Students to vote on tuition raise for on campus stadium

[USF Bulls Football]

20 minutes ago, Justin C said:

As much as I'd like to see an OCS, let's stop putting the cart before the horse and focus on the indoor practice facility.

IPF is definitely priority one and will be done first. That said, this is something that can be multitasked. 

I graduated from school about a decade and have a young family. I try to do a couple football games a year, plus a couple baseball and basketball games. I’m down in Sarasota; it is super difficult for me (and I assume a lot of other young-ish alum) to find the time to get out to a sporting event (much less one on campus). 

Make no mistake, getting alumni on campus for the maybe one USF-related event they do each year would be huge. The campus has undergone amazingly big changes in the decade Ive been out. I hope it passes.

[Apis Bull]

39 minutes ago, USF Bulls Football said:

Make no mistake, getting alumni on campus for the maybe one USF-related event they do each year would be huge.

How so?  People say this, but how would it be, "huge" for USF?  What would change for the university by getting alumni on campus?

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

9 hours ago, NAS Gone to Paradise said:

The lack of an OCS doesn’t in anyway, shape, or form prevent alumnus from returning to campus.

I guess being contrarian is your shtick.

lack of an OCS doesn't prevent alumni (alumnus is singular) from returning to campus, but it DOES give them a specific reason to do so.

yes there are other sports, there are other events, but we all know football is special. it is THE sport that defines most major athletic programs' national image. it is a 3+ hour game that becomes an all day event with tailgating, etc... I remember driving up to the SunDome from Bradenton for basketball & the round trip commute was almost as long as the game itself.

USF alum are spread across the Bay, across the state & across the country. we don't all live in Temple Terrace. some alumni travel to Tampa for ONE big game a year. build an OCS & that game will also be a TRUE Home Coming for those alumni.

this blasé attitude that alumni can just come visit campus makes no sense... why would 30, 40, 50, 60+ year old alum visit campus just to wander around? or travel long distances for 90 minute basketball or soccer games? think about it.

Edited September 28, 2018 by TRUTH D. Antagonist

[USF Bulls Football]

52 minutes ago, Apis Bull said:

How so?  People say this, but how would it be, "huge" for USF?  What would change for the university by getting alumni on campus?

Sure, so I didn’t make it on campus for probably a 3/4 year stretch.. the year my daughter was born, we did a baseball game and walked around the campus with her. Brought back amazing memories and I was frankly proud to see how far the school has come in a few years. Have since pushed to do more sporting events on campus.

To answer your question, I think it is safe to say a good chunk of alumni attend maybe one football game a year. I can tell you sporting events aside, I have no reason to be on campus. Getting alumni on campus WILL increase attendance for other sporting events. I’d rather take my kid to a bulls baseball game (perfect weather) than a rays game in a giant Walmart. I may attend two baseball games, but I’m considering getting season tickets for baseball. 

Maybe you get 100,000 different (unique individuals) people on campus for an on campus football game per season. Maybe 10% are blown away by what they see and either donate (or donate more) or even just push to attend more school events. 

[NewEnglandBull]

When I fly down for a game once a year I stay at one of the hotels across the street from campus. I walk on campus and visit the same places on campus every time (dorm, library, few buildings I had class in, etc.).  To some this probably sounds silly but for me it’s turned into a tradition as it allows me to look back and reflect not only on my alma mater’s growth but mine as well. To do this once a year is important to me. 

However, if I lived in the Tampa area I am not so sure I would ever visit ( kind of like New Yorkers never visiting the Statue of Liberty  because it’s always there). Living far away may give me more of an appreciation of USF than “some” who live in the Tampa area  because it is more of a unique experience. 

Consequently, attending a football game on campus would increase the likelihood that more people would walk the campus and feel appreciative of what the university has done for them. For some this may cause them to give back to the university financially for others this may cause them to buy season tickets.  Regardless, getting alumni back on campus has nothing but good outcomes and is a metric that many have ignored and is applicable to the return on investment.

Edited September 28, 2018 by NewEnglandBull

[Ned A Starr RIP]

42 minutes ago, TRUTH D. Antagonist said:

1. yes there are other sports, there are other events, but we all know football is special. it is THE sport that defines most major athletic programs' national image. it is a 3+ hour game that becomes an all day event with tailgating, etc... I remember driving up to the SunDome from Bradenton for basketball & the round trip commute was almost as long as the game itself.

2. USF alum are spread across the Bay, across the state & across the country. we don't all live in Temple Terrace. some alumni travel to Tampa for ONE big game a year. build an OCS & that game will also be a TRUE Home Coming for those alumni.

3. this blasé attitude that alumni can just come visit campus makes no sense... why would 30, 40, 50, 60+ year old alum visit campus just to wander around? or travel long distances for 90 minute basketball or soccer games? think about it.

1.  While football may be special to you...others could careless about it.   What percentage of Tampa area USF grads attend the games at RJS, which by the way is more convenient to you in Bradenton...plus it has far better ingress and egress than the campus.

2.  WoW!

3.  I traveled an average of 1-1/2 to 2 hours to the campus for both MBB and WBB games for decades...missing only a handful of WBB games during that time.  I know many others who traveled from more distant places.

You ask why would they visit the campus just to wander around... Why do people wander around parks, towns, places where they grew up?   Yesterday, I wandered around a campus for hours that’s thousands of miles from my home.

 

 

 

[Ned A Starr RIP]

40 minutes ago, USF Bulls Football said:

Sure, so I didn’t make it on campus for probably a 3/4 year stretch.. the year my daughter was born, we did a baseball game and walked around the campus with her. Brought back amazing memories and I was frankly proud to see how far the school has come in a few years. Have since pushed to do more sporting events on campus.

To answer your question, I think it is safe to say a good chunk of alumni attend maybe one football game a year. I can tell you sporting events aside, I have no reason to be on campus. Getting alumni on campus WILL increase attendance for other sporting events. I’d rather take my kid to a bulls baseball game (perfect weather) than a rays game in a giant Walmart. I may attend two baseball games, but I’m considering getting season tickets for baseball. 

Maybe you get 100,000 different (unique individuals) people on campus for an on campus football game per season. Maybe 10% are blown away by what they see and either donate (or donate more) or even just push to attend more school events. 

Did your visit blow you away enough to donate substantially more?

[TheBullies]

I live in West Bradenton. It's about an hour to either RJS or Temple Terrace (in real-time traffic right now 52 v. 55 minutes). Difference is really 275 v. 75. 275 is slightly more convenient because I'm West, but obviously 75 more convenient east.

 

 

That's really all I got.

 

[bullcocky101]

An OCS and an IPF will both happen. I don't think we can count on alumni support alone to get us there. The students will need to chip in, and I think the debate should be what is the best way to do that.

[Ned A Starr RIP]

16 minutes ago, bullcocky101 said:

An OCS and an IPF will both happen. I don't think we can count on alumni support alone to get us there. The students will need to chip in, and I think the debate should be what is the best way to do that.

The best way/fairest is voluntary contributions.