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RamblinRedWolf Offline
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LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
http://lrtrojans.com/sports/2017/7/11/fo...study.aspx


Surprised none of y'all have been all over this
07-12-2017 11:35 AM
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eh9198 Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
Super happy to see it! Even if we don't add football, at least we'll have it there in black and white why. It's also fun to watch the old guard "let's keep this a commuter campus" folks squirm in their seats a little.
07-12-2017 04:37 PM
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Robert C Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
It will be interesting to see how many people will want this enough to support it as fans. But we know the biggest challenge is $$$. We won't get a football program and marching band if we can't afford it no matter the public demand. It's so damn expensive. Also basketball will suffer and Title IX issues will be exacerbated. You can't deny two things: 1) in the South football is king and 2) the LR Hog fans are disgruntled about losing local games.
(This post was last modified: 07-12-2017 10:48 PM by Robert C.)
07-12-2017 10:47 PM
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
I'm a cynic.
City is paying for part because they don't want to lose the parking revenue. Parks and Tourism is paying part because they are stuck with an old facility with significant upkeep and want to find a way to make some money.

The old stadium commission and city tried to get AState to move the Mizzou game. St. Louis was offering to pay $1.5 million and Kansas City offered AState just under $2 million cash money to move the game. Little Rock's offer was we could pay them $7500 and they'd keep parking and concessions.

We've had FOUR opportunities to have a bowl game in Little Rock. First was when Independence was in financial trouble and wanted to rotate between Shreveport, Little Rock and Jackson, MS or at least one of them. They got told to take a hike. Head of the old Detroit Bowl wanted to do a game and he got laughed out of the room. Peterson tried and had the MAC and Sun Belt ready to go but the group he put together didn't like the dates ESPN offered so while they were looking at other TV options Montgomery signed with ESPN. Tried again the next year, got conditional NCAA approval but couldn't get the money together.

Heck apparently no one has even bothered to line up sponsorship money to make the Hogs an offer they can refuse, they sure didn't seem to mind taking Jerry's money to get a game out of Fayetteville.
07-12-2017 11:23 PM
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mjs Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-12-2017 11:23 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I'm a cynic.
City is paying for part because they don't want to lose the parking revenue. Parks and Tourism is paying part because they are stuck with an old facility with significant upkeep and want to find a way to make some money.

The old stadium commission and city tried to get AState to move the Mizzou game. St. Louis was offering to pay $1.5 million and Kansas City offered AState just under $2 million cash money to move the game. Little Rock's offer was we could pay them $7500 and they'd keep parking and concessions.

We've had FOUR opportunities to have a bowl game in Little Rock. First was when Independence was in financial trouble and wanted to rotate between Shreveport, Little Rock and Jackson, MS or at least one of them. They got told to take a hike. Head of the old Detroit Bowl wanted to do a game and he got laughed out of the room. Peterson tried and had the MAC and Sun Belt ready to go but the group he put together didn't like the dates ESPN offered so while they were looking at other TV options Montgomery signed with ESPN. Tried again the next year, got conditional NCAA approval but couldn't get the money together.

Heck apparently no one has even bothered to line up sponsorship money to make the Hogs an offer they can refuse, they sure didn't seem to mind taking Jerry's money to get a game out of Fayetteville.

I'm a cynic as well. According to our AD, the study will be done and all the facts (costs, benefits to the university and city, how it will effect enrollment, etc.) will be laid out but the firm won't make a recommendation. He does not know what will come out of it, but rightly points out that this is the "perfect" time to do this- the hogs are moving out, the stadium commission is discussing possible renovations which will likely make the stadium more soccer friendly- Reducing the capacity and putting in "real" seats would be nice. Maybe the city is "ready" for a football team to call their own. If it doesn't happen now, most of us will be long gone before the issue is brought up again. I'm not 100% sure where I stand on the issue, but it would be exciting if some of the big money folks in LR really got behind this effort. Obviously, it's a mute point if they don't.
07-13-2017 09:46 AM
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 09:46 AM)mjs Wrote:  
(07-12-2017 11:23 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I'm a cynic.
City is paying for part because they don't want to lose the parking revenue. Parks and Tourism is paying part because they are stuck with an old facility with significant upkeep and want to find a way to make some money.

The old stadium commission and city tried to get AState to move the Mizzou game. St. Louis was offering to pay $1.5 million and Kansas City offered AState just under $2 million cash money to move the game. Little Rock's offer was we could pay them $7500 and they'd keep parking and concessions.

We've had FOUR opportunities to have a bowl game in Little Rock. First was when Independence was in financial trouble and wanted to rotate between Shreveport, Little Rock and Jackson, MS or at least one of them. They got told to take a hike. Head of the old Detroit Bowl wanted to do a game and he got laughed out of the room. Peterson tried and had the MAC and Sun Belt ready to go but the group he put together didn't like the dates ESPN offered so while they were looking at other TV options Montgomery signed with ESPN. Tried again the next year, got conditional NCAA approval but couldn't get the money together.

Heck apparently no one has even bothered to line up sponsorship money to make the Hogs an offer they can refuse, they sure didn't seem to mind taking Jerry's money to get a game out of Fayetteville.

I'm a cynic as well. According to our AD, the study will be done and all the facts (costs, benefits to the university and city, how it will effect enrollment, etc.) will be laid out but the firm won't make a recommendation. He does not know what will come out of it, but rightly points out that this is the "perfect" time to do this- the hogs are moving out, the stadium commission is discussing possible renovations which will likely make the stadium more soccer friendly- Reducing the capacity and putting in "real" seats would be nice. Maybe the city is "ready" for a football team to call their own. If it doesn't happen now, most of us will be long gone before the issue is brought up again. I'm not 100% sure where I stand on the issue, but it would be exciting if some of the big money folks in LR really got behind this effort. Obviously, it's a mute point if they don't.

I don't think the start-up costs are that huge of a barrier. The annual operating costs are the battle.
07-13-2017 10:10 AM
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mjs Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 10:10 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 09:46 AM)mjs Wrote:  
(07-12-2017 11:23 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I'm a cynic.
City is paying for part because they don't want to lose the parking revenue. Parks and Tourism is paying part because they are stuck with an old facility with significant upkeep and want to find a way to make some money.

The old stadium commission and city tried to get AState to move the Mizzou game. St. Louis was offering to pay $1.5 million and Kansas City offered AState just under $2 million cash money to move the game. Little Rock's offer was we could pay them $7500 and they'd keep parking and concessions.

We've had FOUR opportunities to have a bowl game in Little Rock. First was when Independence was in financial trouble and wanted to rotate between Shreveport, Little Rock and Jackson, MS or at least one of them. They got told to take a hike. Head of the old Detroit Bowl wanted to do a game and he got laughed out of the room. Peterson tried and had the MAC and Sun Belt ready to go but the group he put together didn't like the dates ESPN offered so while they were looking at other TV options Montgomery signed with ESPN. Tried again the next year, got conditional NCAA approval but couldn't get the money together.

Heck apparently no one has even bothered to line up sponsorship money to make the Hogs an offer they can refuse, they sure didn't seem to mind taking Jerry's money to get a game out of Fayetteville.

I'm a cynic as well. According to our AD, the study will be done and all the facts (costs, benefits to the university and city, how it will effect enrollment, etc.) will be laid out but the firm won't make a recommendation. He does not know what will come out of it, but rightly points out that this is the "perfect" time to do this- the hogs are moving out, the stadium commission is discussing possible renovations which will likely make the stadium more soccer friendly- Reducing the capacity and putting in "real" seats would be nice. Maybe the city is "ready" for a football team to call their own. If it doesn't happen now, most of us will be long gone before the issue is brought up again. I'm not 100% sure where I stand on the issue, but it would be exciting if some of the big money folks in LR really got behind this effort. Obviously, it's a mute point if they don't.

I don't think the start-up costs are that huge of a barrier. The annual operating costs are the battle.

What is your opinion with regard to the popularity of football in the area? I always felt the idea of supporting UALR football, in this city, when we have trouble drawing 2000 for basketball was totally ridiculous. Is football really that much more popular that 10X as many people will come out to LR football games, than do for basketball games? I find that hard to believe, but maybe I'm wrong. Right now a significant portion of our fan base is older- I don't see those folks sitting in the rain, on hard metal bleachers, to watch a losing football team (at best, it will take a while to start winning).
07-13-2017 11:01 AM
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mjs Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
I wonder if the folks that do the study, include some sort of survey of the Little Rock population, to get an idea how many folks would actually support a football team (i.e. go to games, buy season tickets, donate financially to the program).
07-13-2017 11:03 AM
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RamblinRedWolf Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
First off, yes football is king in the south and I think there would be an immediate "niche group" that would develop and turn out for games. (I won't speculate and say how many but if there are 2-3,000 that show up for Hendrix games and even several hundred for Lyon games in Batesville, I have no doubt in my mind there'd be a couple of thousand intrigued, football hungry peeps that would show up to War Memorial). The biggie will be how quick can they become competitive and start having successful seasons? Everybody loves winners and winning does more than look good on paper (ask Astate fans and peeps with the recent massive budget increases and facility improvements)

Another thing to keep in mind is how they're marketed in Little Rock. Perfect example is the Little Rock Rangers-I thought it was dead on arrival when they were first announced. But not only did they establish themselves at the perfect time (with this sudden revival of popularity with soccer in the country) but they've been really smart and really focused on trying to appeal to the "young and hipster crowds" by getting food truck vendors involved, along with the local breweries giving people another excuse to tailgate at War Memorial. I know quite a bit of people my age and who I went to school with that turn out to Rangers games quite frequently, even some that are season ticket holders now.
(This post was last modified: 07-13-2017 11:26 AM by RamblinRedWolf.)
07-13-2017 11:25 AM
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mjs Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 11:25 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  First off, yes football is king in the south and I think there would be an immediate "niche group" that would develop and turn out for games. (I won't speculate and say how many but if there are 2-3,000 that show up for Hendrix games and even several hundred for Lyon games in Batesville, I have no doubt in my mind there'd be a couple of thousand intrigued, football hungry peeps that would show up to War Memorial). The biggie will be how quick can they become competitive and start having successful seasons? Everybody loves winners and winning does more than look good on paper (ask Astate fans and peeps with the recent massive budget increases and facility improvements)

Another thing to keep in mind is how they're marketed in Little Rock. Perfect example is the Little Rock Rangers-I thought it was dead on arrival when they were first announced. But not only did they establish themselves at the perfect time (with this sudden revival of popularity with soccer in the country) but they've been really smart and really focused on trying to appeal to the "young and hipster crowds" by getting food truck vendors involved, along with the local breweries giving people another excuse to tailgate at War Memorial. I know quite a bit of people my age and who I went to school with that turn out to Rangers games quite frequently, even some that are season ticket holders now.

Yes, the Rangers have apparently done a really good job. I thought they were crazy when they announced they would play at War Memorial- their league only requires a 500 seat "stadium", and thus UALR's soccer field would have fit the requirement (maybe a small bleacher would have been need to be added). While they obviously have over 50,000 empty seats, every game, their attendance was reportedly 6th out of the 90 teams in their division. Too bad Little Rock doesn't have a 5K soccer specific stadium. Maybe working with UALR to increase their capacity to 2500 to 3000 would still be a good idea.
07-13-2017 02:36 PM
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
I think it is a really big challenge.

Just working through a few categories of spending reported to the state, I think LR could do it for about $3.5 million on a ULM style budget. Understand that is budget that has produced one three-way shared title in football, one tennis title and one baseball title and tends to lead the Sun Belt in last and next to last place finishes.

ULM's Sun Belt conference all-time records:
Football 52-63 .441
Baseball 118-180 .396
Men's basketball 70-112 .385
Women's hoops 72-128 .360
Softball 84-162 .341
Soccer 17-92-5 .171
Volleyball 18-172 (four winless seasons) .095

I see no point in adding football if there is no interest in competing for titles in any sport.

Realistically, the annual operating budget has to increase by at least $7 million as an ongoing outlay.

The land currently tabbed for a new baseball stadium has to be used for football practice facilities, offices, training facilities, meeting rooms, and weight rooms. You could maybe put a football building in and use the soccer field but then you have scheduling issues and women's soccer can't get stuffed into the "worst" spots all the time and still build a baseball stadium.

If you intend to compete, figure $15 million as the absolute bare bones building. If you want indoor practice facility (most people you will recruit against have one) figure another $5 million. In short really requires $20 million to $30 million upfront to be competitive just in capital costs and you probably stay at Hogan Field.

As to the market.

LR is squirrel ass crazy. If it is hip, cool, trendy, popular, Little Rock will support it.

When Trojan hoops were cool trendy and popular the Trojans drew large crowds. Become nationally irrelevant people disappeared.

I mean look at the holy of holies, the irreplaceable Arkansas tradition, Hog football in Little Rock. They've struggled to sell tickets in Little Rock and I don't mean just FCS opponents or low tier FBS. Mark "I've Always Supported UALR Football" Stodala less than three years ago was begging people to buy tickets for Arkansas - Georgia because there were a few thousand unsold tickets on the Thursday before the game.

As I recall it ended up officially being a sellout but there were people who bought up tickets to give away to youth clubs.

Despite the years of moaning about how games at WMS were the most fun and loudest, mediocre to bad Hog football wouldn't keep them coming out despite the purported great atmosphere.

Cracking through the local media is a challenge. You have to deal with KARK generally won't report a sports story that doesn't have a School Out West component, KATV generally owns the Hog fans, KTHV has a dedicated Hog segment, I have no clue what KLRT does. Dem-Gaz has been using one person to cover every college other than SOW.

I don't buy into the "football is big" thing. I think it's BS.

Television viewership in Birmingham for college football is roughly equal to college football viewership in New York City. With a 6-6 squad, UAB drew 21,000 with the help of home games against Troy and Alabama A&M, the year before 10,500, usually hanging around 15k most seasons after two decades of play. Birmingham isn't college football crazy, it is Bama and Auburn crazy.

Obviously Ohio loves college football, the Buckeyes average 107k per game, but Akron 10,300, BGSU 15k. Kent St 10,900, Miami 17,000, Toledo 20,600. Ohio is crazy about Ohio State and the others have their niche or don't. Michigan can draw 110,000 while 8 miles down the road Eastern Michigan has generally averaged under 15k. If people love college football EMU is cheaper and easier to go to, they love Wolverine football.

The idea that there is this mass that is just dying to see "college football" is bull. UAPB is just down the road and averages 4,000 to 6,000, UCA is even closer and didn't do 8,000 last year, yet when AState was a I-AA playoff team we were averaging 12,000 to 15,000 even with having to play first round games on campus during Thanksgiving break.

For football to be successful, you have to have people who feel invested in the program and want to by tickets.

Here is a breakdown of collegiate plates for the 15 schools with most plates issued. All it tells us is how many people are willing to plunk down an extra $35 to have their favorite school's logo on their license plate. It ought to give us some sense of fan interest, because these generally aren't the more casual folks.

UArk 36,062
AState 4552
UAPB 2465
UCA 1328
Tech 844
Ouachita 614
Henderson 607
UAM 587
Hendrix 554
SAU 530
LR 508
Harding 392
School for the Deaf 375
UAMS 329
Lyon 184

That would concern me if I'm getting ready to commit to $20 million in capital projects, a year of non-revenue football playing as a club team, two years of FCS, and then two years of transition to FBS (though you can start getting the fat guarantee checks in year two of transition).

UAPB
07-13-2017 02:50 PM
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mjs Offline
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 02:50 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I think it is a really big challenge.

Just working through a few categories of spending reported to the state, I think LR could do it for about $3.5 million on a ULM style budget. Understand that is budget that has produced one three-way shared title in football, one tennis title and one baseball title and tends to lead the Sun Belt in last and next to last place finishes.

ULM's Sun Belt conference all-time records:
Football 52-63 .441
Baseball 118-180 .396
Men's basketball 70-112 .385
Women's hoops 72-128 .360
Softball 84-162 .341
Soccer 17-92-5 .171
Volleyball 18-172 (four winless seasons) .095

I see no point in adding football if there is no interest in competing for titles in any sport.

Realistically, the annual operating budget has to increase by at least $7 million as an ongoing outlay.

The land currently tabbed for a new baseball stadium has to be used for football practice facilities, offices, training facilities, meeting rooms, and weight rooms. You could maybe put a football building in and use the soccer field but then you have scheduling issues and women's soccer can't get stuffed into the "worst" spots all the time and still build a baseball stadium.

If you intend to compete, figure $15 million as the absolute bare bones building. If you want indoor practice facility (most people you will recruit against have one) figure another $5 million. In short really requires $20 million to $30 million upfront to be competitive just in capital costs and you probably stay at Hogan Field.

As to the market.

LR is squirrel ass crazy. If it is hip, cool, trendy, popular, Little Rock will support it.

When Trojan hoops were cool trendy and popular the Trojans drew large crowds. Become nationally irrelevant people disappeared.

I mean look at the holy of holies, the irreplaceable Arkansas tradition, Hog football in Little Rock. They've struggled to sell tickets in Little Rock and I don't mean just FCS opponents or low tier FBS. Mark "I've Always Supported UALR Football" Stodala less than three years ago was begging people to buy tickets for Arkansas - Georgia because there were a few thousand unsold tickets on the Thursday before the game.

As I recall it ended up officially being a sellout but there were people who bought up tickets to give away to youth clubs.

Despite the years of moaning about how games at WMS were the most fun and loudest, mediocre to bad Hog football wouldn't keep them coming out despite the purported great atmosphere.

Cracking through the local media is a challenge. You have to deal with KARK generally won't report a sports story that doesn't have a School Out West component, KATV generally owns the Hog fans, KTHV has a dedicated Hog segment, I have no clue what KLRT does. Dem-Gaz has been using one person to cover every college other than SOW.

I don't buy into the "football is big" thing. I think it's BS.

Television viewership in Birmingham for college football is roughly equal to college football viewership in New York City. With a 6-6 squad, UAB drew 21,000 with the help of home games against Troy and Alabama A&M, the year before 10,500, usually hanging around 15k most seasons after two decades of play. Birmingham isn't college football crazy, it is Bama and Auburn crazy.

Obviously Ohio loves college football, the Buckeyes average 107k per game, but Akron 10,300, BGSU 15k. Kent St 10,900, Miami 17,000, Toledo 20,600. Ohio is crazy about Ohio State and the others have their niche or don't. Michigan can draw 110,000 while 8 miles down the road Eastern Michigan has generally averaged under 15k. If people love college football EMU is cheaper and easier to go to, they love Wolverine football.

The idea that there is this mass that is just dying to see "college football" is bull. UAPB is just down the road and averages 4,000 to 6,000, UCA is even closer and didn't do 8,000 last year, yet when AState was a I-AA playoff team we were averaging 12,000 to 15,000 even with having to play first round games on campus during Thanksgiving break.

For football to be successful, you have to have people who feel invested in the program and want to by tickets.

Here is a breakdown of collegiate plates for the 15 schools with most plates issued. All it tells us is how many people are willing to plunk down an extra $35 to have their favorite school's logo on their license plate. It ought to give us some sense of fan interest, because these generally aren't the more casual folks.

UArk 36,062
AState 4552
UAPB 2465
UCA 1328
Tech 844
Ouachita 614
Henderson 607
UAM 587
Hendrix 554
SAU 530
LR 508
Harding 392
School for the Deaf 375
UAMS 329
Lyon 184

That would concern me if I'm getting ready to commit to $20 million in capital projects, a year of non-revenue football playing as a club team, two years of FCS, and then two years of transition to FBS (though you can start getting the fat guarantee checks in year two of transition).

UAPB

Those license plate numbers are interesting and I believe pretty telling about local support for UALR- 2 of those are in my garage every night. I have a hard time believing UALR football could be successful in this city- but the Little Rock Rangers are drawing about 5 times what I expected. Still the costs seem overwhelming.
07-13-2017 03:27 PM
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 03:27 PM)mjs Wrote:  Those license plate numbers are interesting and I believe pretty telling about local support for UALR- 2 of those are in my garage every night. I have a hard time believing UALR football could be successful in this city- but the Little Rock Rangers are drawing about 5 times what I expected. Still the costs seem overwhelming.

Depends on how you define success.

To me success would be having the capacity to have one of the best 5 football complexes in the Sun Belt, having the capacity to hire a staff and bring in a few walkon caliber players and work with them, then the next fall playing club football, the next year playing FCS. After the second season of FCS announcing the transition, playing a third year of FCS as an FBS transitional, then a year of transition playing an FBS schedule, then finally joining FBS and by the fifth season of FBS play, make a bowl game.

Absolute minimum, I wouldn't want to see an FBS school on the schedule any sooner than the fifth season of play.

Ideally, I'd want to play club two years, and four years of FCS before starting transition but that's a hard hard sell, people put up the dollars they want to start seeing Tulsa and Memphis rolling in.

The club level athletes won't be very good because schools offering full rides are going to get them.

But FIU, FAU, USA, GaSt, UTSA have shown you can go from nothing to something and make a bowl fairly quickly and USA isn't that much larger than UALR but people don't understand how isolated Mobile is, they are actually closer to LSU than Bama and Auburn and they have a whomping large endowment. They are also trying to put together the money to build their own stadium because their stadium is a 40k version of War Memorial with even worse amenities. They also have the advantage of not answering to a university system.
07-13-2017 03:58 PM
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Post: #14
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-13-2017 02:36 PM)mjs Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 11:25 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  First off, yes football is king in the south and I think there would be an immediate "niche group" that would develop and turn out for games. (I won't speculate and say how many but if there are 2-3,000 that show up for Hendrix games and even several hundred for Lyon games in Batesville, I have no doubt in my mind there'd be a couple of thousand intrigued, football hungry peeps that would show up to War Memorial). The biggie will be how quick can they become competitive and start having successful seasons? Everybody loves winners and winning does more than look good on paper (ask Astate fans and peeps with the recent massive budget increases and facility improvements)

Another thing to keep in mind is how they're marketed in Little Rock. Perfect example is the Little Rock Rangers-I thought it was dead on arrival when they were first announced. But not only did they establish themselves at the perfect time (with this sudden revival of popularity with soccer in the country) but they've been really smart and really focused on trying to appeal to the "young and hipster crowds" by getting food truck vendors involved, along with the local breweries giving people another excuse to tailgate at War Memorial. I know quite a bit of people my age and who I went to school with that turn out to Rangers games quite frequently, even some that are season ticket holders now.

Yes, the Rangers have apparently done a really good job. I thought they were crazy when they announced they would play at War Memorial- their league only requires a 500 seat "stadium", and thus UALR's soccer field would have fit the requirement (maybe a small bleacher would have been need to be added). While they obviously have over 50,000 empty seats, every game, their attendance was reportedly 6th out of the 90 teams in their division. Too bad Little Rock doesn't have a 5K soccer specific stadium. Maybe working with UALR to increase their capacity to 2500 to 3000 would still be a good idea.

You guys really should look at working together with the Rangers to create a 3-4K seat stadium that they would have primary use of, but you guys would get to use for Soccer as well

Could draw in recruits easily just showing you have an actual stadium to play in compared to most of the rest of the country.
07-18-2017 09:26 PM
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RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-18-2017 09:26 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 02:36 PM)mjs Wrote:  
(07-13-2017 11:25 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  First off, yes football is king in the south and I think there would be an immediate "niche group" that would develop and turn out for games. (I won't speculate and say how many but if there are 2-3,000 that show up for Hendrix games and even several hundred for Lyon games in Batesville, I have no doubt in my mind there'd be a couple of thousand intrigued, football hungry peeps that would show up to War Memorial). The biggie will be how quick can they become competitive and start having successful seasons? Everybody loves winners and winning does more than look good on paper (ask Astate fans and peeps with the recent massive budget increases and facility improvements)

Another thing to keep in mind is how they're marketed in Little Rock. Perfect example is the Little Rock Rangers-I thought it was dead on arrival when they were first announced. But not only did they establish themselves at the perfect time (with this sudden revival of popularity with soccer in the country) but they've been really smart and really focused on trying to appeal to the "young and hipster crowds" by getting food truck vendors involved, along with the local breweries giving people another excuse to tailgate at War Memorial. I know quite a bit of people my age and who I went to school with that turn out to Rangers games quite frequently, even some that are season ticket holders now.

Yes, the Rangers have apparently done a really good job. I thought they were crazy when they announced they would play at War Memorial- their league only requires a 500 seat "stadium", and thus UALR's soccer field would have fit the requirement (maybe a small bleacher would have been need to be added). While they obviously have over 50,000 empty seats, every game, their attendance was reportedly 6th out of the 90 teams in their division. Too bad Little Rock doesn't have a 5K soccer specific stadium. Maybe working with UALR to increase their capacity to 2500 to 3000 would still be a good idea.

You guys really should look at working together with the Rangers to create a 3-4K seat stadium that they would have primary use of, but you guys would get to use for Soccer as well

Could draw in recruits easily just showing you have an actual stadium to play in compared to most of the rest of the country.

And why would spending bucks on a non-revenue sport make sense while this football idea is being considered? Baseball is already waiting for the funding for a ball field.
07-18-2017 10:34 PM
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arkstfan Away
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Post: #16
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
There apparently is some level of interest in adding a USL soccer team but WMS won't work.

Rather than starting from scratch, the better solution is bring in a jackhammer and remove a few rows worth of concrete from the east side and then build a new retaining wall that will allow for a wider field. Even better would be tear out the north and south end zone bleachers and sell them for scrap.

What you are left with is still large enough to handle the state playoffs, regular season high school, Salt Bowl, and UALR if the money is there.
07-20-2017 03:37 PM
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mjs Offline
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Post: #17
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
(07-20-2017 03:37 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  There apparently is some level of interest in adding a USL soccer team but WMS won't work.

Rather than starting from scratch, the better solution is bring in a jackhammer and remove a few rows worth of concrete from the east side and then build a new retaining wall that will allow for a wider field. Even better would be tear out the north and south end zone bleachers and sell them for scrap.

What you are left with is still large enough to handle the state playoffs, regular season high school, Salt Bowl, and UALR if the money is there.

Once the hogs are gone, War Memorial could be remodeled into a nice, 30K venue that would work for soccer, UALR football, a possible bowl game, concerts, etc. Real hard to imagine sitting like sardines, on burning hot metal bleachers, for Guns & Roses next weekend. Maybe the time is right for the city to invest in the stadium, UALR football, etc. Still not sure about the viability of UALR football, but now is the time if it ever going to happen.
07-21-2017 12:00 PM
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Robert C Offline
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Post: #18
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
There is risk in every venture, you just have to do you homework and take the calculated risk. Ask the people behind the River Market district, The LR Rangers Soccer Club and the founders of Lost Forty and Diamond Bear brewery. Sometimes the perceived and feared obstacles get eclipsed by opportunity and exposure. Nobody--absolutely nobody-- predicted we would have at least 12 active microbreweries in central Arkansas alone, the vast majority of them making beer worthy of paying good money for up from only 3 just 10 years ago--and 3 was a big number back then, more than Tulsa had at the time. The bankers that rejected Russ Melton's loans to start Diamond Bear did not see it coming.

Sometimes you have to create your niche and let it expand and grow. You have to brew your own excitement, culture and buzz around something we already love to do in the Natural State: college Football and tailgating. Except THIS time it is our very own hometown team and we don't have to share it with Fayetteville. We can make it a big deal. The breweries and the food trucks will show up with bells on.

I firmly believe that (if we can afford it) adding FBS football will "flip the switch" and boost the Trojans to a much higher orbit.

The city of Little Rock is quite literally a Football program away from replacing calling the hogs with Bud Light* with bellowing a new Trojan cheer fueled by tasty local suds and grub.

*(no offense to Bud drinkers, but come on!)
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2017 05:31 PM by Robert C.)
08-07-2017 05:19 PM
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MICHAELSPAPPY Offline
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Post: #19
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
I could be wrong, but I just cannot see Fayetteville meekly ceding the central Arkansas market without a fight. And they have all the bullets.
08-07-2017 05:38 PM
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Robert C Offline
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Post: #20
RE: LR to Conduct Feasibilty Study for Football & Marching Band
I doubt they will see Little Rock Football as a threat enough to block it.
08-07-2017 05:43 PM
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