USF OCS on the Cheap

[Cow Pie]

I'm thinking the best way to build a stadium on the cheap would be to do the earth model that Yale uses..

Its concrete and dirt, with a seating structure in the middle... no way it would cost that much to build this thing.

According to Wikipedia it would cost $12 million to build this exact stadium, and it holds 60K. I would bet that we could build an adjusted version of this stadium for not much more to include a donors section with seat backs, some press boxes, and build it so you can expand it past 60K, but I really don't see us even needing 60K.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Bowl

Edited December 13, 2012 by Bubba Bull

[Bull Martin]

We could use all the radio active Gypsum that Mosaic produces as a byproduct in the fertilizer process. They have millions of tons of Gypsum mountains that the EPA won't let them put back underground. I'm sure that Mosaic would be more than willing to truck it to USF campus free of charge.

There's just that whole radiation gives you cancer thing to worry about, but that'd be several feet of concrete below your seat. so it'd probably be ok.

[TheUpperHand]

I'm thinking the best way to build a stadium on the cheap would be to do the earth model that Yale uses..

Its concrete and dirt, with a seating structure in the middle... no way it would cost that much to build this thing.

According to Wikipedia it would cost $12 million to build this exact stadium, and it holds 60K. I would bet that we could build an adjusted version of this stadium for not much more to include a donors section with seat backs, some press boxes, and build it so you can expand it past 60K, but I really don't see us even needing 60K.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Bowl

Not familiar with this construction method, could someone enlighten me? Is the field technically below ground? If so, wouldn't we have problems hitting the water table? It sounds like a maintenance nightmare, especially during hurricane season.

[Cow Pie]

I'm thinking the best way to build a stadium on the cheap would be to do the earth model that Yale uses..

Its concrete and dirt, with a seating structure in the middle... no way it would cost that much to build this thing.

According to Wikipedia it would cost $12 million to build this exact stadium, and it holds 60K. I would bet that we could build an adjusted version of this stadium for not much more to include a donors section with seat backs, some press boxes, and build it so you can expand it past 60K, but I really don't see us even needing 60K.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Bowl

Not familiar with this construction method, could someone enlighten me? Is the field technically below ground? If so, wouldn't we have problems hitting the water table? It sounds like a maintenance nightmare, especially during hurricane season.

The field is at ground level, and this stadium is built similar to the USF College of Business building, minus the basement level that always floods though.

Basically they built the concrete structure, and tunnels, leveled the field, and then dumped the excess dirt from the field, and tons of fill dirt to form the bowl shape. Then they build the inside of the stadium out of just pouring and forming concrete ontop of the massive dirt berms. They also anchored the inside bowl to the under structure with concrete connections and the outside retaining walls.

The Yale Bowl was the first ever Bowl stadium and the Rose Bowl, as well as the LA Collesum, minus the dirt berms are an exact copy of its basic design.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Bubba Bull

[TherapyBull]

Here is the math:

Less tickets sold, declining ticket prices, lower donations raised, debt paying off former football coach(es), debt paying off new olympic sport facilities, debt paying off Sun Dome renovations, less bowl revenue, less tv revenue

equals

No realistic shot at an OCS (not saying it was a priority, but it certainly can't be one now)

until

we move to a power conference

(I am not saying this is a forever problem, but there is really no need to talk about an OCS now ... unless we get an invite to a better conference dependent on an OCS)

I’m not sure that I agree with these sentiments. I think we all understand that money is a significant barrier, however that is the case with everything in life. We cannot just throw our hands in the air and be passive participants in our own future.

Unless FSU bolts the ACC, there is no guarantee that a power conference will be calling on USF anytime soon. The conference reshuffling has followed a very predictable pattern with AAU membership and established programs at the forefront. Louisville was the first program to break that mold as the Big East had no more AAU schools left, but they certainly have a large following. Syracuse just recently lost AAU membership.

I think the stadium issue is a chicken and egg scenario. Do you passively wait to get the call to the “big leagues†or do you take matters into your own hands and continuously invest in your program.

Certainly the trend around the country is moving to on campus facilities, we can always point to the few programs who do not operate in this manner but they are few and far between, and nobody thinks that those schools are making it work. USC and UCLA are essentially the sole tenants of their stadiums, I do not consider them in USF’s situation.

Will an iconic structure such as a stadium change the perception of the campus? Will it help recruiting? Will having alumni and fans now on the campus during gameday instill more university pride and giving? Will games be better attended by students? Will all this lead to more success in terms of wins, losses, and fanbase? Will this improve Judy's graduation rates? We just don't know.

We invested in the other sports facilities, but this is all about football, football, and football. If soccer, softball, and baseball improved ticket and merchandise sales 1000%, it would still be peanuts compared to the potential from benefits from football. Do we say these were bad investments?

We like to make fun of UCF, but if you talk to anyone from that school they feel the stadium has been a huge success. Even most of the hardcore fans on this board agree that they have a better game day atmosphere, and what will we say if they upgrade, add a façade and have something very similar to Doak Campbell.

I do not feel we need something like the University of Minnesota, a 40,000 seat stadium designed for expansion would easily suffice.

I just worry that the longer USF procrastinates on the issue the further we fall behind, only time will tell. Again, of course money is a significant barrier, but it is a barrier to every venture in life. We do not know what we can raise until we try and debt is not neccessarily a bad thing if it is towards a good investment.

[Hem]

I'm thinking the best way to build a stadium on the cheap would be to do the earth model that Yale uses..

Its concrete and dirt, with a seating structure in the middle... no way it would cost that much to build this thing.

According to Wikipedia it would cost $12 million to build this exact stadium, and it holds 60K. I would bet that we could build an adjusted version of this stadium for not much more to include a donors section with seat backs, some press boxes, and build it so you can expand it past 60K, but I really don't see us even needing 60K.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Bowl

EW

[Ghost]

I’m not sure that I agree with these sentiments. I think we all understand that money is a significant barrier, however that is the case with everything in life. We cannot just throw our hands in the air and be passive participants in our own future.

Unless FSU bolts the ACC, there is no guarantee that a power conference will be calling on USF anytime soon. The conference reshuffling has followed a very predictable pattern with AAU membership and established programs at the forefront. Louisville was the first program to break that mold as the Big East had no more AAU schools left, but they certainly have a large following. Syracuse just recently lost AAU membership.

I think the stadium issue is a chicken and egg scenario. Do you passively wait to get the call to the “big leagues†or do you take matters into your own hands and continuously invest in your program.

Certainly the trend around the country is moving to on campus facilities, we can always point to the few programs who do not operate in this manner but they are few and far between, and nobody thinks that those schools are making it work. USC and UCLA are essentially the sole tenants of their stadiums, I do not consider them in USF’s situation.

Will an iconic structure such as a stadium change the perception of the campus? Will it help recruiting? Will having alumni and fans now on the campus during gameday instill more university pride and giving? Will games be better attended by students? Will all this lead to more success in terms of wins, losses, and fanbase? Will this improve Judy's graduation rates? We just don't know.

We invested in the other sports facilities, but this is all about football, football, and football. If soccer, softball, and baseball improved ticket and merchandise sales 1000%, it would still be peanuts compared to the potential from benefits from football. Do we say these were bad investments?

We like to make fun of UCF, but if you talk to anyone from that school they feel the stadium has been a huge success. Even most of the hardcore fans on this board agree that they have a better game day atmosphere, and what will we say if they upgrade, add a façade and have something very similar to Doak Campbell.

I do not feel we need something like the University of Minnesota, a 40,000 seat stadium designed for expansion would easily suffice.

I just worry that the longer USF procrastinates on the issue the further we fall behind, only time will tell. Again, of course money is a significant barrier, but it is a barrier to every venture in life. We do not know what we can raise until we try and debt is not neccessarily a bad thing if it is towards a good investment.

[Sanford Bull]

Sign me up for a Yale Bowl. Only thing that I could see people complain about is the lack of seat backs

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

We could use all the radio active Gypsum that Mosaic produces as a byproduct in the fertilizer process. They have millions of tons of Gypsum mountains that the EPA won't let them put back underground. I'm sure that Mosaic would be more than willing to truck it to USF campus free of charge.

There's just that whole radiation gives you cancer thing to worry about, but that'd be several feet of concrete below your seat. so it'd probably be ok.

PERFECT!

We will just buy each season ticket holder life insurance before they start sitting in the radio active stadium. Then when they all start dying of cancer early...well...we can then afford a much better stadium!

[Mike Stuben]

Here is the math:

Less tickets sold, declining ticket prices, lower donations raised, debt paying off former football coach(es), debt paying off new olympic sport facilities, debt paying off Sun Dome renovations, less bowl revenue, less tv revenue

equals

No realistic shot at an OCS (not saying it was a priority, but it certainly can't be one now)

until

we move to a power conference

(I am not saying this is a forever problem, but there is really no need to talk about an OCS now ... unless we get an invite to a better conference dependent on an OCS)

I’m not sure that I agree with these sentiments. I think we all understand that money is a significant barrier, however that is the case with everything in life. We cannot just throw our hands in the air and be passive participants in our own future.

Unless FSU bolts the ACC, there is no guarantee that a power conference will be calling on USF anytime soon. The conference reshuffling has followed a very predictable pattern with AAU membership and established programs at the forefront. Louisville was the first program to break that mold as the Big East had no more AAU schools left, but they certainly have a large following. Syracuse just recently lost AAU membership.

I think the stadium issue is a chicken and egg scenario. Do you passively wait to get the call to the “big leagues†or do you take matters into your own hands and continuously invest in your program.

Certainly the trend around the country is moving to on campus facilities, we can always point to the few programs who do not operate in this manner but they are few and far between, and nobody thinks that those schools are making it work. USC and UCLA are essentially the sole tenants of their stadiums, I do not consider them in USF’s situation.

Will an iconic structure such as a stadium change the perception of the campus? Will it help recruiting? Will having alumni and fans now on the campus during gameday instill more university pride and giving? Will games be better attended by students? Will all this lead to more success in terms of wins, losses, and fanbase? Will this improve Judy's graduation rates? We just don't know.

We invested in the other sports facilities, but this is all about football, football, and football. If soccer, softball, and baseball improved ticket and merchandise sales 1000%, it would still be peanuts compared to the potential from benefits from football. Do we say these were bad investments?

We like to make fun of UCF, but if you talk to anyone from that school they feel the stadium has been a huge success. Even most of the hardcore fans on this board agree that they have a better game day atmosphere, and what will we say if they upgrade, add a façade and have something very similar to Doak Campbell.

I do not feel we need something like the University of Minnesota, a 40,000 seat stadium designed for expansion would easily suffice.

I just worry that the longer USF procrastinates on the issue the further we fall behind, only time will tell. Again, of course money is a significant barrier, but it is a barrier to every venture in life. We do not know what we can raise until we try and debt is not neccessarily a bad thing if it is towards a good investment.

I love the attitude, but it is one thing to say "let be proactive" but the question remains, is it possible.

Please understand, USF Athletics wrote checks on the future Big East TV contract being over $10 million per school per year. It now may be 75% lower. Right now USF is facing a crisis of how to pay for everything they went into debt to build and now don't have the revenue stream to pay for. We are paying some coaches and administrators at big time program levels, and USF in the Big East will not be bringing in big time program revenues. When we built a soccer stadium, baseball stadium, renovated track and football facilities, softball stadium and renovated the Sun Dome, we didn't write a check ... we borrowed money. Money we now have to pay back. Yes we raised some of it with donations, but I would assume well over 50% of those costs are still on our balance sheet as debt.

If the Big East dissolves, then we may lose the one thing we had going for us, one more year of big time. No Big East means no BCS money for next season (remember, the BCS still exists next year).

Let me be clear, no one is to blame. When we started construction on those projects no one could have seen this coming.

When we entered C-USA it was a step up, and we could easily increase spending to put us in line with our new league. As our league slips backwards to a quasi C-USA, we have a big trouble, because we have all sorts of money commitments that are at levels that are too high for our new surroundings.