Bear Down Wildcats

I'm sure there's a renovations thread already, but Wilner put this out today and there's lots of juicy stuff here.

Primarily 5,000-8,000 less seats after renovations, Pricetag of $150-200 million all privately funded (will be interesting to see how the hell Heeke pulls this off), also goes into our difficulties in getting money for this type of stuff while the ABOR hands ASU whatever it wants. Good read.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/13/ ... t-started/" target="_blank

Was very happy to wake up to this read. Desperately needed. You can't ask for fan attendance and a great product on the field without investing in the infrastructure to support both of those things.

The indoor field + Sumlin hire + a great 2018 season (hopefully) should take care of the talent on the field portion. Hopefully the Westside rebuild finishes the loop by lifting the fan experience.

YoDeFoe wrote:Was very happy to wake up to this read. Desperately needed. You can't ask for fan attendance and a great product on the field without investing in the infrastructure to support both of those things.

The indoor field + Sumlin hire + a great 2018 season (hopefully) should take care of the talent on the field portion. Hopefully the Westside rebuild finishes the loop by lifting the fan experience.

Yep, if we want good production on the field and good seats and concession etc we need to show up and support the program. Heeke, Sumlin, every AD will all tell you the same.

At the Road Show a few weeks ago Sumlin mentioned how important fans in the stands are and not just for financial help but for the in game situations

And once we show we can win and start improving the stadium, then fans will show up. Which is how it should work.

So it looks like they want to get the stadium down to like 49-50 thousand seats with the north and west sides being like all actual chairs.

ASUHATER! wrote:And once we show we can win and start improving the stadium, then fans will show up. Which is how it should work.

Sorry bud, it's on the program to prove itself to fans, not the other way around.

ASUHATER! wrote:Sorry bud, it's on the program to prove itself to fans, not the other way around.

ASUHATER! wrote:And once we show we can win and start improving the stadium, then fans will show up. Which is how it should work.

So it looks like they want to get the stadium down to like 49-50 thousand seats with the north and west sides being like all actual chairs.

North side is already chair but think you meant South side which is bleachers outside of the new Red Zone area they built a couple years ago

The Westside is really awful and needs to be blown up as I see no way how they could put lipstick on the pig like they are doing on the East Side.

Southside pretty bad too

So how do they fund raise for this

1. They are going to increase the yearly Student Fee to the original $200 they wanted from $100 for Undergrads and $50 for Grads. I believe this will happen especially with Robbins in charge. 40,000 students at another $100 a year is $4M in revenue which, at a reasonable interest rate on 30 years bonds, could service over $100M in debt.

2. Naming rights - Arizona Stadium will not be Arizona stadium for long. Not sure on exact amount they would get, others might have better information on that. United Airlines paid USC $70M for Coliseum naming rights so $30M for Arizona stadium does not seem unreasonable. Maybe $25M. #Flighton

3. Donations - They will need a big donor to step up but they are not raising $200M of private money. No chance. U of A doesn't have those Whales especially Whales that care enough about football.

4. PAC 12 Revenue - I dont think we see an increase anytime soon

5. Land Behind Sand Volleyball field on the corner of 6th and Campbell. I think U of A sells or ground leases this land at some point soon to a developer to build something like a Hotel etc. Use those proceeds for athletics.

People might have other thoughts. Buying Tickets helps too but not as much as you think. Fan Attendance is more important for the team and atmosphere then getting these big projects pushed through.

Newportcat wrote:
2. Naming rights - Arizona Stadium will not be Arizona stadium for long. Not sure on exact amount they would get, others might have better information on that. United Airlines paid USC $70M for Coliseum naming rights so $30M for Arizona stadium does not seem unreasonable. Maybe $25M. #Flighton

Colorado State just sold their stadium naming rights for $37.7 million over 15 years. Arizona's gotta be able to fetch something in that range. I've been wondering what the hold up is in that regard though, I think Arizona has been overly picky when it comes to naming rights.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:
2. Naming rights - Arizona Stadium will not be Arizona stadium for long. Not sure on exact amount they would get, others might have better information on that. United Airlines paid USC $70M for Coliseum naming rights so $30M for Arizona stadium does not seem unreasonable. Maybe $25M. #Flighton

Colorado State just sold their stadium naming rights for $37.7 million over 15 years. Arizona's gotta be able to fetch something in that range. I've been wondering what the hold up is in that regard though, I think Arizona has been overly picky when it comes to naming rights.

Look I get renaming McKale Center (I would be one of the few to be totally fine with it if some company wrote us a big check to improve it) but Arizona Stadium...name is terrible. I had heard U of A was picky but now they want the money so hopeful it happens sooner rather then later. $35M to $40M could re-do rest of East Side and South side probably or make a huge dent in both those places.

"Eegees Field at Arizona Stadium brought to you by Borderlands Brewing" sounds good to me.

Newportcat wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:
2. Naming rights - Arizona Stadium will not be Arizona stadium for long. Not sure on exact amount they would get, others might have better information on that. United Airlines paid USC $70M for Coliseum naming rights so $30M for Arizona stadium does not seem unreasonable. Maybe $25M. #Flighton

Colorado State just sold their stadium naming rights for $37.7 million over 15 years. Arizona's gotta be able to fetch something in that range. I've been wondering what the hold up is in that regard though, I think Arizona has been overly picky when it comes to naming rights.

Look I get renaming McKale Center (I would be one of the few to be totally fine with it if some company wrote us a big check to improve it) but Arizona Stadium...name is terrible. I had heard U of A was picky but now they want the money so hopeful it happens sooner rather then later. $35M to $40M could re-do rest of East Side and South side probably or make a huge dent in both those places.

I'm with you man, there's no good reason not to take the best deal you can get to rename Arizona Stadium. I'm also in your camp in regards to McKale, but I recognize we'll need to compromise on that and probably get something like Eegee's Court at McKale Center or something of that nature. Either way you have to figure whatever dollar figure we can get for Arizona Stadium naming rights would have to go to this $150-200 million westside renovation.

Choo, what do you think could be done for McKale? Since it's already Lute & Bobbi Olson Court in the McKale Center at the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion, plus the Jim Click Hall of Champions. Start naming concourses I guess?

prh wrote:Choo, what do you think could be done for McKale? Since it's already Lute & Bobbi Olson Court in the McKale Center at the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion, plus the Jim Click Hall of Champions. Start naming concourses I guess?

For a while the Cleveland Browns named the gates/entrances instead of the stadium. Would be cool for that

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:
2. Naming rights - Arizona Stadium will not be Arizona stadium for long. Not sure on exact amount they would get, others might have better information on that. United Airlines paid USC $70M for Coliseum naming rights so $30M for Arizona stadium does not seem unreasonable. Maybe $25M. #Flighton

Colorado State just sold their stadium naming rights for $37.7 million over 15 years. Arizona's gotta be able to fetch something in that range. I've been wondering what the hold up is in that regard though, I think Arizona has been overly picky when it comes to naming rights.

Look I get renaming McKale Center (I would be one of the few to be totally fine with it if some company wrote us a big check to improve it) but Arizona Stadium...name is terrible. I had heard U of A was picky but now they want the money so hopeful it happens sooner rather then later. $35M to $40M could re-do rest of East Side and South side probably or make a huge dent in both those places.

I'm with you man, there's no good reason not to take the best deal you can get to rename Arizona Stadium. I'm also in your camp in regards to McKale, but I recognize we'll need to compromise on that and probably get something like Eegee's Court at McKale Center or something of that nature. Either way you have to figure whatever dollar figure we can get for Arizona Stadium naming rights would have to go to this $150-200 million westside renovation.

Nice to know I am not the only sell out here

All these naming scenarios are giving me a headache.

I was on the field a few weeks ago and the Zoo section is getting a major overhaul. One of the entrances was enlarged which took out a bunch of seating

It was 109° on the field; I dont know how the players handle that heat. In other news I did throw a 47 yard touchdown and clocked a 3.9 second punt hang time. Coach missed both though

Good looking out Jefe!

I found this on the website for the Capital Campaign regarding the football stadium

Arizona Stadium - East Phase I

Project budget is $25 million
Construction currently under way and set to be completed by the start of the 2018 football season
New restroom and concession facilities
Lower concourse access from south end zone seating to new east side amenities
Renovating ZonaZoo seating, lower east side concourse, and gate entry

A second phase is anticipated to provide renovations including seating, additional concessions and restroom upgrades to other areas of the stadium. Construction is expected to commence in January 2019 and be completed in time for the 2019 football season.

I think this means Upper East Side and maybe South End Zone next year but definitely Upper East Side. It is nice they are making it easier for someone from the South End to connect to the new east side amenities. From sitting a couple times in the East side recently, it was easy to walk to the North end zone new amenities for nice restrooms and better food etc.

West side probably happens in a couple years when they have the funding and man is it needed.

Gonna be interesting to see what they do with the west side. A re-do is pretty badly needed, to be sure, but I don't see how they work around the current structure. Maybe the lower 40 rows or so can be re-worked, but above that, there's not a lot of room to renovate without tearing it all down. That is an issue because they need to do that in one off-season. There are no other places to play in Tucson that can hold more than a few thousand people. Moving the games to Phoenix would hurt revenue badly as well as fan interest. There's also the Arizona Bowl to think of - that could be moved for a year but I doubt they'd really like that.

Only thing I can think of is that they do it in 2-3 increments over 2-3 offseasons. Same kinda thing ASU is doing since that much overhaul can't be done in one go without closing the stadium for 1-2 seasons. Maybe they'll do all the seats one year, the concourses and concessions/bathrooms one hear and then the press box/suites another year.

I heard that Chase Field was in play for a year but that seems to be no longer an option.

Latest I have heard is that most of the work will be done in the off seasons, all games will still be in Tucson at Arizona Stadium, but there maybe sections that are closed for a game or two as they work on those areas. Not sure how they will move the season ticket holders in those sections at this point but that is what is being discussed at this time.

Chase Field is the dumbest fucking idea ever. Only big mac and his posse would show up, PHX is full of bad fans.

I dont think the Southside will get any love until the east and westsides are done.

ChooChooCat wrote:I dont think the Southside will get any love until the east and westsides are done.

That is not what I have heard. East then South then West is the plan that is currently in place.

ChooChooCat wrote:I dont think the Southside will get any love until the east and westsides are done.

Yea I'm sure

ASUHATER! wrote:Only thing I can think of is that they do it in 2-3 increments over 2-3 offseasons. Same kinda thing ASU is doing since that much overhaul can't be done in one go without closing the stadium for 1-2 seasons. Maybe they'll do all the seats one year, the concourses and concessions/bathrooms one hear and then the press box/suites another year.

Arizona Stadium presents a different set of problems than SDS has for the builders. You're likely looking at pretty much a complete teardown of at least the upper section on the west side. The press box is actually a separate structure from the stadium. I would (without any inside info) guess that they demolish everything above row 40 or so, and do a similar cantilever structure over the top like the east side has. Otherwise you have to work around the ramps and the footprint of the west side. The west side has been cobbled together over the years during different expansions. Getting a remodel to work with what is there would be really really tough. By contrast, the southside is pretty much a single build, the NEZ was built as a single unit, and the east side was built first as a lower unit and then the upper deck was added in the 70s. On the west side, the newest part is the upper seats which were added 53 years ago (you can see the aisles shift over where they added on the new seating.) If they're looking for close to $200 million to re-do it, they're probably gonna massively rebuild that side.

Not a lot of room to work with on the Southside.

scumdevils86 wrote:Chase Field is the dumbest fucking idea ever. Only big mac and his posse would show up, PHX is full of bad fans.

I usually ignore your obsessive ass but this is too much this time.

If Arizona had to abandon Arizona Stadium for one year where the hell else would they play? Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium? Tucson High? Salpointe? Sun Devil Stadium? The only other option in the state besides Chase Field would be University of Phoenix Stadium which with the Cardinals is not a very feasible option with other events and the Cardinals. It would be a lot easier to adjust the schedule to the D-Backs for the first month of the season.

You would certainly know about bad fans

It won't happen buddy.

scumdevils86 wrote:It won't happen buddy.

I dont think so either. I simply said it was an option that the AD was considering for a little while but isn't on the table anymore right now.

Because none of those options are good ideas, I seriously doubt they would have any renovations include not playing in Arizona Stadium. Playing in Chase Field would be a disaster. A lot of Tucson fans would go up and try to support it, but it would be mostly empty from the apathy emanating from around Arcadia Tavern.

They are not planning any games at Chase Field. That was an options a couple years back but long since over as they have decided to remodel in stages. They have full renderings and initial plans done, total cost is about $150M. Plan is lower east side and student section as there was pressure to re-do that to appease concerns student fee's didn't go to student areas (I get the logic but disagree as students don't care about concessions and frankly do not really come to games like they used to but whatever). Then its upper east side and might do Southside with it or then wait and do South side next. Reason is Upper East side and South Side are more lipstick on the pig fixes meaning nothing really structural or that difficult. Costly yes but can be done in off-seasons.

Then comes Westside which as of now is a full tear down re-do. They would attempt to do it one off season focusing on when we play at ASU so they can start in mid November and be done by August. However have heard maybe they do one piece then block off some sections until they are open etc. Plan now is to keep the luxury box set up and just tear down below it.

Seat reductions are coming for student section, south side and west side for sure and should bring it down to 50,000 seats which to me is perfect.

If I hear anything else I will let people here know

Yeah 50k seats is ideal. Have it be real seat back seats everywhere except the student section. Have the student section be like 7k instead of the 10k it was. With all these improvements and if we're a consistent 7-10 game winner under Sumlin then we'll definitely sell out or pretty much sell out every game.

Accidental post

azpenguin wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:Only thing I can think of is that they do it in 2-3 increments over 2-3 offseasons. Same kinda thing ASU is doing since that much overhaul can't be done in one go without closing the stadium for 1-2 seasons. Maybe they'll do all the seats one year, the concourses and concessions/bathrooms one hear and then the press box/suites another year.

Arizona Stadium presents a different set of problems than SDS has for the builders. You're likely looking at pretty much a complete teardown of at least the upper section on the west side. The press box is actually a separate structure from the stadium. I would (without any inside info) guess that they demolish everything above row 40 or so, and do a similar cantilever structure over the top like the east side has. Otherwise you have to work around the ramps and the footprint of the west side. The west side has been cobbled together over the years during different expansions. Getting a remodel to work with what is there would be really really tough. By contrast, the southside is pretty much a single build, the NEZ was built as a single unit, and the east side was built first as a lower unit and then the upper deck was added in the 70s. On the west side, the newest part is the upper seats which were added 53 years ago (you can see the aisles shift over where they added on the new seating.) If they're looking for close to $200 million to re-do it, they're probably gonna massively rebuild that side.

yeah, agree.

First time i was in Az stadium was to watch Pueblo play South Mountain in the State Championship in 1967 (Pueblo forgot how to play in the first half, was untouchabe in the second half, but it was too late). We were all stoked to be there because the addition had been hyped and we thought it was gonna be way cool. It was totally disappointing - basically just a big high school bleacher made from concrete instead of scafolding. Even as a high schooler I could see that it was going to be a white elephant before too long.

I always hated that stand. The ony solution is to tear it down and start over.

RichardCranium wrote:Accidental post

You can delete a post as long as you delete it before another post is made.

RichardCranium wrote:

azpenguin wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:Only thing I can think of is that they do it in 2-3 increments over 2-3 offseasons. Same kinda thing ASU is doing since that much overhaul can't be done in one go without closing the stadium for 1-2 seasons. Maybe they'll do all the seats one year, the concourses and concessions/bathrooms one hear and then the press box/suites another year.

Arizona Stadium presents a different set of problems than SDS has for the builders. You're likely looking at pretty much a complete teardown of at least the upper section on the west side. The press box is actually a separate structure from the stadium. I would (without any inside info) guess that they demolish everything above row 40 or so, and do a similar cantilever structure over the top like the east side has. Otherwise you have to work around the ramps and the footprint of the west side. The west side has been cobbled together over the years during different expansions. Getting a remodel to work with what is there would be really really tough. By contrast, the southside is pretty much a single build, the NEZ was built as a single unit, and the east side was built first as a lower unit and then the upper deck was added in the 70s. On the west side, the newest part is the upper seats which were added 53 years ago (you can see the aisles shift over where they added on the new seating.) If they're looking for close to $200 million to re-do it, they're probably gonna massively rebuild that side.

yeah, agree.

First time i was in Az stadium was to watch Pueblo play South Mountain in the State Championship in 1967 (Pueblo forgot how to play in the first half, was untouchabe in the second half, but it was too late). We were all stoked to be there because the addition had been hyped and we thought it was gonna be way cool. It was totally disappointing - basically just a big high school bleacher made from concrete instead of scafolding. Even as a high schooler I could see that it was going to be a white elephant before too long.

I always hated that stand. The ony solution is to tear it down and start over.

Wasn't it then just the basic horseshoe on the east and south sides with the west side being what it is now minus the press box?

Here is an article on the west side being torn down from a couple years back

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/football/ ... -4-6-years" target="_blank

Feels like things are going according to plan here still as hopefully by this time next year, the entire East Side is redone and potentially south side too. West Side is still probably 3-4 years away from starting construction.

UAEebs86 wrote:

RichardCranium wrote:Accidental post

You can delete a post as long as you delete it before another post is made.

Yeah, but I MADE the correct post before I noticed the incorrect one, so...

ASUHATER! wrote: Wasn't it then just the basic horseshoe on the east and south sides with the west side being what it is now minus the press box?

Yeah.

RichardCranium wrote:yeah, agree.

First time i was in Az stadium was to watch Pueblo play South Mountain in the State Championship in 1967 (Pueblo forgot how to play in the first half, was untouchabe in the second half, but it was too late). We were all stoked to be there because the addition had been hyped and we thought it was gonna be way cool. It was totally disappointing - basically just a big high school bleacher made from concrete instead of scafolding. Even as a high schooler I could see that it was going to be a white elephant before too long.

I always hated that stand. The ony solution is to tear it down and start over.

Damn, I don't feel so old now... I take it when the TCC Arena was built, you took a look at it and thought, "really? This is crap." It's serviceable now, but it's always felt like a dump before the renovations.

azpenguin wrote:

RichardCranium wrote:yeah, agree.

First time i was in Az stadium was to watch Pueblo play South Mountain in the State Championship in 1967 (Pueblo forgot how to play in the first half, was untouchabe in the second half, but it was too late). We were all stoked to be there because the addition had been hyped and we thought it was gonna be way cool. It was totally disappointing - basically just a big high school bleacher made from concrete instead of scafolding. Even as a high schooler I could see that it was going to be a white elephant before too long.

I always hated that stand. The ony solution is to tear it down and start over.

Damn, I don't feel so old now... I take it when the TCC Arena was built, you took a look at it and thought, "really? This is crap." It's serviceable now, but it's always felt like a dump before the renovations.

Pretty much, but it was in fact way better than the Vets Memorial in Phx, so there's that.

I thought it was fine for Tucson at the time, but then there was nothing else that came close in town, until McKale. I did think that it didn't look like it was designed to be enlarged or even much leeway to upgrade it. But i'm not an Architect or privy to the plans under the skin. Haven't been inside it in over 40 years so I don't know what its like now. The first concert I saw there was Quicksilver Messenger Service and Steve Miller Band supported by the Dusty Chaps - absolute killer night.. I saw quite a few band there, Three Dog Night, Pink Floyd, Santana, Springsteen (I think), (edit to add:) Jethro Tull among others.

I saw Moody Blues at Vets Memorial. The concert was great, but the place sucked. On the way out of the car park a motorcycle cop was trying to go fast through lines of cars when his front brake locked up and he went flying over his handle bars about 20 feet through the air ass over tit. He just pucked himself up, got back on his bike and continued on down the road. Didn't even check himself or the bike, just kept going. Musta been Schwartzeneger.

I'm too lazy to find the Indoor Facility thread, so instead I'll post this here, but does anybody know how long that practice field they laid down next to the indoor facility is?

ChooChooCat wrote:I'm too lazy to find the Indoor Facility thread, so instead I'll post this here, but does anybody know how long that practice field they laid down next to the indoor facility is?

Maybe 7-10 days ago the sod went down. They put the new night lights up yesterday I believe.

ChooChooCat wrote:I'm too lazy to find the Indoor Facility thread, so instead I'll post this here, but does anybody know how long that practice field they laid down next to the indoor facility is?

It should be full length though the renderings actually showed two fields going the opposite direction off the new indoor facility

I think now the play is one indoor field with one outdoor field next to it and roll up industrial doors for the indoor so people can practice in either or.

It definitely looks like at lease a full field

Was wondering if they were actually going to finish it on time. A week ago it was still all torn up with construction equipment and dirt everywhere.