Big donors at the University of Cincinnati say they are ready to support a $70 million renovation of Nippert Stadium.

“I think the timing is correct,” said Jeff Wyler, a donor and former trustee. “It’s up to the community as a whole to keep Cincinnati in the forefront of major-college football.”

The addition of about 30 private suites and more than 1,000 club seats, plus improvements to restrooms and concessions, are bound to make UC more attractive to the Atlantic Coast Conference, outside experts say.

“The premium seating definitely is where everybody is going,” said Russell Wright, managing director of Collegiate Consulting, an Atlanta-based firm that has worked with 300 universities across the country.

The ACC is UC’s preferred destination in the dizzying game of conference realignment that so far has left it on the outside looking in. Officials also have expressed some interest in the Big 12, although that conference holds fewer longtime rival schools and fans wouldn’t be able to easily travel by car to out-of-town games.

“I think they’ve got a great shot to get into the ACC,” Wright said.

UC officials insist they didn’t promise the Nippert renovation to the ACC, Big 12 or any other conference, but they know those conferences are watching.

Several stadiums in the ACC hold about the same capacity as Nippert Stadium, including those at Duke and Wake Forest.

Duke just announced a 10,000-seat expansion at Wallace Wade Stadium that will take its capacity to more than 43,000 seats. Art Chase, assistant director of athletics/sports information, said the university is planning the $100 million project to close Wallace Wade Stadium into a horseshoe and make other renovations. “It’s about Duke” and not the ACC, he said.

Another ACC school that’s made renovations similar to what UC plans is Wake Forest.

A revamp in 2006 and 2007, partly financed by selling naming rights, added more than 1,000 seats to BB&T Field. The renovation also added luxury boxes and club seats.

The school in Winston-Salem, N.C., has “definitely seen a rise in attendance” of about 4,000 per football game since the changes, said Steve Shutt, associate athletic director and athletic communications.

“But I’m not saying it’s all from the renovations; we also went to three straight bowl games during that span.”

“The university wanted to give fans the best experience, and we felt the stadium was lagging behind, such as our press box was not as good as other ACC schools,” he said.

Even with the additional seats, BB&T remains the smallest stadium in the ACC.

“We are comfortable where we are and would rather be closer to stadium capacity than have a bunch of empty seats,” Shutt said.

UC is trying to escape the Big East Conference, which last week lost seven members that don’t operate football programs.

Fellow Big East member Louisville will soon leave to become the ACC’s 14th member.

“More dominoes are going to fall,” UC President Santa Ono said, as the nation’s biggest athletic departments restructure.

Behind the scenes, UC officials seem confident that they’ll be among the top candidates for another round of ACC expansion, even if that takes several years.

For UC, the premium seats would add to its $27.5 million athletic budget, one of the lowest among big-time football programs across the country.

UC spends nearly $17 million out of its general budget to support athletics and hopes to recoup some of those funds.

So if the region’s biggest university is able to raise enough money to pull off the entire expansion, the impact will reverberate well past football.

Athletic Director Whit Babcock said that even with no private donations, selling three-quarters of the new seats would cover debt payments on the renovation.

Babcock hasn’t specified any prices for the suites and club seats.

One other UC donor suggested those seats could be a popular destination for Bengals premium seat holders at Paul Brown Stadium who are looking for a lower-priced alternative. Bengals private suites range from $65,000 to $167,000 per season.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121...ck_check=1

Wishful thinking.

LMAO.

And I thought I was a homer... Those guys have me beat.

Probably better for the realignment board. I don't think the ACC is drooling over Cincy. Their shot is if they lose 4 members which puts the ACC back involved with invitations.

(12-23-2012 01:55 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  Probably better for the realignment board. I don't think the ACC is drooling over Cincy. Their shot is if they lose 4 members which puts the ACC back involved with invitations.

Ehh, Cinci is likely #1 or #2 on the ACC replacement list. They may not be very happy with thier current lot in life, but Cinci is in a pretty good place as far as future realignment goes.

I don't if you are Cincy, UConn, Houston, or Tulane. Every program has to invest because you never know when the chance to move up will come. I am happy to see my Bearcats get into the act.

(12-23-2012 01:59 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-23-2012 01:55 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  Probably better for the realignment board. I don't think the ACC is drooling over Cincy. Their shot is if they lose 4 members which puts the ACC back involved with invitations.

Ehh, Cinci is likely #1 or #2 on the ACC replacement list. They may not be very happy with thier current lot in life, but Cinci is in a pretty good place as far as future realignment goes.

Probably but I think the ACC needs to lose 4 before the invite 2. They made the additional additions for security of another raid. You're going to have a tough time getting votes without some serious realignment. Just my opinion

Congratulations, send us a postcard

(12-23-2012 02:34 PM)monty Wrote:  Congratulations, send us a postcard

I'll miss all of those heated games we had on the field/court the most.

(12-23-2012 02:36 PM)k5james Wrote:  

(12-23-2012 02:34 PM)monty Wrote:  Congratulations, send us a postcard

I'll miss all of those heated games we had on the field/court the most.

It is hard to let go of such an epic rivalry, I think I will live though.

I used to tell UL people this all the time, and I'm telling UC people this now - NO "We're outta here" crap on the BE board.

We all want the hell out of this hot mess.

No shame in openly rooting for it to happen.

(12-23-2012 03:02 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We all want the hell out of this hot mess.

No shame in openly rooting for it to happen.

Amen brother.

Would UC rather be in a conference with an auto-bid and better television contract? Of course. But, I think administrators publicly lobbying the ACC for admission is a mistake. Statements about competing at the highest level and that tout our qualifications are okay. But I think we could be screwing ourselves over, and unnecessarily demeaning our current conference members, by making it known we are actively trying to get out of the Big East. Plus, it's unseemly how we are drooling over the ACC. We should at least pretend to need some convincing.

However, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

If we are striving to play at the highest level for our athletics, why are we so hellbent on the ACC. We should be letting the other power conferences know that we want to play with the best. I don't think the ACC is going to be any better than the old Big East once it is raided. Let's make presentations to the Big 10 and the Big 12 ASAP and act as oppose to react.

a little too late for smoke and mirrors.

time to face facts and run.

(12-23-2012 05:00 PM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  If we are striving to play at the highest level for our athletics, why are we so hellbent on the ACC. We should be letting the other power conferences know that we want to play with the best. I don't think the ACC is going to be any better than the old Big East once it is raided. Let's make presentations to the Big 10 and the Big 12 ASAP and act as oppose to react.

We are hellbent on the ACC becsuse it is likely our best shot.
You can only make a presentation to a willing audience.
I'm sure UC has applied and made a formal presentation to the B12.

The Big10's door is firmly shut on the Bearcats. No amount of presenting or pleading will change that. The SEC isn't interested either and the PAC12 would be a geographic nightmare if they were interested.

(12-23-2012 05:11 PM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(12-23-2012 05:00 PM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  If we are striving to play at the highest level for our athletics, why are we so hellbent on the ACC. We should be letting the other power conferences know that we want to play with the best. I don't think the ACC is going to be any better than the old Big East once it is raided. Let's make presentations to the Big 10 and the Big 12 ASAP and act as oppose to react.

We are hellbent on the ACC becsuse it is likely our best shot.
You can only make a presentation to a willing audience.
I'm sure UC has applied and made a formal presentation to the B12.

The Big10's door is firmly shut on the Bearcats. No amount of presenting or pleading will change that. The SEC isn't interested either and the PAC12 would be a geographic nightmare if they were interested.

Its funny to think how different things were a decade ago. If my memory serves me correctly were we 8 affirmatives, 2 negatives, and 1 abstention when UC went to a vote in the Big 10 back in the early 2000's. I know OSU and Northwestern were against it, and Indiana abstained I believe.

(12-23-2012 07:55 PM)BearcatBeta Wrote:  

Who is trolling and where?