MTSU’s $100M athletics gamble
Boosters ante up to keep program relevant with big changes looming over college athletics
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THE 100 Million Dollar Gamble
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
I ran a thread on the CUSA board about on campus hotels. A large portion of schools have them. I want to say I remember seeing Liberty, Charlotte and UAB. I’m sure there were others but I can’t remember them right off.
Boosters could have just written a check to get rid of Stock. Then, the program could have grown organically.
After the 2019 (4-8) landed in the toilet bowl, those who pledged to back the contract extension may have (and probably still do) had the means to write Stock a $6MM good-bye. But, weren’t willing or made uncomfortable enough with his performance or lack of fan support to pull the trigger. COVID provided another excuse for a ‘20 losing season and ‘21 is another .500 bowl eligibility year.
It’s not my place to tell those boosters how to spend their money or run the Athletic Dept. so I just control the things I can control and vote with my wallet and my feet. 😉
Then they better start trying to win back destination events to the campus facilities like Business seminars, Football,Basketball playoffs and spring fling championships. Depending solely on Blue Raider Football and Basketball for out of town BR fans and visiting fans overnight stays will not help that hotel break even. Getting to campus from I-24 is frustrating and has been well documented for decades. Even with the new Memorial/Broad overpass it doesn’t help much. I-24 at Old Fort and I-24 at Medical Center Pkwy. are the main hotel locations.
It would be interesting to see the feasibility study on that hotel and where it is believed demand for lodging next to campus will come from. Regarding traffic, I avoid Rutherford County as much as possible when I visit the area. It has become hell on earth.
I think the hotel will be built with private funds. Will be used to train students in the hospitality industry. It ‘s really hard not to make money with a nice hotel in Rutherford co.. we may want to send the Band of Blue over about 2am when the visiting teams are in town….
After a few 4 am fire alarm's get pulled I doubt visiting teams will want to stay in an on-campus hotel. Assuming students these days even care enough to do something like that.
I can tell you one thing for sure, if opposing football teams were staying in a hotel on campus when I was a student.....you better believe there would have been some shenanigans going on....They would have been lucky to get out of town with only a fire alarm going off
As someone that has spent my entire career in the hotel industry, it would be highly unlikely MT would own the hotel. It’s typically a third party franchisee. It’s way too much capital tied up For MT. Although your typical Courtyard or Embassy Suites can generate some really good return on investment.
I’d be shocked if the end zone facility doesn’t become a reality. They are working on designs - not just pictures - the actual design of the facility.
Murphy Center upgrades will likely happen. After all, the bones are already there. They just need football to move out so they can renovate the space vacated by the football program.
It’s the IPF that I have question. It’s needed, but can they raise enough funds to cover the cost? Or will they use student fees?
Murphy Center upgrades will likely happen. After all, the bones are already there. They just need football to move out so they can renovate the space vacated by the football program.
It’s the IPF that I have question. It’s needed, but can they raise enough funds to cover the cost? Or will they use student fees?
I wonder if the Graduate Hotel brand would be an interested in being the vendor as they specifically cater to the campus accommodation market. However, not sure MTSU has the "clout" as Big10/SEC schools to
That is really nice. I highly doubt we get something like that. Elon parents tend to have a lot of money compared to a usual state school parent. I expect a Courtyard.
Great point. Perhaps that would be a fit since the Graduate brand is based in Nashville. However, the owner and brand of a hotel are most times not the same. Like Marriott for example doesn't own any hotels (they might have a few, but very little) they just run some operations and lease out the brand name. So you would need an investor in the hotel and then they can pick their brand, possibly Graduate.
To me, this fits as a Courtyard or a Hilton Garden Inn. Generally afforadable non peak times, but the prices can be jacked up for specific events. People also love to accumulate hotel points and use them on trips like this (football game, visit the kids weekend, concert, etc.). Definitely on the outside looking in, this seems like a viable business investment. Again, those Courtyard size properties typically have great returns on capital. Very little operating costs.
👍 I feel your pain. Just a personal observation but I’ve been traveling to and around Rutherford County (more specifically, Murfreesboro) on a regular basis since grad school in 2003. 19 years later, other than Rutherford Dr., there is still no real “by-pass” to get from the west side of town to the back side of MTSU campus or east side of town. I even avoid traveling a 1.9 mile stretch of Medical Center Pkwy. by paralleling on Gateway/Wilkinson Pk. all the way to the C of C in late afternoon just to get to I-24.
I remember years before we got our new science building, that a new science building was actually on a budget sent to the state, then was removed so UMemphis could get their Holiday Inn.
If we are smart, we partner with a brand like Marriott or Hilton. As a frequent traveler, we look for those brands for the rewards. That plus dining can draw people on campus as a showcase.
If we are smart, we partner with a brand like Marriott or Hilton. As a frequent traveler, we look for those brands for the rewards. That plus dining can draw people on campus as a showcase.
This…^^^^^^^^^^^^
U of M created a degree track and School of Hospitality named for HI founder Kemmons Wilson and the on-campus hotel is a full functioning joint enterprise with the Holiday Inns brand. The place is booked solid on football weekends with the team, parents, recruits and fans.
If SM and the BOT can pull off something like this then it might work. 👍👍
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With Sidney at the helm, it will be a Confucius institute backed hotel.
"Why does every team that stays here end up with the $h?ts? Anyway, I'm hungry. The room service looks great!"
Even though I hope MT does something similar now, I am still bitter about that UM holiday inn. We should have gotten our science building before they got that hotel. I can’t prove it, but that move seemed like it may be tied to all that Sundquist corruption stuff where a few of his friends got arrested.
If hard money funds in hand were donated by the Wilson family or Holiday Inns (or both,) then that moved it to the head of the line. The TBOR was calling all the shots for both schools back then and I guarantee you it would not get past Dick Tracy if the minimum required equity and a solid schedule detailing sources of repayment (pledges, donations, or SM’s and our BOT’s “go to” favorite, student fees). 😂
Ok. So explain something to me. Maybe um over analyzing it.
It's been said we had the first $60m in hand. Is that true in hand or is it "guaranteed through student fees"? And the $15m goal in Build Blue. What is thst going to?
It's been said we had the first $60m in hand. Is that true in hand or is it "guaranteed through student fees"? And the $15m goal in Build Blue. What is thst going to?
More like state Senator John Ford of Memphis.
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