kreed5120

I peaked over at Miami's forum today. Apparently they only have $450K in donations committed to this project. That means of the $281M projected cost as of today $280M would would have to be financed. To be fair I imagine they will get some money from naming rights and some more donations will come in, but I don't know how this could be put up for a vote with such a low commitment. My only guess is they're trying to rush this project along to capitalize off the excitement surrounding the program. I know this new arena has been in planning for many months, but I doubt it would be put up for a vote at this stage if they were sitting at 18-10 instead of 28-0.

This gave me a good chuckle as I can see the comparison, thank you! I'm just more tired of seeing Ohioans hard earned dollars going to waste because of vanity projects. We need fiscal responsibility.

Outside of Toledo how often does BG really sell out? For them 4,300 feels like the correct size. For schools like Toledo or OU, who have historically drawn better, it would be too small.

Swag (if that is even what the youth call it these days) probably doesn't have the same pull it did 10, 20 years ago. It might still heavily matter to the top players at the top schools because those players have NIL deals directly with Nike or Adidas. At the G5 level it's probably much more important whether or not the NIL check cashes vs. whether or not you're a Nike school.

The Stroh Center was built for about 10% of this cost and was almost entirely booster funded. Even after adjusting for inflation the Stroh Center would be $43 million. It was done the right way IMO. ~$50M-$100M seems reasonable for a MAC arena. Edit: There is no need for these cathedrals that sole purpose is to pad an ADs resumé who will long be gone before the financial ramifications become a giant anchor to the athletic department and school finances.

Good point, it will be well north of $300 million after budget run overs that happen with any project of this size

The size isn't the problem. The proposal is for a 6,500 seat arena, which sounds reasonable. It's all the extras that are running up the cost. There is talks of having 2 practice courts in this complex, a separate volleyball court/arena, and new athletic department offices. I'm sure there are lots of high end premium seating that is also running up the cost. They're telling people this arena will attract tons of concerts and other events, but Miami County barely has 100k. I'm not sure how many headliners are going to be eager to perform there. Maybe some B or C tier performers.

Another player being sued for breach of contract. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/48035774/cincinnati-sues-sorsby-1m-exit-fee-texas-tech-transfer

$280 million seems excessive. I really hope it's largely donor funded because that would be a lot of burden to place on tax payers or students if the plan is to use the general fund.

Probably an accurate take, but like in all things the vocal minority typically is what stands out. Even if it is a poor representation of what makes up the entire group.

Better following than I would have guessed. I was thinking more along the lines of 500. I don't really have complaints from Akron hosting. I was more speaking from a fan experience perspective.

This was my initial thought as well. Not so much because of grass/turf, but more because Cadet Field is already setup for soccer and the lower capacity won't make it feel so empty. Even when Akron football attracts ~8k in real attendance Infocision feels very empty. This might attract a few hundred.

I was hoping CMU would pull it out against Kent for multiple reasons. Obviously to see Kent lose. The other is I would find it absolutely hilarious for UMass to miss the MAC after their fans crap on how much of a stepdown MAC basketball would be from the A10. It would be a humbling experience for them.

If they bring it back maybe you can get another Matthew Wilson bobblehead to complete your collection.

That was my concern when watching it as well.

Things would have gotten really interesting had CMU not choked away a 7 point lead with ~3 minutes left.

It would seem to be the most probable scenario. I think it was discussed a year or so ago that the department is very understaffed and people were being asked to do the jobs of 2-3 people. I imagine once spring rolls around they have much more flexibility in their schedules.

It matters less at schools like OSU where the players are really majoring in becoming professional athletes. I had classes with several college football players in the college of business that were very bright. Most of Akron's roster is getting little to no money and unlike basketball there aren't 100 leagues around the world to play in so they will need to rely on eventually getting a 9-5. As @zippy5 pointed out I don't think it's an issue because it might impact someone only once if they stay a full 5 years. I'm more pointing out that even though many blow off school because they're really only here to play football that's not the case for all.

Every conference is different. Some conferences is an eat what you kill and others split it fairly evenly. I think the MAC gives some money to teams to help with travel, but the rest is split fairly evenly. They used to have some incentives to promote regular season success and meeting certain scheduling requirements, but frankly the MAC hasn't won many additional credits so that incentive pot has dwindled.

Yes, it does. Every game up until the Final Four gives a credit. Each credit is worth about $2 million.

I actually don't know the full contract details. When I said 5 years it was because that's what google showed when I searched. I'm not sure how much of the contract is actually guaranteed.

In my wish world Akron steam rolls them by 20

I know this was a joke, but considering he's only in year 3 of a 5 year deal I imagine his job is secure. I can't imagine Akron athletics would be eager to pay a buyout for a sport that it frankly doesn't invest heavily in to start with.

I mean it wouldn't really mean anything if a big schools came calling. Nate Oats signed a new deal with UB then bolted for Alabama like a month later.

Exactly, I don't understand the hate. If we were sending men's/women's basketball, baseball, volleyball, etc. I would understand it more, but we're not. They're paying us a ton of money and are covering the travel costs for each MAC school to fly out there once every 3 years. What's the downside?