Vandy asking for $300M to update athletic facilities

[anon1787432961]

Those poor little beggars

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2021/03...00-million-investment-campaign-for-athletics/

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Is Vanderbilt, an esteemed academic institution steeped in history, going to let their race-baiting AD spearhead the campaign?

 

[philduckworth]

upgrading that POS stadium is a mistake. They should blow that thing up and build a new one. They could play in the Titans stadium for a year or two if needed.

 

[GloryDawg]

upgrading that POS stadium is a mistake. They should blow that thing up and build a new one. They could play in the Titans stadium for a year or two if needed.

You would think anything they built would not be any bigger. I think they could take what they have and make it really nice. They really need to improve baseball.

 

[philduckworth]

You would think anything they built would not be any bigger. I think they could take what they have and make it really nice. They really need to improve baseball.

Doesn't have to be bigger. They could copy Autzen stadium.

 

[mstateglfr]

Is Vanderbilt, an esteemed academic institution steeped in history, going to let their race-baiting AD spearhead the campaign?

“The Vandy United Fund will help create an exceptional environment for our student-athletes and will enrich the broader Vanderbilt and Nashville communities,” said Candice Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director. “Thanks to Chancellor Diermeier’s partnership, we are moving forward in a way that will truly transform Vanderbilt athletics. We are so grateful to John Ingram and the generous donors who have stepped up to support our student-athletes and provide the opportunity for them to succeed in all areas. We are eager to turn our vision into reality and get all of Commodore Nation involved in this effort.”

Maybe not spearheading, but certainly involved.

 

[Go Budaw]

upgrading that POS stadium is a mistake. They should blow that thing up and build a new one. They could play in the Titans stadium for a year or two if needed.

Build a new one where? It’s a pretty urban campus with not much of any room to just dump a proper SEC football stadium anywhere in the vicinity. They don’t even have room for the one that is there now as it’s crowded in by the two other major sports venues.

Honestly, they’d be well served to just destroy it, do a major renovation / expansion of their baseball stadium in its place, and move over to Nissan stadium permanently. Automatic upgrade for both attendance and fan experience for all involved. They’d be playing off-campus if they built a new place anyway....save some money and use the place that is already there.

 

[mcdawg22]

Build a new one where? It’s a pretty urban campus with not much of any room to just dump a proper SEC football stadium anywhere in the vicinity. They don’t even have room for the one that is there now as it’s crowded in by the two other major sports venues.

Honestly, they’d be well served to just destroy it, do a major renovation / expansion of their baseball stadium in its place, and move over to Nissan stadium permanently. Automatic upgrade for both attendance and fan experience for all involved. They’d be playing off-campus if they built a new place anyway....save some money and use the place that is already there.

I’ll admit I don’t know anything about pro sports stadium management, but would the Titans want that? It’s a turf field that potentially may have 3 or 4 games played on it the day before. Outside of Tennessee and UGA, they would be looking at 25,000 fans which I would imagine isn’t exactly a financial windfall considering the cleanup and field maintenance that would have to take place. But again I don’t know anything about that dynamic.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Don't feel sorry for Vandy. They can 'fully fund' 40+ Baseball schollys, $10 B in the bank*, financially support every Student, BUT cant have a decent stadium!

*Totaling over $10 billion as of June 30, 2021, Vanderbilt has one of the 20 largest university endowments in the U.S.

 

[IPMdawg]

That’s a really good idea. The University of Miami and the Miami Dolphins pull it off. May not ever fill it up but would make it even more enjoyable for visiting fans. Would make it a must attend away game with the Stadium right next to all the touristy stuff.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

They had the opportunity to play in the new MLS stadium under construction at the Nashville Fair Grounds, but chose not to back in 2017.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sp...lle-mls-soccer-stadium-fairgrounds/710127001/

 

[The Peeper]

"must attend away game", a Vanderbilt game? Surely you forgot the **? As a whole on this board we gripe and complain about watching pitiful football teams play in Davis Wade Stadium, I certainly don't feel the need to drive and watch us play one.

 

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

Vandy doesn’t have the space to build a new stadium - on campus or even close to campus. They would be better served to try and take that 300m and do a major upgrade to existing stadium, all chairbacks, more Suites, etc and throw some into the baseball facility as well.

 

[IPMdawg]

Some fans travel more for the destination than to watch us get beat by a good football team.

 

[AtlantaDawg]

upgrading that POS stadium is a mistake. They should blow that thing up and build a new one. They could play in the Titans stadium for a year or two if needed.

LOL, when UGA plays in Nashville, the Titan's stadium will be full of fans dressed in red...

 

[af102]

I remember before NSC decided to build at the Nashville fairgrounds, there was some talk of tearing down the on campus stadium and building a modern shared one in its place. I don't think it got very far, but that seemed to be a win-win for everyone involved.

 

[patdog]

We had a pretty good contingent of fans at the UMass game in Foxboro. Looked like the crowd was about 1/3 State fans if not more. It was a fun trip.

 

[Go Budaw]

I’ll admit I don’t know anything about pro sports stadium management, but would the Titans want that? It’s a turf field that potentially may have 3 or 4 games played on it the day before. Outside of Tennessee and UGA, they would be looking at 25,000 fans which I would imagine isn’t exactly a financial windfall considering the cleanup and field maintenance that would have to take place. But again I don’t know anything about that dynamic.

Would be at most 2 games the day before (or days before), and wouldn’t even be that very often. Also, the Titans don’t own the stadium….the city does. They also would not be at home at the same time every weekend either. It’s far from an unprecedented situation….multiple NFL teams have staged games on the same turf as a dirt infield for September / October games, and multiple NFL stadiums are used for college football every single Saturday. UMass uses Gillette Stadium for their home ganes….just one example.

 

[philduckworth]

I mean, did you guys miss the part where I said blow up the current stadium and build again there? Geez.

But if they won't to blow 100-300 putting lipstick on a pig go for it. It's the worst stadium in college football.

 

[Cooterpoot]

They're going to build an IPF.

 

[jlove20]

Why build a new ball park when Vanderbilt could partner with the Nashville Sounds and use the First Horizon Park downtown?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First...:First_Tennessee_Park,_April_20,_2015_-_2.jpg

THEN-- you utilize that space for a brand new football facility after your raze Vanderbilt Stadium...

 

[Go Budaw]

I mean, did you guys miss the part where I said blow up the current stadium and build again there? Geez.

But if they won't to blow 100-300 putting lipstick on a pig go for it. It's the worst stadium in college football.

The problem is their current small, crappy stadium is still too big for the space that it’s in. You said “copy Autzen”. Well, Autzen’s capacity is 15,000 more than the current stadium, which means you are making a 30-50% larger footprint in that already small space. The SEC also has minimum seating capacity / attendance requirements in its bylaws. The brass in Bham wouldn’t be happy at all of they tore down a 39,000 seat stadium and replaced it with one that seated 25-30k in its place, which is the only way they could accomplish what you are talking about within that footprint.

 

[Go Budaw]

Why build a new ball park when Vanderbilt could partner with the Nashville Sounds and use the First Horizon Park downtown?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First...:First_Tennessee_Park,_April_20,_2015_-_2.jpg

THEN-- you utilize that space for a brand new football facility after your raze Vanderbilt Stadium...

Baseball is a much tougher sport to share a stadium between two teams because of the lack of flexibility. You have games taking place over entire weekends. Rain-outs / reschedules for one team would invariably affect the other.

 

[philduckworth]

The problem is their current small, crappy stadium is still too big for the space that it’s in. You said “copy Autzen”. Well, Autzen’s capacity is 15,000 more than the current stadium, which means you are making a 30-50% larger footprint in that already small space. The SEC also has minimum seating capacity / attendance requirements in its bylaws. The brass in Bham wouldn’t be happy at all of they tore down a 39,000 seat stadium and replaced it with one that seated 25-30k in its place, which is the only way they could accomplish what you are talking about within that footprint.

Not saying an exact replica of Autzen. Does everything have to be spelled out for message board people? Vandy could build a 40-45K seat stadium and make it the best possible fan experience in the country. Throwing 100-200 million on that shitbox is a waste of money. If they ever want a shot at being the Stanford of the SEC, this is their chance. They have the money to do it. There's not a ton of room where their current stadium is but it's doable. The could have all chairbacks, move the seats as close to the field as possible, design it so the stadium get really loud, maybe even go below ground if possible like Neyland.

 

[PineGroveBully]

True but you could make it work. Vandy would only need it March through May whereas I don’t think most minor league seasons start until mid April. As long as they alternated weekends for those 6-8 weeks when the two seasons overlapped. Rainouts could be played during the day on Mondays when most minor league teams are traveling. The minor league team would just have to leave 2 weekends in June for regional/supers.

Midweek could be a little trickier, but they might could work that to their advantage. They could play a few of them at home when the schedule abides, but if I was them I’d consider looking into playing midweeks in Chattanooga, Jackson TN, Autozone in Memphis, Murfreesboro, and maybe Johnson City. Would be a great marketing campaign to grow what is a really small fanbase. And you know those stadiums would welcome a paying tenant 1-2x a year when their teams are traveling.

 

[Go Budaw]

True but you could make it work. Vandy would only need it March through May whereas I don’t think most minor league seasons start until mid April. As long as they alternated weekends for those 6-8 weeks when the two seasons overlapped. Rainouts could be played during the day on Mondays when most minor league teams are traveling. The minor league team would just have to leave 2 weekends in June for regional/supers.

Midweek could be a little trickier, but they might could work that to their advantage. They could play a few of them at home when the schedule abides, but if I was them I’d consider looking into playing midweeks in Chattanooga, Jackson TN, Autozone in Memphis, Murfreesboro, and maybe Johnson City. Would be a great marketing campaign to grow what is a really small fanbase. And you know those stadiums would welcome a paying tenant 1-2x a year when their teams are traveling.

None of those are bad ideas, but I think all are tough to justify logistically for a sport that just doesn’t make any money. It would almost certainly be way more expensive to lease out game day rights in the Sounds stadium and others than it would be to simply play in their own existing stadium. Football is different entirely, a marginal ticket price increase for just the SEC games would pay for the lease agreement and then some. You don’t have that luxury in baseball.

 

[tatedog]

Let's be real here.

They should just send a very frank and honest letter to UGA, UT and FL fans telling them that if they want a great game day experience in Nashville, they are going to have to pay for it.