I’m glad those who made the trip had a good time. Yes, Minnesota traveled very well compared to what we’re used to. Boise State and maybe Wyoming are about the only programs we regularly play who will bring roughly as many fans. I’m disappointed with the outcome of the game, naturally, but had a fun time and every Minnesota fan I talked to was great.
Regarding the new stadium, there are many competing viewpoints, some of which have been mentioned in this thread. Warning, this is long.
I get to the positives of the stadium being on campus at the end of this, but most CSU football fans are very excited about this. The new stadium is being designed by the same company that did your stadium, so we have high hopes. The current plans and renderings look great:
http://stadium.colostate.edu/
The majority of people against the stadium fall into one of two groups, and often they overlap, especially when their arguments start to fall apart (they just don’t want it). Both groups often skew or outright lie/ignore the facts. For some mild comedy feel free to check out the opposition’s website:
http://stopthestadium.weebly.com/
Group 1 is the NIMBYs, who like the out-in-the-boonies location of the current stadium and want it to stay that way. They don’t want the action, traffic, noise, etc. moving to the center of town (even though everyone already has to drive through the center of town to get to the current stadium). In general, these folks are not CSU supporters, they don’t attend games, and they are not interested in CSU furthering themselves as institution.
Group 2 fears that their tax dollars will go towards the stadium. CSU has financed the entire cost of the stadium, including $20M to the town to make utilities/traffic improvements, through low interest bonds (sold out within hours) and conservatively estimates the new revenue the stadium will produce (due to being on campus, nicer amenities, higher attendance, multi-use, etc.) will allow them to make the annual bond payments without dipping into any other funds. In the event that new stadium revenues do not cover the whole bond payment they’ve raised $27M in cash (that can ONLY be used for this) and placed it into a rainy day fund and fundraising is still ongoing (for example, they’ve yet to do a “brick” campaign or anything aimed at lower tier donors like myself).
If, IF, conservative revenue projections fall short and CSU exhausts the rainy day fund then yes, CSU will need to dip into the general fund (state tax dollars) to make the payments. Group 2 people, like group 1, are generally not CSU supporters, generally don’t attend games, and are not interested in CSU furthering themselves as an institution. They are also telling students that their tuition is going up/will go up due to the stadium.
More of an observation, but most people ardently against the stadium tend to be older, do not support CSU, don’t like athletics, and don’t care what happens to CSU. It’s no surprise that CSU hasn’t sided with them given they weren’t supporters to begin with. In my experience, the majority of the people in the area, just in general, don’t care about the stadium either way.
The students fall into a weird third category. Some are all for it, some against, some don’t care. Most of them aren’t working with all the information. Some of them are concerned their tuition will go up – it has been steadily rising over the years although that is entirely due to dwindling state support and has nothing to do with a stadium. Some of them worry about parking – the stadium site is taking over a parking lot and parking is already pretty tight on campus. However, it’s in the CSU master plan to build multiple parking garages around campus, regardless of the stadium. Some think there isn’t room on campus to fit a stadium. Some just don’t like all the construction that has been taking place on campus and want it to end.
There are many reasons to build a new stadium and to relocate it to campus. First, as those who went to the game can attest, the current facility is atrocious. It’s an old concrete bowl that is falling apart and has VERY limited basic amenities like concessions and bathrooms. These problems become all too noticeable when approaching a sellout crowd.
The planning study CSU did claims the stadium needs around $30M of basic maintenance to put it back on track for continued use. This is for things like concrete repair, electrical work, plumbing work, seating work, etc. None of this $30M will add a single amenity, bathroom, seat, or revenue-producing or experience-enhancing feature to the stadium. Same stadium as two days ago, just not falling apart. This really does nothing in terms of helping CSU enhance their front porch, which is athletics, nor furthering the goal (at least of fans) of getting into a real conference (if that’s even a possibility). What’s more, this maintenance would come straight from the general fund, tuition and tax dollars, because the planning study showed limited donor interest in this option. Finally, to add seating, amenities, and concessions to the existing stadium – the types of things you expect to see in a nice stadium – CSU would need to spend a total of $180M+. Again, due to lack of donor interest, CSU would need to use a combination of general fund and financing to pull this off. Both of these options, based on conservative financial estimates, cost more from the general fund than building a brand new on-campus stadium.
Of course, most CSU football fans, but not all, would love to see the team returned to campus and the school feels the same way. It gives people a reason to come back to campus, a chance to reconnect with the university, and will hopefully increase alumni association numbers. As it stands, many alums never return to campus because the games are played in the middle of nowhere. Game attendance will theoretically increase based on the on-campus aspect – the games will be played near stuff, near where students live, etc. And the fact that it will be new should be a hit with fans, recruits, and other power 5 teams CSU will try to get games with. Yes, tailgating won’t be the same. We have a fun, if bargain-feel, setup right now (believe me, it’s not that nice later in the season when the wind is howling over the mountains, the fields I mean parking lots are all mud from snow/slush, etc). However, CSU has a gorgeous campus and Fort Collins is a nice town, I would much rather spend my time there.
What it comes down to is CSU can build a new stadium on campus from donor support and new revenue or they can pay out of pocket to renovate the current stadium. To me it’s a no brainer. Thanks again for the good game and I hope to be able to make it out there next year.
