The longer the UofM waits to begin planning and actual fundraising, the more expensive the price will be.
In 2007, a $120 million dollar stadium would cost in 2020 $148 million. By 2027 that cost would be over $160 million.
I like Rudd. He's a go getter. So I feel he knows the importance long term for both the football program and the university by having an OCS.
Look at our conference mates. They're all investing in OCS and breaking away from being a renter to becoming a home stadium owner.
Cincinnati may not have built a new stadium, but they spent big bucks to expand and renovate their OCS.
Houston invested into football by building an OCS.
Even Tulane is ahead of Memphis right now in the OCS race.
USF and Temple are next for OCS'.
If SDSU, who is also investing in an OCS, is to join the AAC, soon Memphis will be the only member without an OCS.
Face it guys, the Liberty Bowl is too big and due to the LBC and SHC having say, it can't be chairbacked and reduced in seating capacity.
Memphis on average draws about 30-40,000 per home game, except when Ole Miss comes to town. And they're not coming back anytime soon.
The fairgrounds are 2 miles from campus. Too far to walk. The golf course is 1 mile from the new pedestrian bridge. That's walking distance.
It's also half a mile from the new indoor practice facility.
And let's say for a minute that the city sold the LBMS to UofM. The cost of renovation and upgrades, such as a new press box, would cost more than to build an OCS.
Louisiana-Monroe built a new press box and it cost $31 million. And that's on the cheap end. Because of the structure of LBMS, a new press box would run about $50 million.
Chairbacking the whole stadium to reduce capacity to about 48,000 would cost another $50 million.
This is just a few reasons why we need an OCS.
This would be an ideal OCS development for the UofM to go by. SDSU's new stadium.