CAA stadiums

[RhowdyRam02]

Probably a good idea to see what we're competing against, so let's take a tour around the CAA

Albany - Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium
Opened in 2013, 8500 seats expandable to 24,000 with a cost of $24 million





Delaware - Delaware Stadium
Opened in 1952 with renovations in 1993 and 2019, seats 18,800





Elon - Rhodes Stadium
Opened in 2001, seats 11,250, $19 million construction cost in 2020 dollars





Maine - Alfond Stadium
Rebuilt 1996-98 for $11.9 million in 2020 dollars. 10,000 seating capacity. They will be renovating and expanding the stadium shortly, the last link outlines what they'll be doing.





https://goblackbears.com/sports/2021/1/ ... adium.aspx

New Hampshire - Wildcat Stadium
Opened 1936, expanded and renovated in 2015 for $25 million. Seats 11,015.





Richmond - E. Claiborne Robins Stadium
Opened in 2010 with a cost of $28 million. Seats 8217.





Stony Brook - Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium
Opened in 2002, cost $31.7 million in 2020 dollars, seats 12,300.





Towson - Johnny Unitas Stadium
Opened 1978, $32 million renovation in 2002. Seats 11,198





Villanova - Villanova Stadium
Opened in 1927, renovated in 1999. Seats 12,500





William & Mary - Zable Stadium
Opened 1935, $28 million renovation in 2016. Seats 12,672.

[bigappleram]

I like the Stony Brook field with a mini bowl like feel.

The cool part of the Albany stadium was the grass area in the end zone for students.

[RF1]

There is no doubt that since UNH redid their stadium, Rhody has the worst facility in the league. This fantasy plan from some 20 years ago would have provided a level playing FIELD. Some 20 years on after the west stands, the only substantive improvements have been new turf and lights. Rhody can at least claim it did not foolishly spend tens of millions for a stadium for a program that struggles to win games. Connecticut spent $91M back in 2003 for a program that now has no league affiliation and gets soundly beat on their own turf by FCS teams (Holy Cross) that lose to Merrimack at home the next week.

meade stadium concept.jpg (39.77 KiB) Viewed 3534 times

[RhowdyRam02]

For me, I think UNH, Richmond, and William & Mary would probably be the best of the stadiums to emulate for new East stands with end zones and corners matching Stony Brook. One nice thing is we don't have a track to worry about fitting in, so we can create a nice stadium in the compact footprint available.

Looking at the stadiums it's pretty clear that we're going to have to shell out about $25-30 million just to get us up where most every other conference program already is at. Pretty much all of the schools already made that commitment within the last 20 years and have left us behind. Maybe the only good thing about being last in an arms race like this is you can see what everyone else has done and take little pieces of each one to create a kind of best of stadium

[Rhodymob05]

At Meade, its not only the stands/capacity that is an issue. Its the entire layout. Entrances are a sh**show. Entrances along W.Alumni Ave are not located properly and create lines that nearly interfere with traffic. Then once you get in, everything is gravel/seashells. There should be SOME pavement with actual concessions. The food trucks are a nice addition, but they run out food/products since there's only 2-3 trucks at a game with 8 thousand people. I could go on and on but I'm hoping the "new stadium" updates that are supposedly in the works will include some of these elements.

[NYGFan_Section208]

At Meade, its not only the stands/capacity that is an issue. Its the entire layout. Entrances are a sh**show. Entrances along W.Alumni Ave are not located properly and create lines that nearly interfere with traffic. Then once you get in, everything is gravel/seashells. There should be SOME pavement with actual concessions. The food trucks are a nice addition, but they run out food/products since there's only 2-3 trucks at a game with 8 thousand people. I could go on and on but I'm hoping the "new stadium" updates that are supposedly in the works will include some of these elements.

I thought there was a poster here that said 'new stadium in the works', or something like that.... no details yet?

[theblueram]

When are they bringing concerts back to Meade?

[SGreenwell]

When are they bringing concerts back to Meade?

Maybe never? The music touring industry wasn't really thriving outside of metro areas before the pandemic hit. Hard to imagine there are any major bands that want to play Meade Stadium when there is a better venue on the same grounds (Ryan Center) and probably a dozen better outdoor venues within an hour. I was trying to find out what the last concert was there - I don't remember any during my five years at URI, from Sept. 2002 to May 2007. I found this list, and would say that J. Geils AND B.B. King was probably a hell of a fun time and double bill.

[theblueram]

When are they bringing concerts back to Meade?

Maybe never? The music touring industry wasn't really thriving outside of metro areas before the pandemic hit. Hard to imagine there are any major bands that want to play Meade Stadium when there is a better venue on the same grounds (Ryan Center) and probably a dozen better outdoor venues within an hour. I was trying to find out what the last concert was there - I don't remember any during my five years at URI, from Sept. 2002 to May 2007. I found this list, and would say that J. Geils AND B.B. King was probably a hell of a fun time and double bill.

But for college kids? It was the greatest thing seeing bands at Meade. The SEC always had great bands playing on campus. Outdoor concerts at Meade were great.

[RhowdyRam02]

At Meade, its not only the stands/capacity that is an issue. Its the entire layout. Entrances are a sh**show. Entrances along W.Alumni Ave are not located properly and create lines that nearly interfere with traffic. Then once you get in, everything is gravel/seashells. There should be SOME pavement with actual concessions. The food trucks are a nice addition, but they run out food/products since there's only 2-3 trucks at a game with 8 thousand people. I could go on and on but I'm hoping the "new stadium" updates that are supposedly in the works will include some of these elements.

I thought there was a poster here that said 'new stadium in the works', or something like that.... no details yet?

They're traveling, you wouldn't understand....

[R.Kelly150]

When are they bringing concerts back to Meade?

Maybe never? The music touring industry wasn't really thriving outside of metro areas before the pandemic hit. Hard to imagine there are any major bands that want to play Meade Stadium when there is a better venue on the same grounds (Ryan Center) and probably a dozen better outdoor venues within an hour. I was trying to find out what the last concert was there - I don't remember any during my five years at URI, from Sept. 2002 to May 2007. I found this list, and would say that J. Geils AND B.B. King was probably a hell of a fun time and double bill.

But for college kids? It was the greatest thing seeing bands at Meade. The SEC always had great bands playing on campus. Outdoor concerts at Meade were great.

I saw the Beach Boys at Meade maybe 20-25 years ago… maybe more. Regardless I don’t ever picture Meade being a big draw for concerts. However, I would like to see the Soccer team play there if it meant a home NCAA tourney game. This of course is because the University can’t pony up 150k for a press box for the soccer complex. As far as the CAA stadiums go, James Madison is hands down the best in the CAA and they really should be looking to play at the FBS level. Realistically, I would like to see Meade modeled after UNH, Stony Brook, Williams and Mary and Richmond. Bleacher seating is fine in the end zones, but it would be great to add 5-6k in seats to a new east grandstand with a press box on top. 10k in seats would be nice and if they ever really start to consistently compete in the CAA it’s not impossible for them to sell out on occasion.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Why don't they play at Meade?

[RhowdyRam02]

Because the current soccer stadium has always been plenty good enough for what we need and it had lights long before Meade. Now that Meade has lights, it also has field turf, which is significantly worse for soccer than natural grass. Plus having three teams use one field for all games and some practices is a logistical nightmare.

There's still some confusion about why we didn't host the NCAA game against UConn. People said that it was because of lack of a press box and handicap seating, however supposedly we were shocked UConn hosted and not us. We shouldn't have been shocked to go on the road if our facility was never good enough to host. Seems we were never considered the better seed by the NCAA

[R.Kelly150]

Because the current soccer stadium has always been plenty good enough for what we need and it had lights long before Meade. Now that Meade has lights, it also has field turf, which is significantly worse for soccer than natural grass. Plus having three teams use one field for all games and some practices is a logistical nightmare.

There's still some confusion about why we didn't host the NCAA game against UConn. People said that it was because of lack of a press box and handicap seating, however supposedly we were shocked UConn hosted and not us. We shouldn't have been shocked to go on the road if our facility was never good enough to host. Seems we were never considered the better seed by the NCAA

As far as the soccer team goes I would expect them to play at their complex and not a Meade unless they needed the facilities at Meade to get a home NCAA tournament game. I said this because I was under the assumption that lacking a legit press box made them somehow ineligible to host a home NCAA tournament game. It sounded reasonable to me, but if that’s not the case than I’d be glad to never see them play at Meade. The one thing I like about Meade besides the west stands is that there is no track running around the field nor any other lines (soccer, lacrosse field hockey etc lines) messing up the field. It’s for football and nothing else and I’m happy with that!

[FmrRamFB]

Regarding a new stadium, clearly we’re going to need state funding to help build the new east side grandstand. Why not put a bond measure together for all RI college athletic facilities not just URI? I’m sure RIC & CCRI could use some facility upgrades too.

Here are the bond measures that have been approved since ‘08. Including the recent $57M for the performing arts center. There’s a whole bunch of money for “Environment and Recreation”…


https://ballotpedia.org/Rhode_Island_Qu ... arch_2021)

[RhowdyRam02]

A bond issue would never pass, in fact it was defeated in 2004 65.5% to 34.5% or 244,988 to 117,971. That was for $6.7 million to construct an athletic performance center and renovate Meade and Keaney. If we got defeated that bad for $6.7 million, what do you think a $25-30 million referendum would look like?

One potential path, could we pursue the funding through RI Health and Education Building Corporation bonds? Currently in the 2022 capital budget we're using those bonds for the new health and counseling center that we're pursuing, the facility services upgrade, the Memorial Union renovation, and repaving and reconstruction of parking facilities, roadways, and walkways. Going on RIHEBC's website, one of the pictures shows Bryant's athletic building, so it seems like they would finance athletic facilities.

Another potential path would be to just straight up lobby the State House. The state had no problem buying the Dunkin Donuts Center from Providence and paying a ton of money to renovate it. There were also proposals that almost passed to build a new stadium for the PawSox and they're doing some funding for the Tidewater Landing project that will bring soccer to Pawtucket. How many season ticket holders are RI residents? How many athletics donors are RI residents? It would seem like in a state like RI small groups of highly motivated people could get something put in the state budget. If football season ticket holders and athletics donors all went to their state reps and said a renovated Meade is not just a desired project, but a necessary one because the stands are no longer safe, and their votes and political donations would hinge on that project getting done, maybe that happens.

I mentioned the Tidewater Landing project earlier, the estimate is that the public contribution to that project will be $70 to 90 million.
"The public investment is expected to be approximately 20% of project costs (in the range of $70 to $90M total, with an anticipated $60-$80M of that total to be derived from State revenue). Final public investment will be determined based on factors such as site conditions, parking needs, and other project-specific considerations."
One of the tools they're using there is a tax increment financing program. My understanding is that tax revenue generated within a certain area around the stadium is being used to fund the project. It would seem like we should be able to use something like that as well. Maybe a program where all tax revenue collected from Emporium businesses and on campus could be funneled towards paying back bonds on the stadium. That, along with a surcharge on all tickets for Meade events which goes towards paying back bonds and contributions from donors should be enough to finance a new stadium

[RhowdyRam02]

This was something I had gotten off of UNH's old website for how Wildcat Stadium was paid for, could be a roadmap for us:

""Q: How is the project being funded?
A: The stadium project is expected to cost $25 million and is slated for completion in August 2016. The university is committed to raising at least $5 million in private support and it will leverage internal borrowing for the additional $20 million. UNH will be paying the loan back over the next 20 years at the prevailing treasury rate.

Q: Is state money being used to fund this project?
A: No state dollars will be used for the new stadium. No state dollars were used to finance the Whittemore Center in 1993. A key component for this project is that at least 20% of the total cost will be privately raised with the remainder coming from internal borrowing. Internal borrowing against unrestricted net assets is a prudent way to finance capital projects and has been used by our campuses for decades."

[FmrRamFB]

Great info, thanks! We definitely need someone to lobby on the program’s behalf.

[RF1]

The Ryan Center opened in 2002 with 21 million in revenue bonds paying for a portion of its construction. These bonds were to be paid from arena revenues and student fees. What is the status of the Ryan Center bonds? Are they paid off and if not, when will that occur?

[RhowdyRam02]

At least on the student end the Ryan Center bonds won't be paid off until 2031 and as of 2018 full time students were paying $392 a year

https://rhodycigar.com/2017/03/02/build ... e-in-2018/

[RF1]

At least on the student end the Ryan Center bonds won't be paid off until 2031 and as of 2018 full time students were paying $392 a year

https://rhodycigar.com/2017/03/02/build ... e-in-2018/

It would then seem the Ryan Center bonds have a 30 year payment schedule. I would therefore then not expect a Meade Stadium renovation bond until after 2031. I can't see URI paying off two separate athletics facility bonds at the same time.

[RhowdyRam02]

Do the East stands have 10+ years left in them though? It certainly doesn't seem so

[FmrRamFB]

Do the East stands have 10+ years left in them though? It certainly doesn't seem so

10 months would be a stretch.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Do the East stands have 10+ years left in them though? It certainly doesn't seem so

10 months would be a stretch.

I'll take the over on that....but give me the under on 3 years

[RhowdyRam02]

Attendance for yesterday's sellout was 5778. Compare that to our 2019 Alumni and Family Weekend crowd of 8911. I'm not really sure why capacity seems about 3100 lower, we don't have that many seats covered, maybe we're also restricted on how many standing room only we can have as well? Either way, a capacity of under 6000 isn't viable long term

[RhowdyRam02]

I've received some pictures showing off Delaware's stadium now that their renovation is complete. This was a $65 million project that put up a new press box and converted the middle sections to chair back seating as part of the improvements.





In addition to the stadium, they have two outdoor practice fields and they have an indoor facility that currently is used for multiple sports but will soon become football only

[Obadiah]

How did Delaware finance the $65 million renovation?

[RhowdyRam02]

"As part of the university’s largest-ever engagement and fundraising campaign, which hopes to raise $750 million by June 2020, Delaware Athletics will receive several upgrades, including the renovation of Delaware Stadium and the construction of a brand new athletic center on South campus.

The $60 million project, “Build Our Home”, to renovate the football Stadium and build an athletic center focused on student-athlete career and personal development, “will truly define what it means to be a Blue Hen and put Delaware First, where we belong,” according to the project’s Crowdfunding page."

That campaign started in November 2017, so their goal was to raise $750 million in about two and a half years. To compare, our Big Ideas. Bold Plans. campaign was started in the summer of 2020 with a goal of raising $250 million by 2024. But when the University announced the campaign in the summer of 2020, we already had somehow raised $175 million towards the $250 million goal. We're now up to $214 million. So Delaware's campaign was 3 times more ambitious in terms of the money they wanted to raise and they wanted to do it in about a year sooner than us

https://campaign.uri.edu/

https://www.uri.edu/magazine/issues/sum ... old-plans/

[PeterRamTime]

I've received some pictures showing off Delaware's stadium now that their renovation is complete. This was a $65 million project that put up a new press box and converted the middle sections to chair back seating as part of the improvements.





In addition to the stadium, they have two outdoor practice fields and they have an indoor facility that currently is used for multiple sports but will soon become football only

How the hell does Delaware have all this money?

You'd think they'd go FBS

[bigappleram]

And U. Delaware is about the best comp to URI that exists. Anything they can do we should be able to as well.

[RhowdyRam02]

I didn't get a great picture of Albany's stadium before, but here is one that to me looks a lot like what option 2 for Meade looks like:



Double deck seating with a press box up top, with an open concourse/concessions at the back of the concourse. That and the rest of their stadium cost $24 million total ten years ago. They broke ground April 17, 2012 and hosted us for their first football game September 15, 2013. If you look at some of the other stadiums here I think you can see other similarities with the two options

[Rhodymob05]

I like this option. Option one feels like Browns Stadium. I think the multiple decks allows for more variation in seating pricing/seating options? I'm assuming it could be more expensive because of the structural elements? Looks great though.

[Puck Frovidence]

And U. Delaware is about the best comp to URI that exists. Anything they can do we should be able to as well.

I wish man. I mean state-wise maybe. But their endowment is well over a billion dollars - almost 10x what URI's is. Delaware's got that whole tax-haven, "shady LLC's welcome" thing that I'm sure brings crazy revenue into the state. Also they don't have that New England/New York problem of the Ivies and behemoth Private schools being a historical siphon of money, state support, public interest etc.

I know endowment is probably not an exact representation of what athletics can raise/spend (ahem, Fordham), but it's at least some indicator of financial health. I checked and Udel's $1.45b endowment is bigger than any New England flagship or D1 SUNY (next highest is technically UMass at $1.2b but that's for the whole UMass system). In fact, it's a larger endowment than all the D1 SUNYs combined. Compared to all of us, they are rolling in it.

[ramster]

Summary of the 15 CAA Football Stadiums - 2022 Season


CAA Stadiums URI will visit this season:

@ Stony Brook
@ Monmouth
@ William & Mary
@ New Hampshire

[RF1]

[PeterRamTime]

I love his channel

[RhowdyRam02]

Same. I find myself watching videos even if I don't care about the stadiums he's talking about

[PeterRamTime]

Same. I find myself watching videos even if I don't care about the stadiums he's talking about

Yeah he's a funny aussie.

I cant seem to care about the soccer stadiums though.

[OBRAM]

I can't get excited about the soccer stadium also.
It seems like that will be a hard place to get in and out of, just south of the I-95 Bridge in Pawtucket.

I went to a Woosox game in June. I found the city to be clean, and the people very friendly. I didn't see any people sleeping on sidewalks or trying to beg you for money. I still think the Pawsox stadium plan on the Prov Waterfront was the best idea.

[RhowdyRam02]

I can't get excited about the soccer stadium also.
It seems like that will be a hard place to get in and out of, just south of the I-95 Bridge in Pawtucket.

I went to a Woosox game in June. I found the city to be clean, and the people very friendly. I didn't see any people sleeping on sidewalks or trying to beg you for money. I still think the Pawsox stadium plan on the Prov Waterfront was the best idea.

If you think a soccer stadium in Pawtucket is a tough place to get in and out of I have some news about Providence traffic that shows that waterfront ballpark would have been a disaster. Plus it would have cost the state $120 million