For the purposes of this blog, please take the role of any one that could be effected by the potential of building an on campus stadium here at South Alabama. This blog will be where I will weigh the pros and cons of every vantage point of the potential project.
The University of South Alabama football program played it's first season in 2009 and in 2013 has become the fastest program ever to reach a bowl game. The program has been extremly succsessful in a short amount of time, this has lead to the University and the Athletic department to look into geting an on campus Facility. The University of South Alabama hires consultants for possible on-campus football stadium and could be seen attending the last two regular season games of the season. This would be a huge boost for the young football program in recruiting and in generating more excitement and support for their team in the coming years; but what does this mean for the Students of South Alabama? How Will This effect the residence of Mobile?Review the above article and give your thoughts on the potential new on campus stadium. Answer 1 of the following questions and share with the group your in depth analysis on the situation as a whole. Is this the right move for the University of South Alabama? Do you think the new stadium will generate a larger following in the short term? In the Long Term? Is this Good for the City of Mobile? How do you believe this project should be financed? (Try to view these questions from different vantage points, Students, Athletes, Coaches, Athletic Directors, People who live in Mobile, Alumni, Etc.)
Personally I think this a step a great move for South Alabama in terms of athletics and the football team. If a University wants their football team to get proper funding and be taken seriously, then creating a stadium to host games will increase the team’s and school’s clout. It seems to me that South has had the funding thus far to create a team who is on a path towards winning. Ladd Stadium is outdated, unattractive (let’s be honest, aesthetics are important especially when trying to gain future funding and students), and is only going to continue to decline along with the surrounding neighborhood. And the parking is horrendous. I think this a great move for City of Mobile. If South’s football team shapes up to be a winning team, that will bring visitors for games, and visitors generate economic growth. It should be financed through alumni contributions, private investors and contributors, and athletic grants. After it’s built, additional costs could be offset by renting out the field for local high school football games, whom I am sure would much prefer that to Ladd Stadium
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of the situation 100%. I think a new on campus stadium would be great for all parties involved, Alumni have something nice to come back to campus for, Students have something nice to go to it makes recruiting much easier on our end. The city of mobile will economically benefit from this as well as have something to be proud of.
DeleteYour second statement you brought up about the funding aspect, I really do believe that alumni contributions, private investors and contributors, and athletic grants should be the way this project is funded. I do not believe the students current or future students should be effected by this project. The university should not see any rise in tuition to off set the costs of the stadium.
I do not think that that stadium will generate a greater following- the team itself will do that. However, A newer and bigger stadium will help legitimize USA to other college football teams. I would also agree with Amanda that (where it ever built) the stadium should be made available (& financially accessible) to smaller local schools and organizations who might want to use it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with part of your statement, you are correct everyone loves a winner, if we win games then people will come out just based off of excitement for the local team, now we build this team into a consistent winner then we will keep and continue to grow our fan base. With that being said, an on campus stadium makes us a much more attractive team to want to be apart of, thus attracting better talent to our team. You can see the domino effect going on here.
DeleteI think this is a great move for South Alabama's football program! I think that it will generate a larger following in the short term. I think the following will grow just from the students alone. Now the students will not have to travel away to see their home team play. I believe that more fans will come to the games simply because the new stadium will be located in a better area than Lad-Pebbles. Having an on campus stadium also helps when it comes to recruiting. Having the ability to show off a new on campus stadium catches the eyes of new and upcoming prospects.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your analysis! The excitement of a new toy in the city of Mobile will generate more fans, the key would be for the Jags to have a big time season that inaugural season to sustain that excitement for the long run!
ReplyDeleteA new stadium will be a great move for everyone involved. More Alumni will possibly participate in homecoming and will also be more adamant about bringing their families to more football games. The fan experience will be amazing! This increases the amount of money the school makes. It will make the city of Mobile look great! The students will take more pride in being a Jag and will participate more in on-campus activities and programs pertaining to and put on by the athletic programs. The stadium will assist in winning over students for recruitment. Those are all of the good things that will come out of USA building an on-campus stadium. However, parking and traffic are current issues. So that will obviously be a problem if a stadium is added. Cutting across campus to get to class may possibly be a problem as well. Funding will be available, however, my only issue with the stadium idea is the possible increase of tuition. The priority should be to make ways for more students to obtain a decent education, but this stadium may unintentionally push some them out of the door.
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