I really thought at the groundbreaking that Nemec was going to reveal it.
The issue with a corporate sponsor I understood was visibility in the middle of campus with minimal drive by impressions. (But this wasn't an issue for Peoples Bank at QU)
Additionally, every game broadcast/stream provides promotional exposure.
The $45 million came from somewhere and its hard to believe there is not major donor. Or maybe there is and they want to remain anonymous.
Is it possible they are still shopping for a sponsor?
As I was waiting for my emissions inspection the other day, a gentleman walked towards me with this young daughter carrying the little FU Coleman Cooler recently offered by Development.
He recently moved to town (a Covid escapee from Manhattan) and was an early 90s graduate.
I quipped, welcome back to town, we'll see you at the new CC in your season tickets. The reaction was he shook his head in disgust, referencing how the FU Administration just could never understand and implement the growth model, e.g. Gonzaga and others.
This guy is the perfect target for FU athletics: Young alum, living in town with a family. But it is going to be very difficult to sustain interest and build tradition with anyone who has history with FU athletics.
New interest will need more than a building. A winning tradition will generate new fans and the building will simply reinforce the experience. (You go to Costco for the prices but the little egg rolls you sample just make the experience that much better)
I suspect his frustration is very common among most Alum young and old. I believe our history is the major challenge facing this program. It takes years of winning and the EXPERTISE to change years of perception.
It takes years of winning and the EXPERTISE to change years of perception.....
Athletics needs a coordinated plan with AR and Development to engage/re-engage all these Connecticut potential Stag ticket buyers for not just basketball but for all Stag sports on campus. Clearly our local and CT alumni are not far from campus and in the state. Stag MAAC Basketball and Stag Athletics has to be sold and our fellow alumni are the best customers. The new Arena & Convocation Center needs to be the hook but hopefully with a plan? "Just build it and they will come" is not a plan.
Fairfield University Fairfield, CT: Home of the Stags!
We love when our alumni come back... In fact, there are nearly 21K Fairfield graduates in CT and 2,188 in the town of Fairfield alone.
Fairfield contributes over $1 Billion annually to the local economy according a study conducted earlier this year by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC).
My only aesthetic concern with regard the Athletic Convocation Center (The ACC) is the positioning of logo ( "F" or "Stag in Motion")on the floor as it faces the MAIN entrance as you enter from the front. I have seen other renderings that show it facing the opposite way,facing the team benches. Can we get clarification as to if it will face the entrance?
My only aesthetic concern with regard the Athletic Convocation Center (The ACC) is the positioning of logo ( "F" or "Stag in Motion")on the floor as it faces the MAIN entrance as you enter from the front. I have seen other renderings that show it facing the opposite way,facing the team benches. Can we get clarification as to if it will face the entrance?
Without official clarification-- the team benches need to face the cameras. If the media booth is in fact constructed on the Nursing School side of the arena as was the original plan (the stags club, spirit shop, etc are on the entrance side), the logo must face the media booth or it would be upside down on TV. The entrance side has the stags club, sprit shop etc. So I don't think there is any other way to place the media booth or the court at this point in time.
I'm not sure it makes much difference after I thought about it for awhile. My current seats at WBA are facing an upside down logo right now as I am behind the teams benches. No matter what you do, somebody is going to be looking at an upside down logo.
I say, don't scrimp on the finishing touches (like the scoreboard, ribbon board, chair backs, concessions, restrooms, etc) and worry less about which way the F faces when I walk in.
Last Edit: Oct 13, 2021 4:49:55 GMT -5 by paulie74
A comment on another thread led me to start thinking about the Rose Hill Gym at Fordham built in 1925.
Wonder why Fordham with their move up to the A10 and the sports history of the university, never tried to initiate a significant upgrade or build a new facility. Always liked the architecture of the Rose Hill Campus.
I am not an architect but I would think you could gut the existing building keeping the traditional exterior and transform the interior into a more modern facility. Cameron at Duke (about 10,000 capacity) built in 1935 comes to mind. Has the traditional stone exterior and a nice bowl inside. I'm thinking a bigger and better Iona redo.
After a quick Google search, it appears a prominent Fordham alum had the vision back in the sixties and it can be done.
According to Wikipedia: " Vince Lombardi, a Fordham football alumni, wanted to transform the small gym into a 10,500-seat gym. This plan fell through when Lombardi died in 1970 and the head basketball coach Digger Phelps left Fordham for Notre Dame in 1971. Instead, Fordham University built a separate athletic facility that was attached to the gym"
Sound familiar? RecPlex was the priority over Alumni Hall. But both should have been done at the same time.
Last Edit: Dec 14, 2021 8:02:48 GMT -5 by paulie74
Sound familiar? RecPlex was the priority over Alumni Hall. But both should have been done at the same time.
If you’re not going forward, your going backward. Both Fairfield and Fordham have tied themselves down on things like this. We both cower to “academics” who, imo, don’t see the big picture of how investing in things such as athletics benefits them.
Fordham is in the process of building a new campus center adjacent to their Rose Hill Gym. Their endowment is currently $819 million.
Any way you look at it, the new campus center under construction at the Rose Hill campus will be a radically different space when it is completed in 2025. The center, which will join a brand new, 71,000-square-foot, four-level structure together with the existing McGinley Center, the Rose Hill Gym, and the Lombardi Center, will dramatically increase the amenities available for students, faculty, and staff on campus.
Construction and renovations will take place in two phases. In the first phase, a new structure will be erected in front of the existing McGinley Center. This new addition is estimated to cost $85 million. Once that building is finished in August 2021, the two will be joined together by an arcade that will also extend over the space adjacent to the Rose Hill Gym. The next phase of work will renovate the interior spaces of the existing McGinley Center....
Fordham University's home court, the Rose Hill Gymnasium, is the oldest gym still being used by an NCAA Division I team. It serves as the home court for the basketball and volleyball teams. The 3,200 seat gym opened on January 16, 1925 for a game between Fordham and Boston College. The arena has been in continuous use by Fordham's basketball teams since it's opening with the exception of the World War II years, when it was used for a barracks. The Gym was one of the largest on-campus facilities at the time it was built, earning the nickname "The Prairie" because of its large floor space. The original configuration had no end zone stands and a seating capacity of 2,100 but several standing room crowds of 6,000 were reported in the late 1920's. Since its opening in 1925, the gym has seen numerous renovations, adding new seating, scoreboards and public address systems.
In 2017 all the stands were replaced with chair back seating being installed on both sides of the court. The most recent renovation came in the summer of 2019 when the entire floor and subfloor of the gym were replaced with a new state-of-the-art wood surface that contains shock-absorbing materials to reduce strain on student-athletes’ bodies, as well as a waterproof membrane that keeps moisture away. The court was also given a new design with a cleaner look.
One of the centerpieces to Fordham University Athletics is the 7,000 seat Jack Coffey Field, which serves as home to the Fordham football and soccer teams, while also being used for the intramural and club sports programs. Jack Coffey Field has taken on different forms over the years, but received its most recent look, starting in 2005, as the playing surface, which was natural grass, was replaced with FieldTurfTM, one of the top artificial surfaces in the world. This project was part of a major effort to improve all athletic fields at Fordham.
Very Nice. But it looks like the Gym will again not be a priority.
I guess their approach is focusing the greater good.
The new facility will benefit all students and influence applications. Unlike other schools, having quality facilities on campus is even more important. The perception of the venturing into the Bronx, which is oftentimes exaggerated, is countered by more amenities on campus.
Love it, anyone have an idea where it is? Another great location would be the board we seem to "own" at the corner of Mill Plain and Post Rd. Rush hour traffic stopped at that intersection every day.
Based on what I have seen during the last year or so the FF sports brand will be the stationary big “F” instead of the “stag in motion”. I prefer the combination of the words “ Fairfield University and the graphic of the stag in motion” . The big “F” is not to my liking and I believe means little or nothing to most people who see it . We are not Yale who uses the big “Y” on their sports branding.