STrib: U athletics project start date could be delayed; CFO says "big hill to climb"

[BleedGopher]

STrib: U athletics project start date could be delayed; CFO says "big hill to climb"

per the STrib:

The University of Minnesota’s chief financial officer said Friday that the school has a “big hill to climb” with fundraising if it’s going to begin construction of its proposed $150 million athletics facilities project by October.

The Gophers took more steps up that hill Friday, when they announced a $6 million gift toward the project from retired telecommunications executive Robert Eddy. The gift brings the total raised to $65 million, said Chris Werle, senior associate athletic director.

University CFO Richard Pfutzenreuter said that, as with any project, the school must raise 80 percent of the money — in this case $120 million — before construction can begin. The other 20 percent can be financed and paid off through continued fundraising, he explained.

A university document released Friday states a complete financing plan must be ready for approval at the June 11-12 Board of Regents meeting in order to begin construction in October.

That gives athletic director Norwood Teague four months to raise another $55 million to make that timetable happen, a fundraising pace that would need to be nearly twice as fast as what it has been.

“It’s a big hill to climb,” Pfutzenreuter said. “Norwood wants to equivocate on putting the pressure on donors to contribute, but that date will have to slide if there’s no overall financing plan to move the project forward.

“The Board of Regents won’t approve it, and it doesn’t get past the president [Eric Kaler] or I without 100 percent of it figured out.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/291125071.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[Winasota Gopher]

Cue a certain someone saying a certain something.

 

[station19]

Cue a certain someone saying a certain something.

I'm afraid I was thinking the same.

 

[Go4]

Cue a certain someone saying a certain something.

agreed, but he isn't wrong, yet.

gw has said we wouldn't build a $190mm facility, he's right. he's also right that we aren't as close that we were led to believe the last few weeks. he also said not to believe anything until shovel is in the ground. hope it will be in october or there will be many disappointed people at bierman.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

agreed, but he isn't wrong, yet.

gw has said we wouldn't build a $190mm facility, he's right. he's also right that we aren't as close that we were led to believe the last few weeks. he also said not to believe anything until shovel is in the ground. hope it will be in october or there will be many disappointed people at bierman.

As Minnesotans, our pro and college teams have crapped on us often enough that we should know not to get excited about anything until the money is in the bank, regardless of whether it is a team we think is going to have a good year, a game with a late lead that should be won, a highly touted recruit, a coach with a nice first season or two, or a facilities plan.

 

[WanderingGopher]

per the STrib:



University CFO Richard Pfutzenreuter said that, as with any project, the school must raise 80 percent of the money — in this case $120 million — before construction can begin. The other 20 percent can be financed and paid off through continued fundraising, he explained.


http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/291125071.html

Go Gophers!!

This seems like a really dumb policy, especially if they are talking only about private donations.

Where the heck is all the state money for this project?

 

[WanderingGopher]

Also, where does this "by October" business come from? Last I heard, we were talking about shovels in the ground by August. (Presumably when track was over).

 

[WanderingGopher]

This Pfeffeneuser character doesn't exactly sound like part of the team. Why does he keep saying "they" ... ?



“Ideally they would have 100 percent before you put a shovel in the ground,” Pfutzenreuter said. “But the minimum is 80 percent — that’s a policy. Norwood knows it, and every dean and every faculty member knows it.

“I think this one’s going to be certainly a pretty big challenge, but I think if they can get there [to the 80 percent mark], we can figure out the rest.”

 

[#1nHkyCfbBsbDncSolarDebat]

We are talking about politicians and not sure how to even spell the word because I am so far removed from such bs in my life, beaurocrats? lol that wouldn't know their heads from their arses.

I read a study awhile back, probably in the late 90s, about how every $1 invested into the University of Minnesota brought back $4 into the state economy. Yet all politicians want to do is fill their own pockets and the pockets of their "friends" who got them into office.

And yes this is sports we are talking about here, not academics or research, but damn, name recognition is so damned important that companies pay big money to get their products advertised as much as they can, and reputation is huge and considered very important, so why would it be different when it comes to sports?

And who are these people donating money and/or leading fundraising efforts? Lou Nanne and Paul Molitor are the two names that most come to my mind outside of our AD, but that is what he is getting paid for, thats his job. It was not Molitor's job, and neither was it Nanne's. Now they may have gotten paid for their services, but thats not the point. They are successful graduates who felt like giving back. They could afford to, because they were successful.

Athletes can make millions of dollars a year depending on the sport and how good they are. Former Gophers are making well over 100 million dollars a year playing or coaching sports in 2015. If they pledged a mere 10% of that money, that would be huge. That would be 10 mil a year. Now I am not suggesting they give up 10% of their yearly salaries as a donation, maybe if they did that just once a decade maybe? Something like this Practice facility doesn't come along every year. So if they all donated just 1% every year, well, that would be a cool million, give or take a few hundred thousand, a year, and if they were doing that regularly, well, we'd have 15 mil or so, saved up from their donations throughout the 21st Century. And thats with only 6 former Gophers in the NFL. Frigging UConn FB has 19 former players playing in the NFL. If we get back on track, the # of former Gophers playing in the NFL should rise significantly and with that rise the amount of money they are bringing home yearly should skyrocket as well, as the NFL pays better than any other sport when you consider how many people play in the NFL, compared to the NBA for example. It would be huge if we were sending people regularly to the NBA like we used to. But we are at least sending lots of people to the NHL and they are raking in millions. Saunders net worth is 30 mil, Lesnar's is 15, Kessel's is about 15 mil, heck, Shelton Benjamin's is 5 mil, lol. Not sure what Perkin's or Decker's net worths are, or Vanek's or all of those other NHLers, or Mr. Kardashians, although I doubt he has much love for the U.

I guess my point is, for every dollar spent on Gopher Athletics, my guess is, at least $1 or maybe $4 would come back to the Minnesota economy. Where do you think Glen Perkins spends his money? Or Thomas Vanek? Etc.. Those athletes, for the most part, buy homes in Minnesota, buy cars from dealers in Minnesota, shop for groceries and furniture, etc., in Minnesota. Their accountants and lawyers might be from Minnesota as well. When they retire, they start businesses in Minnesota, and most settle here. Some run charity organizations that help Minnesota to a great degree.


Not sure if anyone is catching my drift?! What I'm saying is investing in the University of Minnesota, is a good investment, whether it be academics, research or even athletics. If former Gopher athletes don't donate to the U, more often than not they will spend their earnings in the state, so either way Minnesota benefits. Some of these athletes come back to coach our teams, and some of them come back to play for our home teams at discounted rates. Molitor and Winfield both did this, Vanek turned down a 50 million dollar contract so he could sign on and play for the Wild instead. He's losing out on at least a million a year to try to help out the home team. Minnesotans benefit when the University of Minnesota invests in its athletics.

 

[dpodoll68]

This Pfeffeneuser character doesn't exactly sound like part of the team. Why does he keep saying "they" ... ?



“Ideally they would have 100 percent before you put a shovel in the ground,” Pfutzenreuter said. “But the minimum is 80 percent — that’s a policy. Norwood knows it, and every dean and every faculty member knows it.

“I think this one’s going to be certainly a pretty big challenge, but I think if they can get there [to the 80 percent mark], we can figure out the rest.”

Probably because he's in finance and not in development?

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Cut the chase. Borrow the rest from the State with an interest free loan. We've a billion dollar surplus. If the U keeps dicking around they're going to lose Kill. The people in this dismal State amaze
me. If you took f--king garage and flea market receipts for the season you could pay for the facilties
Then you've the fat ass Twins fan who will pump millions of sports dollars into a perennial 100 game loser.

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Nothing new here except for the 80% funding rule. Does anyone know if this is written policy and where I can find the language?

I'll track it down on my own when I've got a little time, but if someone has heard of this before, please share your knowledge.

 

[GopherOhana]

Does it have to be all or nothing? They can't break the project up and start some of it?

 

[WanderingGopher]

Probably because he's in finance and not in development?

So what. He's part of the University leadership team. It's a major university project, not Norwood's project. It should be "we."

I don't know, maybe I'm just so annoyed by the message that I'm overreacting to the delivery of it.

 

[WanderingGopher]

Cut the chase. Borrow the rest from the State with an interest free loan. We've a billion dollar surplus. If the U keeps dicking around they're going to lose Kill. The people in this dismal State amaze
me. If you took f--king garage and flea market receipts for the season you could pay for the facilties
Then you've the fat ass Twins fan who will pump millions of sports dollars into a perennial 100 game loser.

^ This. (Except you have a short memory w/r/t Twins). I'm tired of hearing administrator and politician types talk about roadblocks and difficulties and why it can't be done. Find ways to get it done, period.

 

[Gopher Warrior]

Does it have to be all or nothing? They can't break the project up and start some of it?

They CAN do a lot of things. Many options here. The stated chosen paths to date are not the optimal ones. Hopefully the 'U' gets with it and continues to change what they have previously said so something gets done soon.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Does it have to be all or nothing? They can't break the project up and start some of it?

That was my question, too. Can't you define this as a series of discrete projects?

As far as the overall quest goes, it's a process. It's good to have goals, but I don't think you can put a hard timetable on something of this nature. Actually, they're further along than I truly thought they'd be at this point.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

Norwood needs one or two more big donations from corporations to get this done. I hope he is begging 3M.

 

[jamalo]

The project is designed to allow for facilities to be finished in phases (rather than all facilities at once); not sure what I'm missing here

 

[gregbrady]

We are talking about politicians and not sure how to even spell the word because I am so far removed from such bs in my life, beaurocrats? lol that wouldn't know their heads from their arses.

I read a study awhile back, probably in the late 90s, about how every $1 invested into the University of Minnesota brought back $4 into the state economy. Yet all politicians want to do is fill their own pockets and the pockets of their "friends" who got them into office.

And yes this is sports we are talking about here, not academics or research, but damn, name recognition is so damned important that companies pay big money to get their products advertised as much as they can, and reputation is huge and considered very important, so why would it be different when it comes to sports?

And who are these people donating money and/or leading fundraising efforts? Lou Nanne and Paul Molitor are the two names that most come to my mind outside of our AD, but that is what he is getting paid for, thats his job. It was not Molitor's job, and neither was it Nanne's. Now they may have gotten paid for their services, but thats not the point. They are successful graduates who felt like giving back. They could afford to, because they were successful.

Athletes can make millions of dollars a year depending on the sport and how good they are. Former Gophers are making well over 100 million dollars a year playing or coaching sports in 2015. If they pledged a mere 10% of that money, that would be huge. That would be 10 mil a year. Now I am not suggesting they give up 10% of their yearly salaries as a donation, maybe if they did that just once a decade maybe? Something like this Practice facility doesn't come along every year. So if they all donated just 1% every year, well, that would be a cool million, give or take a few hundred thousand, a year, and if they were doing that regularly, well, we'd have 15 mil or so, saved up from their donations throughout the 21st Century. And thats with only 6 former Gophers in the NFL. Frigging UConn FB has 19 former players playing in the NFL. If we get back on track, the # of former Gophers playing in the NFL should rise significantly and with that rise the amount of money they are bringing home yearly should skyrocket as well, as the NFL pays better than any other sport when you consider how many people play in the NFL, compared to the NBA for example. It would be huge if we were sending people regularly to the NBA like we used to. But we are at least sending lots of people to the NHL and they are raking in millions. Saunders net worth is 30 mil, Lesnar's is 15, Kessel's is about 15 mil, heck, Shelton Benjamin's is 5 mil, lol. Not sure what Perkin's or Decker's net worths are, or Vanek's or all of those other NHLers, or Mr. Kardashians, although I doubt he has much love for the U.

I guess my point is, for every dollar spent on Gopher Athletics, my guess is, at least $1 or maybe $4 would come back to the Minnesota economy. Where do you think Glen Perkins spends his money? Or Thomas Vanek? Etc.. Those athletes, for the most part, buy homes in Minnesota, buy cars from dealers in Minnesota, shop for groceries and furniture, etc., in Minnesota. Their accountants and lawyers might be from Minnesota as well. When they retire, they start businesses in Minnesota, and most settle here. Some run charity organizations that help Minnesota to a great degree.


Not sure if anyone is catching my drift?! What I'm saying is investing in the University of Minnesota, is a good investment, whether it be academics, research or even athletics. If former Gopher athletes don't donate to the U, more often than not they will spend their earnings in the state, so either way Minnesota benefits. Some of these athletes come back to coach our teams, and some of them come back to play for our home teams at discounted rates. Molitor and Winfield both did this, Vanek turned down a 50 million dollar contract so he could sign on and play for the Wild instead. He's losing out on at least a million a year to try to help out the home team. Minnesotans benefit when the University of Minnesota invests in its athletics.

Athletes are some of the cheapest people when it comes to giving back to their university and I don't think the alums are any different here in Minnesota. Some, like Molitor and Nanne, will lend their names to help raise money but give very little of their own. Look at the golf course, it's an absolute dump, you'd think Tom Lehman would see that and want to give some of his mega millions he's made on the PGA and Senior PGA tours and help out. We just need to keep digging into the pockets of the many corporations and the higher ups and these corporations to get this thing done.

 

[Angry]

CFO's and CPA's are among the smartest to when it comes to covering their ass. (better than lawyers even) I like this statement!

 

[station19]

Athletes are some of the cheapest people when it comes to giving back to their university and I don't think the alums are any different here in Minnesota. Some, like Molitor and Nanne, will lend their names to help raise money but give very little of their own. Look at the golf course, it's an absolute dump, you'd think Tom Lehman would see that and want to give some of his mega millions he's made on the PGA and Senior PGA tours and help out. We just need to keep digging into the pockets of the many corporations and the higher ups and these corporations to get this thing done.

How much do you think Tom Lehman has or hasn't given to the U?

 

[WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?]

Everyone is aware, i hope, that through the 'Nothing Short of Greatness' campaign, any person is able to easily donate specifically towards the entire $190million dollar plan? You can do this with the links below, in case you missed it in the NSoG campaign thread.

http://www.nothingshortofgreatness.com/ (Campaign site)

https://makingagift.umn.edu/onlinegiving/enterOwner.do?ownerCode=O_20257&desc_source=UU15ICANSOGW (Direct link to the donation form)

Please spread these links around. I read these forums several times per week and i was somehow completely unaware that its was possible at this point, to donate specifically to the cause.

Go Gophers!!

 

[gregbrady]

How much do you think Tom Lehman has or hasn't given to the U?

I have no idea whether he's given any money or not, I've just played the course a lot over the last few years and it's in horrible condition and certainly could be improved and he's the most famous gopher golfer and it's seems a no brainer that he'd want to give to help out. I have two former classmates that work in development at other universities and they have both said it is frustrating that former athletes don't give back as much as you think. With all the frustrations I read on here about how hard it is to raise money here, I extrapolated that the athletes from the U are just as tight with their money as what my friends experience at the schools they work at.

 

[WindyCityGopher]

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[bga1]

How much do you think Tom Lehman has or hasn't given to the U?

I have no idea what Tom Lehman has given to the U but Tom Lehman is a huge giver to many causes. I don't think anyone here should be deciding for him that he's cheap (including gregbrady) because he may or may not have chosen different causes. The sad part about the college sports arms race is that it takes away so much cash from charities that serve the sick, the poor and the hungry. I am all for the U competing and I want the facilities built because this is the competition we face. I wish it were different- I think the college game was better before all the big money came into it.

In 2001, Tom won the Charles Bartlett Award for his unselfish contributions to golf, with much of his goodwill aimed at the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, with his long-time charity golf tournament raising money for CCRF.

Tom currently serves on the Board of Elevate Phoenix, a civic program providing long-term,life-changing relationships with urban youth.

He is also involved with the following charities: Cortney's Place, McKenzie Monks Foundation, Hopekids, Childrens Cancer Research Fund, Phoenix Crisis Pregnancy Center, The Changing Lives Center for Women and Children, Search Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Big Oak Ranch (Birmingham, AL).

Source- pga tour site

 

[station19]

I have no idea what Tom Lehman has given to the U but Tom Lehman is a huge giver to many causes. I don't think anyone here should be deciding for him that he's cheap (including gregbrady) because he may or may not have chosen different causes. The sad part about the college sports arms race is that it takes away so much cash from charities that serve the sick, the poor and the hungry. I am all for the U competing and I want the facilities built because this is the competition we face. I wish it were different- I think the college game was better before all the big money came into it.

In 2001, Tom won the Charles Bartlett Award for his unselfish contributions to golf, with much of his goodwill aimed at the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, with his long-time charity golf tournament raising money for CCRF.

Tom currently serves on the Board of Elevate Phoenix, a civic program providing long-term,life-changing relationships with urban youth.

He is also involved with the following charities: Cortney's Place, McKenzie Monks Foundation, Hopekids, Childrens Cancer Research Fund, Phoenix Crisis Pregnancy Center, The Changing Lives Center for Women and Children, Search Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Big Oak Ranch (Birmingham, AL).

Source- pga tour site

Agreed. Not sure myself how much Tom has given but I know he was prominent in the drive to save the U golf program from being eliminated.

Not sure if it was his intention, but gregbrady made it sound like Lehman was cheap or didn't care.

 

[34Gopher]

Agreed. Not sure myself how much Tom has given but I know he was prominent in the drive to save the U golf program from being eliminated.

Not sure if it was his intention, but gregbrady made it sound like Lehman was cheap or didn't care.

Tom Lehman donated the money that built a $500,000 practice facility for the golf team as well, So one cannot claim he is cheap.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

The issue here is that the U of M can't get its story straight.

Fundraising is going well ---- no, it's not.

They are going to "fast-track" construction this year--------NO, they can't start until 80% of the money has been raised.

Something is goofy here. It certainly seems as if certain U of M officials are not talking to each other, because they keep contradicting themselves. Kaler needs to get everybody involved in the same room, and make sure that the U of M is speaking with one voice on this project. Otherwise, it looks like the Keystone Cops are in charge.

 

[bemidjigopher]

The issue here is that the U of M can't get its story straight.

Fundraising is going well ---- no, it's not.

They are going to "fast-track" construction this year--------NO, they can't start until 80% of the money has been raised.

Something is goofy here. It certainly seems as if certain U of M officials are not talking to each other, because they keep contradicting themselves. Kaler needs to get everybody involved in the same room, and make sure that the U of M is speaking with one voice on this project. Otherwise, it looks like the Keystone Cops are in charge.

How do you know its not. This is just the CFO giving guidelines you done have a clue if there on the same page or not