Stadium on Campus

[Cubanbull]

I would love for USF to have an on campus stadium BUT thats not in the cards for the near future nor is it a guaranteed to get more students to come to the games.

I was a student at USF from 78-82 and lived all four years on campus, i remember many more students going to the Sun Dome(which happens to be on campus) to watch and root the Bulls play Sun Belt teams those years than those that go support them in the past few years in CUSA.

When we start packing the Sun Dome with students and have 40,000 crows at RJS as an every game occurrence then we should look into the expenses of an oncampus football stadium

[Guest Jim Smith]

The fact remains USF does not yet have a long football tradition.  The big schools you mentioned have been playing football successfully for a very long time.  Many people in Tampa don't go because they don't consider USF their team.  Look around at the game next time and see how many Gators and Criminoles shirts and hats you see.  An OCS won't change that.  It will just make traffic worse...

[Joe]

I'm gonna have to say that student attendance has been good, but not great. We have 5,300 for Louisville (not the 10k people were saying). The Gat receipts for Louisville were around 29k. A school that has over 30,000 students should do better. FSU and Florida bring 20,000 + students a game. Granted they are more established, but an on campus stadium will get more to the game.

Further, most major schools do not have set parking lots for parking. You simply buy an on campus pass (most big boosters/alumni get em) or you find a place to set up on campus. Look at that Penn State game last night...we'll NEVER have that at RJS...

[Guest Jim Smith]

FSU and UF also have nothing else going on in those towns.  Gainsville is nothing more than a truckstop.  Tampa has much more going on to pull people away.  Also, I would be curious to know the number of students that live on campus at those schools compared to here.

[Bull Matrix]

Joe,

Patience. I know USF will eventually have an on-campus stadium. I just think the longer USF can wait the better off they will be because we will have more $$$ to put into the stadium. As Leavitt would say, if you dont build the best then dont build one at all. I believe that if USF starts winning big then the $$$$ will come in. Right, USF is lucky to have a very nice stadium in RJS.

[USFMikeB]

I'm glad to hear a student that wants a stadium on campus, I just wish you understood the financials.  Yes, more students will attend, but there is almost no incremental revenue from student.  Students won't be buying tickets or parking, and spend very little (on average) on concessions.  It is the revenue from the non-student population that will have to pay for the stadium.

More students at an OCS is good, but won't pay for it.  And that's the fact, Jack.

[namuh-bull]

I'm glad to hear a student that wants a stadium on campus, I just wish you understood the financials.  Yes, more students will attend, but there is almost no incremental revenue from student.  Students won't be buying tickets or parking, and spend very little (on average) on concessions.  It is the revenue from the non-student population that will have to pay for the stadium.

More students at an OCS is good, but won't pay for it.  And that's the fact, Jack.

Not only that, but the great atmosphere at those campuses mentioned is largely the result of the alumni base coming into the often smaller sized town, not the students who are there all the time.

[hightechbull]

And yet the so called "older alumni" bitched and complained when USF moved homecoming against Cinci to Halloween night two years ago for ESPN dollars.  Many alumni did not show up that night, yet the students made the experience a memorable one - that includes the team for beating Cinci in a nail biter.

The older alumni lamented how their children could not door to door talking candy from strangers, and yet these are the same people who go crazy worring about pediophiles.  Don't take candy from strangers unless it is Halloween.  Contradictory and stupid.

If everyone around here is such a financial genius, then you should have a vast sum of money, and you can donate that cash to USF to build its stadium.

No takers?  Then sit down and stop talking out of your other mouth.  The methane stench is getting sickening.

[USFMikeB]

What a jackass...

[BullDoug]

This thread can never be anything but apples and oranges. 

Youthful indescretion vs comfortable experiencce

Youthful indescretion = microwave attitudes w/no care for consequences & little in depth analysis.

Comfortable experience =  been there, done that & don't wanna do it again.

Cee & Joe, you may not mind bench seating now but wait 'til you are a 40 yr old alum with a family bringing a couple of 6 & 8 yr old kids.  Your butt is just a tad wider than when you were 20.  You are giving $1000 plus a yr in donations for season tix and another $500-$1000 for facilities.  When you are sitting in those narrow bench seats trying to pay attention to the game and the kids are "bored" in the late 3rd qtr, you'll be thinking what the heck was I thinking when I was 21 y.o. stu.  There's only 12K non paying stu's in this tinker toy stad & 30K paying alums & fans.  And it sure would be nice to have an area to get out of our seats at halftime like back in the good ole days when the Bulls played in RJS.

Let's sellout RJS 10-12 games b4 this get's to be a  serious topic.  True fans go no matter were the Bulls are playing.  Look at the Sundome, its on campus and its only been close to filled 3-5 times in the last decate.  It won't get filled just because the drive from off campus housing is 5 miles closer where most stu's live.