the athletics fee would replace the current ZonaZoo membership fee. That way, incoming students who pay it would get an automatic ZonaZoo membership.

ASUHATER WRONG AGAIN!!!!

Actually no. You were talking about students currently "getting to have" a zona zoo pass. So, actually I was completely correct.

You are such a dweeb dude.

[Sage&Silver]

I remember ASU's defense was "everyone else does it" and there was a list available... and Arizona was one of a very small minority of public schools without an athletics fee.

State cuts funding for academics, but the school raises the fees for athletics?

ASU has a fee, and I don't know if anyone has challenged it in court yet (I don't find anything online showing any challenges.) But I wouldn't be surprised if someone did, under the state constitution's "as free as possible" clause. The state has been able to survive challenges on tuition; a mandatory athletics fee might be a different animal.

IIR, last year ABOR threatened to sue over that wording, but nothing ever came of it. Tuition hikes are so painful because it was nearly free not to long ago. Even though tuition is 6x what it was 15 years ago, it's still about as cheap as college comes.

[scumdevils86]

Didn't UA students vote for those other fees? Don't force it on the students like ASU did.

Current students will not be charged the fee so nothing is getting forced on them so then they would be voting on a fee that they do not pay for anyways. If a prospective student feels the fee is excessive or wrong, they can simply choose not to attend the University of Arizona.

By the way 99.9% of the people on this board would all pay for a Zona Zoo pass in college so none of us would have a problem with paying this fee if we were starting school in the fall.

In fact If you told me tuition was $100,000 a year and I could attend U of A again for four years starting in the fall I would sign up asap, take on all the student debt and be the happiest person in the world.

This is massively out of touch and ridiculous. You probably went to uofa when tuition was about $500-700 a semester tops. It's over $5500 now at least. For most people taking on that kind of debt is the same as automatically signing away A third of your income for 5 to 10 years after you graduate. Come on.

[Newportcat]

I paid out of state tuition graduating in 2003 and u of a cost me about $19k a year. Out of state students provide the vast majority of tuition revenue to u of a too given half the school is out of state and when I was there it was a little over double in state tuition

We are talking about $200 a year. Adding an extra $800 in total debt payable over 10 years is not crushing someone

I have a friend who attended private schools his whole life and is now married but they are not planning on having kids. We have talked about how he feels it's unfair he pays same taxes as me given a lot of his taxes goes to education. I tell him tough welcome to life.

Again if someone thinks it's unfair to pay that fee then don't go to U of A as this will not affect any current student only future students that have the choice to go to u of a or not



And I was being sarcastic by the way

[catgrad97]

The people who complain about paying taxes for education are selfish, single-minded people I will never understand. They're looking out for No. 1, and No. 1 only.

[Newportcat]

The people who complain about paying taxes for education are selfish, single-minded people I will never understand. They're looking out for No. 1, and No. 1 only.

Couldn't agree more.

[RazorsEdgeAZ]

HATE this proposal. HATED it when ASU implemented it. Think it borders on being unethical. There I said it. And it's not about rationalizing the cost of it or the debt amount or the that it's $10, $200 or $1,00 more a year. And just because it's becoming more common with universities, STILL doesn't mean it's right. Just can mean more universities feel safe they can get away with it.

It's the principles.

Just because AZ "Athletics" need to be competitive or the Stadium needs upgrading do I think it's proper to then apply a fee to ALL students to pay an "Athletic" fee. And in return, they can go to a game. But Only if they are the first x number that arrive to the game.

Vast majority of students will never go to any game. Or many games. Or maybe just one sport. Sounds crazy to me but that's me. But it's still elective to a student to want to like sports or not. Assume most students are going to AZ for an education. Not the sports. If Students want a sports experience, then great pay for it. Especially when AZ boasts about being a self-funded athletic department. No drag financially on the university side of AZ. Calling ESPN and IMG and Donors. AZ athletics hit a AZ record $100 million in revenue 2 years ago. $100 Million.

But apply an Athletic fee to students who don't ever want to go to an AZ sporting event? Never have a desire to go to an AZ sporting event (and it's not wrong not to want to)? Just stick to getting educated. pay for that.

I'll put it this way. When ASU first implemented the athletic fee, Byrne was asked about it. His first couple answers was if it was up to him, he wouldn't have a fee. Thought it wasn't "right". He Personally didn't like the approach. His Answer changed months later to he still didn't feel comfortable to a fee but now he could not rule it out forever. Now this.

Point: Even Byrne didn't like it. His Boss does though.

[Puerco]

I don't think the student fee is right, but it's also pretty common.

Just because a selection of hardcore UA fans (us) would pay it doesn't mean all of the students should have to pay it. Quite fankly I've been proud of UA Athletics being self sufficient over the years. It's a great story to tell to academic snobs who claim that athletics is taking cash out of the university's pocket. Implement a mandatory fee and we lose that.

There are a lot of benefits to having the fee, but to me it feels like there should be another more elegant way to raise that $8 million or so a year.

[azpenguin]

The people who complain about paying taxes for education are selfish, single-minded people I will never understand. They're looking out for No. 1, and No. 1 only.

I never understood that either. For example, the people who say they shouldn't pay school district taxes because they don't have any kids in school. Well, maybe you're not getting your kid educated. But you sure as hell benefit from the education of the EMT that responds to your car accident, or the pharmacy tech who dispenses your meds, or the guy who manages your portfolio, or the planners who engineer road projects, or any of the numerous other people that society needs to run. We all benefit from an educated populace. I have no kids in school and I have zero problem with the school taxes on my property tax bill.

[UALoco]

Do we even want students who don't go to the sporting events? Not me.

[ASUHATER!]

Do we even want students who don't go to the sporting events? Not me.

It's hard for us die hards to understand, but probably a good 40-50% of the 42000+ students at the university have absolutely 0 interest in athletics and know nothing about how Arizona is doing. Another 20% only care in passing or if we're doing well.

[Newportcat]

It's $200 a year, not $10,000

And whether students attend games or not or hate sports, Arizona Athletics helps build the brand of the University which indirectly helps all students at U of A. When I tell people I went to U of A 95% of the time they bring up our basketball team and Lute and Sean Miller etc

The university for years has increased out of state tuition far more then in state tuition and out of state tuition makes up the majority of revenues in terms of tuition dollars for U of A. Is that fair? Sure because if those out of state students didn't like the tuition costs they could choose another school to go to.

Unfortunately what I think many fail to realize here is that $8M a year in the form of a student fee can be levered up since it will be guaranteed income. That is why they charge those student fee's for new dorms, they are able to go to the bond markets and utilize that guaranteed (Assuming enrollment doesn't go down so there is a risk premium in the interest rate we pay compared to say treasury bonds) income to raise up front capital to pay for these larger capital projects. Is it fair for current students to pay for dorms they never use. Is it far for current students to pay for dorms that maybe they wouldn't use anyways if they were still enrolled in school when they are complete because they choose to live off campus.

Again, this affects future students, so if a future student seeks his/her education at U of A and is smart and inquires about tuition costs and reads the fine print and figures out they will be charged $200 a year for a student athletic fee and disagrees with that, they are free to go to a school that doesnt charge that fee.

I can understand not liking the fee on principle but it is not a lot of money and unfortunately we have tapped most of our major donors with the Lowell Stevens and McKale renovation projects. Arizona Stadium needs to be rehabbed. All our competitors in the PAC 12 do it too outside of Washington.

You don't have to like it but it is 100000% the right move. Again, its for future students so if they hate it, don't go to U of A.

[Spaceman Spiff]

If you're going to do this, it should be done in a way that is targeted at leading to additional revenue. Arizona Stadium is essentially a single use facilty that right now does not produce any non-UA football revenue.

This is a lot more palatable if there is a cohesive plan to use it as an investment with an expected return that will mitigate the cost. The stadium needs upgrades something fierce, but not having it just be a money sinkhole helps remove some of the controversy, given that this is coupled with other substantial cost increases for students.

[catgrad97]

The Arizona Interscholastic Association uses it for state playoff games. And don't the Wildcats soccer teams use it as well?

I agree it needs to be used more, but it isn't exactly just a single-team venue seven days out of the whole year.

[Spaceman Spiff]

The Arizona Interscholastic Association uses it for state playoff games. And don't the Wildcats soccer teams use it as well?

I agree it needs to be used more, but it isn't exactly just a single-team venue seven days out of the whole year.

I said essentially bc I think you're right (there may be a few others I'm forgetting too) but none is revenue generating. I'd be shocked if either was running at a profit. What I meant (and my bad if it wasn't clear) was that it would be good to use the fees to expand a revenue base that could be used to offset the fees down the road.

Edited to add: one of the more intriguing ideas I've heard is Arky creating a party/tailgate deck inside the stadium.

[scumdevils86]

As far as I'm aware soccer plays elsewhere. So it's used for like 10 days a year tops.

[azgreg]

It's used for graduation as well I believe.

[catgrad97]

Gotcha. In a way, with our new turf you kind of paint yourself into a corner as a multi-purpose venue, as that isn't a permissible playing surface in all outdoor sports.

It's one reason why NAU's Walkup Skydome has been operating at a loss ever since the Cardinals left. AIA won't even schedule games up there anymore.

[CalStateTempe]

Do we even want students who don't go to the sporting events? Not me.

It's hard for us die hards to understand, but probably a good 40-50% of the 42000+ students at the university have absolutely 0 interest in athletics and know nothing about how Arizona is doing. Another 20% only care in passing or if we're doing well.

Not that you are wrong, but do you have anything concrete to actually back up the broad general statements that you make or is it all based on subjective experience?

[ASUHATER!]

I'd love for there to be data but all we have is subjective experience. And it's pretty accurate.

[baconus66]

I wonder if these renovations would include moving students to the South end-zone as so many have speculated? That would be kind of hilarious fucking the students over with their own money.

[UALoco]

Okay, let's make a deal. Students get to keep the lower bowl east side seats for football games and get access to some 'behind the basket" lower bowl seats in McKale. They also get transportation to Baseball games and access to other sports (sand volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, etc) in exchange for the fee. I think we can all agree that sports is an important aspect to college life, it makes some schools more relevant and competitive in today's educational market...it is a key marketing tool. Being relevant benefits all students, not just sports fans. If a student doesn't want to pay the fee, they can go to a school that doesn't charge. When I go to campus, I can't believe all the great services and facilities these students have today. The new dorms are great, the rec center has tripled in size since I've been there, the shorts are shorter, tutoring services are amped, the learning tools are cutting edge...these students are catered to like no other students..they are the customer. I work in Educational Technology and if you don't think Education is a business, you are naive. Schools and doing everything they can to remain relevant, shoot, some companies are removing the bachelors degree from their mandatory requirements, if you can code, they will hire you. So schools are not only peddling the education, but the college experience, and sports, greek life, inter murals, clubs, etc..all play a part of the that. Big Boy Sports is just very expensive. I am biased..I want the best stadium money can buy..I want the facilities to attract the best players, I want a National Championship, I want to sit in comfort at a game with a seat back, and I want to use the bathroom facilities and not smell urine and God know what else. And if charging students and their parents $200 a year to arrive there..so be it. I support GB and the Athletic Department.

[Puerco]

It's $200 a year, not $10,000

And whether students attend games or not or hate sports, Arizona Athletics helps build the brand of the University which indirectly helps all students at U of A. When I tell people I went to U of A 95% of the time they bring up our basketball team and Lute and Sean Miller etc

The university for years has increased out of state tuition far more then in state tuition and out of state tuition makes up the majority of revenues in terms of tuition dollars for U of A. Is that fair? Sure because if those out of state students didn't like the tuition costs they could choose another school to go to.

Unfortunately what I think many fail to realize here is that $8M a year in the form of a student fee can be levered up since it will be guaranteed income. That is why they charge those student fee's for new dorms, they are able to go to the bond markets and utilize that guaranteed (Assuming enrollment doesn't go down so there is a risk premium in the interest rate we pay compared to say treasury bonds) income to raise up front capital to pay for these larger capital projects. Is it fair for current students to pay for dorms they never use. Is it far for current students to pay for dorms that maybe they wouldn't use anyways if they were still enrolled in school when they are complete because they choose to live off campus.

Again, this affects future students, so if a future student seeks his/her education at U of A and is smart and inquires about tuition costs and reads the fine print and figures out they will be charged $200 a year for a student athletic fee and disagrees with that, they are free to go to a school that doesnt charge that fee.

I can understand not liking the fee on principle but it is not a lot of money and unfortunately we have tapped most of our major donors with the Lowell Stevens and McKale renovation projects. Arizona Stadium needs to be rehabbed. All our competitors in the PAC 12 do it too outside of Washington.

You don't have to like it but it is 100000% the right move. Again, its for future students so if they hate it, don't go to U of A.

It is 100000% the right thing to do for the athletics program, but it is not even 100% the right thing to do for the university and its students. Not even close. It may be 51% the right thing to do, though.

[Sage&Silver]

KGUN9 story GB takes the cameras behind the scenes at Arizona stadium.

Nothing groundbreaking, but an interesting look at the old stadium

[UALoco]

These are all the same kids that spend $7 for coffee at starbucks. My dorm didn't have air conditioning when I first went there. Progress takes money.

[Newportcat]

My god from that video is our stadium old and need of major renovations. I haven't been to that section before they showed

However before we do those I would hope we tear down the baseball stadium, build real practice fields with an indoor practice facility as that will help with recruiting more.

Those bathrooms looked worse then my frats old public stalls.

Man I love our AD, literally is addressing all problems head on with our athletic department since he got here

[baconus66]

These are all the same kids that spend $7 for coffee at starbucks. My dorm didn't have air conditioning when I first went there. Progress takes money.

Ya unfortunately this fee also affect the starving student working 20+ hours a week to pay rent and still racking up thousands in debt to pay tuition (aka me). Not everyone here has their parents credit card

[ASUHATER!]

My god from that video is our stadium old and need of major renovations. I haven't been to that section before they showed

However before we do those I would hope we tear down the baseball stadium, build real practice fields with an indoor practice facility as that will help with recruiting more.

Those bathrooms looked worse then my frats old public stalls.

Man I love our AD, literally is addressing all problems head on with our athletic department since he got here

Well outside of the north end zone. Everything there is new and top of tnr line and nice. Rest of the stadium needs to be painted, refinished and overhauled

[azcat49]

Students will never go for the increase so it will be interesting to see if it is forced on them.

As a season ticket holder I would gladly pay the increase but I would hope it might include the new practice facility which I don't think it will

[FreeSpiritCat]

I'm not for this at all. Students who have no interest in sports, or only football, should not be forced to pay this fee. It is not a necessity, nor is a club where a student particates, and is wrong.

[Sage&Silver]

I'm not for this at all. Students who have no interest in sports, or only football, should not be forced to pay this fee. It is not a necessity, nor is a club where a student particates, and is wrong.

In principle I agree, but is this any different than fees for the REC center, or "student activity" fees so some comedian or unknown rapper can collect a huge check playing to a half empty auditorium?

What if it were framed as an advertising fee? Something to draw more applicants, and raise standards? That is why schools spend money on athletics in the first place. Success = brand awareness, particularly for male applicants.

An admittedly extreme example, but Alabama has rocketed past Arizona on many academic measurements, like National Merit Scholars, ACT scores and high school GPA. But even merely stringing together a stretch of top 25 seasons has done wonders for schools like Oregon, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. And this student fee doesn't even give Arizona an advantage, it just keeps UA from falling even further behind as just about ever Power5 public school has one.