I think we all agree, folks on this board, Spider Club, Football Administration, Alumni and Academic stakeholders that the goal of Spider Football is to compete for Conference Titles, be relevant on the FCS landscape across the country and compete for national championships. I think we have proven we can do that and have invested to support that.
But if we want to compete and stay in the conversation with Montana's, NDSU, UNI, Sam Houston and Jacksonville State are we doing what we need to keep up?
Also the looming separation of the Power 5 conferences and the rest of BCS is looming. There is an article in Todays Washington Post about the "Athletic Villiage" Clemson just broke ground on to house and support their scholarship athletes, primarily football. Very soon the Bowling Green's and Akron's and MAC conference members will not be able to keep up with the financial arms race going on and the merger or some type of re-alignment with a cost basis more in line with major FCS schools will take place. We will most likely find ourselves in that mix.
I am primarily looking at two specific assets - our stadium and a football building - areas I think we need to address to be able to attract the level of athlete we need to stay relevant at the national level.
I love our stadium and think it is a gem among FCS facilities. I don't think it is to big or to small, I think it is just the wrong size. It is the wrong size because when we have a sell-out it is still only 2/3 full. Its the wrong size because casual fans have given up attending a game because it is not easy.
I believe if we added approx. 4,000 seats we could expand our marketing and bring an additional Richmond fan base back to games. I don't buy the notion that we will only be creating seats for our visiting team. In our last years at City Stadium we would get 16,000 and 17,000 people to W&M and JMU games. 10,000 of those people were not visiting fans.
This is becoming a mainstay at our level of football and again is a recruiting asset that recruits will notice on visits to our facilities. The ability to have a focused area for football operations, support facilities for the team and a recruiting tool to close the elite athletes we are competing for will be critical to our future and continued success. Just look down I-64 at W&M. Laycock Center built in 2008 -cost $11M, currently doing a massive upgrade (not in seating) of stadium, capacity around 12,000.
The Vision
A football building at the west end of the stadium with weight room that opens at field level and a head coaches office that overlooks the field. Build an Olympic sports/track complex and integrate a soccer stadium into it on the Westhampton side of campus.
Build a semi enclosed end that incorporates the football building at the west end of the stadium to bring our overall capacity around 12,000.
Continue the "One Richmond" campaign to build support throughout the city and bring in the casual fan (alums and others) that used to come cheer the Spiders.
These aren't critical or immediate needs. But if we want to continue to have the success we have enjoyed they are elements that have to be on the drawing board.
Thoughts?
But if we want to compete and stay in the conversation with Montana's, NDSU, UNI, Sam Houston and Jacksonville State are we doing what we need to keep up?
Also the looming separation of the Power 5 conferences and the rest of BCS is looming. There is an article in Todays Washington Post about the "Athletic Villiage" Clemson just broke ground on to house and support their scholarship athletes, primarily football. Very soon the Bowling Green's and Akron's and MAC conference members will not be able to keep up with the financial arms race going on and the merger or some type of re-alignment with a cost basis more in line with major FCS schools will take place. We will most likely find ourselves in that mix.
I am primarily looking at two specific assets - our stadium and a football building - areas I think we need to address to be able to attract the level of athlete we need to stay relevant at the national level.
I love our stadium and think it is a gem among FCS facilities. I don't think it is to big or to small, I think it is just the wrong size. It is the wrong size because when we have a sell-out it is still only 2/3 full. Its the wrong size because casual fans have given up attending a game because it is not easy.
I believe if we added approx. 4,000 seats we could expand our marketing and bring an additional Richmond fan base back to games. I don't buy the notion that we will only be creating seats for our visiting team. In our last years at City Stadium we would get 16,000 and 17,000 people to W&M and JMU games. 10,000 of those people were not visiting fans.
- We need to increase the energy of our home environment
- We have proven football games create minimal traffic impact
- We need to improve fans ability to sell tickets to games they cant attend (already in place - maybe needs some education of the fan base)
- We need to make sure our game day experience is strong for our recruits
This is becoming a mainstay at our level of football and again is a recruiting asset that recruits will notice on visits to our facilities. The ability to have a focused area for football operations, support facilities for the team and a recruiting tool to close the elite athletes we are competing for will be critical to our future and continued success. Just look down I-64 at W&M. Laycock Center built in 2008 -cost $11M, currently doing a massive upgrade (not in seating) of stadium, capacity around 12,000.
The Vision
A football building at the west end of the stadium with weight room that opens at field level and a head coaches office that overlooks the field. Build an Olympic sports/track complex and integrate a soccer stadium into it on the Westhampton side of campus.
Build a semi enclosed end that incorporates the football building at the west end of the stadium to bring our overall capacity around 12,000.
Continue the "One Richmond" campaign to build support throughout the city and bring in the casual fan (alums and others) that used to come cheer the Spiders.
These aren't critical or immediate needs. But if we want to continue to have the success we have enjoyed they are elements that have to be on the drawing board.
Thoughts?
