West Gym will be renovated to become a basketball practice facility

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 5 years ago

Despite the Dunk and Convention Center losing a lot of money annually (well over $1,000,000) I remember reading a couple of month's ago that a new $700,000 scoreboard was being purchased. Anything to add to the black hole created by the absurd renovations of the Dunk. Also, I believe the Friars have been playing at the Dunk without a signed lease. With a huge operating deficit one logical thing to do would be to increase the rent being paid by the Friars and Bruins. I am not sure if the Bruins have a signed lease but it is obvious that the Friars should be paying more. Actually since they have no where else to play they should be paying a lot more but we all know that will not be happening.

The operations of the combined properties should be investigated by an unbiased group which should also come up with some recommendations to reduce the cash drains that are being subsidized by the taxpayers. PC just raised and spent $30million on their practice facility so they should be able to pay a lot more rent!

Taylor Swift · Unread post by **Taylor Swift** » 5 years ago

eli#10 wrote: ↑5 years ago Despite the Dunk and Convention Center losing a lot of money annually (well over $1,000,000) I remember reading a couple of month's ago that a new $700,000 scoreboard was being purchased. Anything to add to the black hole created by the absurd renovations of the Dunk. Also, I believe the Friars have been playing at the Dunk without a signed lease. With a huge operating deficit one logical thing to do would be to increase the rent being paid by the Friars and Bruins. I am not sure if the Bruins have a signed lease but it is obvious that the Friars should be paying more. Actually since they have no where else to play they should be paying a lot more but we all know that will not be happening.

The operations of the combined properties should be investigated by an unbiased group which should also come up with some recommendations to reduce the cash drains that are being subsidized by the taxpayers. PC just raised and spent $30million on their practice facility so they should be able to pay a lot more rent!

Absolutely!!

What politician in RI would be interested in sourcing an unbiased group to make recommendations is my only concern?

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

So how much should they be paying per game to play at the Dunk? Or better yet, what number do you think is fair per season? (Say 18 games)

Taylor Swift · Unread post by **Taylor Swift** » 5 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote: ↑5 years ago So how much should they be paying per game to play at the Dunk? Or what number do you think is fair per season? (Say 18 games)

Whoever is drafting the lease should take a look at the expired lease and take into consideration what similar programs to PC are paying to play in similar venues. If I were to rent out my home, I'd look at comps in the area and determine a dollar value from there.

Also for ~18 games, they'd have to take a look at attendance, concessions, any associated parking revenues, etc. etc. If I had the info I could come up with a figure. $700k for a scoreboard-- I'm clearly in the wrong industry.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

That’s kinda my point — No one knows if PC is paying a comparable rent to others yet always talk about how great their current deal is. We know what they are paying annually.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Watch the full Ruane Center video. Bob Driscol is dilusional. He likes to state theings that PC has as the best in the nation (like ther pep band - really Bob). Early on in his speach he starts talking about a national championship because of the new practice facility. How about being a Top 25 team first or making it to the Sweet 16 once.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

Rhody83 wrote: ↑5 years ago Watch the full Ruane Center video. Bob Driscol is dilusional. He likes to state theings that PC has as the best in the nation (like ther pep band - really Bob). Early on in his speach he starts talking about a national championship because of the new practice facility. How about being a Top 25 team first or making it to the Sweet 16 once.

Seriously? If your program doesn’t have National Championship aspirations, you should just fold up. No AD is going to talk about how their new practice facility is great but doesn’t mean anything until they win more tournament games. Further, every school talks about how their students are the best for example. Driscoll isn’t going to stand up there and go “Our fans and students are ok, but suck compared to Duke.”

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 5 years ago

There really are not any comps in the area to help determine what the rental should be. One could argue the XL Center in Hartford but that place is a dump.

It comes down to part of Economics 101--supply and demand. If you own the only apartment building in a town where there is a great demand (for whatever reason) the tenants will have to pay a premium to rent a unit. Management of the Dunk should be looking at ways to reduce its operating deficit never mind spending $700,000 for a new scoreboard.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Instead of saying our pep band and cheer squad is great or did a great job he has to say unsolicited they are the best in the nation. Idiotic. He says it about everything. I have no problem with Cooley’s comments. Driscol is hard to take.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... uts-center

The new scoreboard with video capability will help people in the thousands of seats that have such poor views.
Arenas that were built for both hockey and basketball really deteriorate the viewing for basketball.
I go to the PC URIngame evrpery two years at the Dump and always leave thanking my lucky stars we play in the beautiful Ryan Center.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 5 years ago

There are certain core enhancements that have to be made at the Dunk to have it remain competitive.. they love the men’s basketball tournament and want to host it as much as possible. Ignoring enhancements means risking losing those events and there is too much economic impact for that to happen.

Further, the Dunk is the only show in town right now, but that doesn’t mean they charge through the roof because let’s be honest, PC’s $1 million per and the P-Bruins $2 million per might not really be enough to pay a substantial loan payment, but $2 million and $4 million per do. They could pair up, find land in an eager city (hello Pawtucket waterfront) and build. The RICC needs the teams as much as the teams need them. The Dunk becomes a worthless building if those tenants leave.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 5 years ago

How did this thread turn into Friartown exactly?

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 5 years ago

Yea listen I love the Dunkin Center* and all and have been going to events there my entire life, but lets put a cap on the Frair talk, and open the lid on the URI talk.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 5 years ago

One final comment and that is RJ must be hallucinating to feel that the Friars and Bruins would ever consider a joint venture to construct a new building in Pawtucket or anywhere else.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 5 years ago

Just raise the rent on the Friars and P Bruins to 1.5 and 3 million annually, and voila! Deficit solved!

Donuts90 · Unread post by **Donuts90** » 5 years ago

So the Friars should pay 1/2 of what the P-Bruins do, even though they don’t practice there and have a 1/3 of the access? I’d hate to have you negotiating for me.

rhodylaw · Unread post by **rhodylaw** » 5 years ago

Donuts90 wrote: ↑5 years ago So the Friars should pay 1/2 of what the P-Bruins do, even though they don’t practice there and have a 1/3 of the access? I’d hate to have you negotiating for me.

Or we could cancel the lease and let them find another arena.....oh that’s right, they wouldn’t be able to do that. It’s called leverage, the P-Bruins can be the Woo-Bruins in a minute. The PC friars don’t have much of a choice.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 5 years ago

Donuts90 wrote: ↑5 years ago So the Friars should pay 1/2 of what the P-Bruins do, even though they don’t practice there and have a 1/3 of the access? I’d hate to have you negotiating for me.

if you dont like the terms you can always go back to Alumni Hall...

or actually spend your own money and build an arena, just pass the collection plate around a few extra times.

woodennickel1 · Unread post by **woodennickel1** » 5 years ago

Da_Process_Survivor wrote: ↑5 years ago
Donuts90 wrote: ↑5 years ago So the Friars should pay 1/2 of what the P-Bruins do, even though they don’t practice there and have a 1/3 of the access? I’d hate to have you negotiating for me.
if you dont like the terms you can always go back to Alumni Hall...

or actually spend your own money and build an arena, just pass the collection plate around a few extra times.

Not so easy to do when you have a season ticket count of 9000 including the students. Not like we have a season ticket base of 3000 like some other teams.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 5 years ago

Not sure why this went down a rabbit hole about PC and subsequently dragged out their posters to defend it. And for the record, if you count students for that other school it would be 4500-5k. So there's that.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

More tomorrow on podcast.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 5 years ago

Here is link to podcast

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the ... 0422072638

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 5 years ago

Pretty informative podcast right there.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 5 years ago

Agreed. High production value. I'm subscribed. Nice job, Stone Freeman!

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Is anyone surprised that none of the NCAA money (basketball programs allocation) or the money from Hurley’s buyout are not being used?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

Haven’t listened yet, but if that’s what he said I’m stunned. I’ve always been in the camp of giving Thor the benefit of the doubt and trusting him, but I think if that is the case the fan base is owed some sort of explanation as to why - and what we are doing with that money. It’s his job to spend the money how he thinks is best, and I don’t expect total transparency on his part, but I think it is reasonable for fans to assume the facility is a huge need and those revenue streams would seem to be perfect sources for at least some of the associated costs, so if it we are doing something different we should get a general (but honest) answer about what that is.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 5 years ago

There is an assumption by some that the NCAA credits aren’t being spent on anything.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote: ↑5 years ago There is an assumption by some that the NCAA credits aren’t being spent on anything.

I didn’t say that. Thorr did say the practice facility will be 100% donor funded.

He mentioned large donations. I believe he said 7-8 donors in total.
The price tag is $5 million. He hoped to have the committed donations in 6 months.
I was told they have soft commitments for $4 million.
He said an aggressive goal is to have the facility ready for the Fall of 2020.
I wonder who Tom Ryan would like to name the facility after.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 5 years ago

Idk how you can’t be impressed if Thor is somehow delivering a $5m practice facility without using the extra cash flow. It’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

Seawrightspostgame wrote: ↑5 years ago Idk how you can’t be impressed if Thor is somehow delivering a $5m practice facility without using the extra cash flow. It’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing.

As long as it doesn’t delay getting the facility built. Thor is a very good fundraiser.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

I’d also say as long as it doesn’t impact the quality of the facility. Using an existing structure will allow us to save quite a bit of money, which is good, but $5M is still relatively cheap for a facility that is seen as a necessity in the current CBB landscape and could pay dividends in recruiting and maybe even performance going forward. I wonder if $5M can get you “good,” could dipping into that revenue stream and spending $7.5M or $9M or whatever get you “great”? For sure, regardless of the answer to that, raising $5M for this project is a tremendous accomplishment for Thorr personally and for the school and the athletic department and they should be commended.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

They had the study done and the recommend plan is $5 million. That isn’t going to change. I think a lot of schools waste money and go overboard. The players want a place to workout, get PT, hangout & eat. A place that is their own. It will be new so that helps. The players don’t care what the outside of the building looks like or the memorabilia.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

Good info. Next thought, then, is that if they come up short at all on hitting $5M, that revenue stream should be available to close the gap. I know they don’t want to say that because they want to raise the money, but I hope they’re prepared to do that.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 5 years ago

It was stated sometime ago on this board that all NCAA money was going into the "general fund" of the school. Not sure if the Hurley money has been paid yet but those $ will probably also go to the same place.

Let's put a full court press on to try and get some money from the State. The effin Dunk which loses a lot of money each year recently got a new $700,000 scoreboard. That is essentially another donation by the State (tax payers) since the State covers the operating losses. That scenario pisses me off no end.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

eli#10 wrote: ↑5 years ago It was stated sometime ago on this board that all NCAA money was going into the "general fund" of the school. Not sure if the Hurley money has been paid yet but those $ will probably also go to the same place.

Let's put a full court press on to try and get some money from the State. The effin Dunk which loses a lot of money each year recently got a new $700,000 scoreboard. That is essentially another donation by the State (tax payers) since the State covers the operating losses. That scenario pisses me off no end.

The State of RI isn’t paying a penny for a basketball practice facility and they shouldn’t.

My understanding with the NCAA money is that it will go to the Athletic Dept every year (not the university general fund). Thor will allocate the money within the Athletic Dept. He mentioned a guideline based on the current budget level for each team so MBB would get a good percentage of it. I have no idea what happens to the Hurley buyout ($1.25 million) but would think it either goes to the MBB or Athletic Dept.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 5 years ago

Bjorn also said 95% of the time the team has full 24 hour access to the Ryan Center. We just aren’t in the same predicament as other schools who 1) don’t have a state of the art basketball facility to practice and/or 2) they can’t get access to it 95% of the time.

The NCAA credits are for operational upgrades to the program and other athletics needs. They don’t pay in a lump sum anyway, and the men’s basketball program really needed that bump in annual budget to keep in line with the top tier of the league just for day to day stuff.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

The NCAA credits are paid over six years. The approximate payments are:
2018 $425,000
2019 $850,000
2020 $850,000
2021 $850,000
2022 $850,000
2023 $850,000
2024 $425,000

Playing two games both years was huge. You can see if Rhody adds onto with Tournament appearances in 2020 and beyond this baby will grow.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 5 years ago

Don't forget the A10 takes anywhere from 25-33% of the credit to share with other member schools. URI also is receiving some part of that "shared pool" money in addition to the direct "earner's share" credits. Your point is still good that the athletic dept has lots more $ to work with and over a pretty long term. Helps with budget planning to have guaranteed income of that size.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 5 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote: ↑5 years ago the men’s basketball program really needed that bump in annual budget to keep in line with the top tier of the league just for day to day stuff.

I think this is a really good point that people often overlook (myself included). It's not like we were at the top of the league in spending and then added more money to that. Some of the extra money will go towards just catching up to the top of the league.

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 5 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote: ↑5 years ago Don't forget the A10 takes anywhere from 25-33% of the credit to share with other member schools. URI also is receiving some part of that "shared pool" money in addition to the direct "earner's share" credits. Your point is still good that the athletic dept has lots more $ to work with and over a pretty long term. Helps with budget planning to have guaranteed income of that size.

I believe your percentage is way too high. My understanding is 11%. That was factored into my calculation. I didn’t add any return money from other A10 schools. It has been about $30,000 in recent years. The shared pool is split with 14 teams.

BlackDogRants · Unread post by **BlackDogRants** » 4 years ago

Any updates on this? Wondering where the practice facility left off.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 4 years ago

.......no clue.....

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 4 years ago

Anyone see any action in the building?

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 4 years ago

They have to raise the money first. Publicly they only have a commitment of $1 million from Tom Ryan. I believe Thorr thought Athletics was going to get more from Tom Ryan and a million each from the two other major donors. Ryan committed $35 millio to URI, the former CEO of Hasbro committed $15 million and there is a third major donor that is making a commitment of over $10 million. Of that $60+ million, Athletics is getting $1 million. That is very unusual in the major donor world. Usually some portion of a major donation is earmarked for Athletics. This practice facility is still way off in the distance. When Thorr tried to keep Hurley the promise was that the facility would be opened in Sept 2020. My guess is they are 1 1/2 years away from when they start. In RI they can’t put a shovel in the ground until they have raised all of the money.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 4 years ago

Rhody83 wrote: ↑4 years ago They have to raise the money first. Publicly they only have a commitment of $1 million from Tom Ryan. I believe Thorr thought Athletics was going to get more from Tom Ryan and a million each from the two other major donors. Ryan committed $35 millio to URI, the former CEO of Hasbro committed $15 million and there is a third major donor that is making a commitment of over $10 million. Of that $60+ million, Athletics is getting $1 million. That is very unusual in the major donor world. Usually some portion of a major donation is earmarked for Athletics. This practice facility is still way off in the distance. When Thorr tried to keep Hurley the promise was that the facility would be opened in Sept 2020. My guess is they are 1 1/2 years away from when they start. In RI they can’t put a shovel in the ground until they have raised all of the money.

Part of the problem is that unlike other state universities, this state will not take a surety or guarantee or pledge.

So I don’t blame larger donors for being hesitant and not wanting to give all the money until work starts or is completed.

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 4 years ago

That’s incredible. Imagine being a recruit and reading that? Espically compared to what other schools in our own conference give to athletics.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 4 years ago

BlackDogRants wrote: ↑4 years ago Any updates on this? Wondering where the practice facility left off.

Still out there. Given it is URI, the realistic opening should be expected sometime near 2030.

Expect a similar process to that of the SADC. Once first proposed as its own stand alone building back around 2003. Much scaled back project using a portion of existing space in Tootell didn't open until 2014. Par for the course at URI where the next dorm to open after Heathman in 1971 took 36 years. This despite enrollment increasing by many thousands during that span.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 4 years ago

The dream of quickly opening a practice facility died the day Hurley left. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it didn't happen at this point.

rhodysurf · Unread post by **rhodysurf** » 4 years ago

Honestly I have zero problem with the recent donations going to academic areas first over a basketball practice facility. Probably not a popular opinion here tho

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 4 years ago

rhodysurf wrote: ↑4 years ago Honestly I have zero problem with the recent donations going to academic areas first over a basketball practice facility. Probably not a popular opinion here tho

I think thats a perfectly reasonable opinion to have, academics are obviously very important. The only thing I would add though is that it means you have to also be ok with our basketball program not being a top tier A10 program because we don't have one of the main recruiting tools that the other top tier programs have.