(05-19-2017 07:18 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(05-18-2017 02:48 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  But, when you Colo St going full bore into a football stadium the state is just letting them blow money on . . .

I could not believe that financing plan got approved. Colo St raised so little money and floated so many revenue bonds that the stadium will require $13M in annual debt service for the next 30 years.

Consider: 1) the entire Colo St athletic department generates about $18M a year in revenue outside of school subsidies and student fees, 2) the new stadium only seats 36,000, and 3) they have reserved 10,000 of those seats for students. So even if the other 26,000 seats were sold (which they won't) and generated an average of $500 a year (which they won't), that entire $13M would go straight to paying the interest on the debt. Do not pass go. Do not fund football or any other sport's operating expenses.

However, Hughes Stadium was old and borderline condemnable. If the school wanted to continue playing football, they needed a new stadium (or considerable renovations to Hughes) even though their boosters fell way short of their fundraising goal.

So the school's debt rating, or the school's endowment, or the taxpayers, or the students . . . will eventually take it in the shorts.

It's a big difference when you are a land grant school vs one of the many city schools. A large number of political reps went to CSU.