(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 09:47 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:40 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Correct, USC doesn't play at the Rose Bowl, UCLA does. The Coliseum doesn't belong to USC but they are the primary tenant.

USC did a long term lease and paid for renovations, so they effectively "own" the Coliseum. Its only about a mile off campus, so its effectively "on campus."

The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 09:47 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:40 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Correct, USC doesn't play at the Rose Bowl, UCLA does. The Coliseum doesn't belong to USC but they are the primary tenant.

USC did a long term lease and paid for renovations, so they effectively "own" the Coliseum. Its only about a mile off campus, so its effectively "on campus."

The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

I walked out of the gate at USC, crossed the street into a park, and then up to the main gates at the Coliseum when I visited USC a number of years ago. It definitely was not a 1-mile walk.

(01-30-2023 10:39 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 06:43 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:14 AM)Milwaukee Wrote:  [quote='_C2_' pid='18749981' dateline='1674972784']
Pitt is an example of a school that had a large on-campus stadium, but gave it up to play in an NFL stadium. Most seem to agree that they made the right decision.

UPMC was a huge reason for that though, and the Steelers/Panthers home is not far from UPitt's campus at all.

One that really worries me is UNLV, but they are a G5. UNLV gave up the Silver Bowl to play at the Raiders new stadium, but I continue to have my doubts about that arrangement long-term.

Sam Boyd Stadium wasn't on campus, and I dunno if any of you guys have ever been there...but it was a major dump. I know for a fact that UNLV is pitching the Raider's stadium as an *asset* to other conferences.

I don't personally agree, but that's the pitch.

Not only is it a dump, but there is nothing around it

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 09:47 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:40 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Correct, USC doesn't play at the Rose Bowl, UCLA does. The Coliseum doesn't belong to USC but they are the primary tenant.

USC did a long term lease and paid for renovations, so they effectively "own" the Coliseum. Its only about a mile off campus, so its effectively "on campus."

The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 09:47 AM)bullet Wrote:  USC did a long term lease and paid for renovations, so they effectively "own" the Coliseum. Its only about a mile off campus, so its effectively "on campus."

The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

I'll use my sister (who lives in relative luxury in suburban Nashville), again, for a frame of reference — as she has interacted (the past two years) about five times with the campus and the general University Park and Vermont Square neighborhoods. The immediate areas surrounding the USC campus are actually pleasant and stable. They are not war zones hammered by poverty and crime. However, there are some areas not too far from the campus that are rough, specifically on the east side of Interstate 110. So I suppose it depends on how we geographically define "surrounding areas." But I get your point, bullet.

(01-30-2023 06:47 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

I'll use my sister (who lives in relative luxury in suburban Nashville), again, for a frame of reference — as she has interacted (the past two years) about five times with the campus and the general University Park and Vermont Square neighborhoods. The immediate areas surrounding the USC campus are actually pleasant and stable. They are not war zones hammered by poverty and crime. However, there are some areas not too far from the campus that are rough, specifically on the east side of Interstate 110. So I suppose it depends on how we geographically define "surrounding areas." But I get your point, bullet.

Its been quite a few years since I have been on the USC campus (decades), so maybe the immediate area has cleaned up a little. But the slums were right across the street from campus when I was there. But I do know Watts (younger posters look up the 1960s race riots in LA) is still bad even if USC may have pushed it back a couple blocks.

(01-29-2023 09:08 PM)RutgersMike Wrote:  The main campuses of Rutgers University are located in the cities of New Brunswick and Piscataway. The original Rutgers Stadium was a Great Depression WPA project built in Piscataway which replaced Neilson Field in New Brunswick; total distance between the sites - maybe 5 miles at most.

After the D1/D1AA split, Rutgers did play two “home” games at Giants Stadium every year to meet the 30,000 stadium capacity requirement that was a former NCAA rule. But Rutgers never had a “satellite “ campus in East Rutherford. When Rutgers Stadium was rebuilt in the early 90’s, we did play our entire season at Giants Stadium.

All correct. The Bush Campus - where the stadium is located is in Piscataway, but it is not a satellite campus. It is one of the five campuses that make up RUNB. Actually, most of Rutgers varsity sports are housed in Piscataway on the Livingston/Bush Campuses. This is not at all like Temple which had its "On campus stadium" located on the Ambler Campus which is 13 miles from the main campus.

Having an on-campus stadium doesn't have nearly as much importance as you'd think. There are a bunch of P5 schools who don't ow or control their home field stadium. What really matters is how well the stadium is maintained, how bad is the neighborhood around it and can a school fill it. Places like UAB, UCF and Memphis found themselves left out of a couple of rounds of realignment, because all of those stadium issues we negatives. On the other hand, daU, Pitt and GaSt have all benefited by having access to stadiums that were well maintained and in decent (safe on game day) locations.

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 12:20 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  The Coliseum is located only about three blocks south of the southern fringe of the USC campus, bullet. Definitely a good bit less than a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Univer...%2F065y4w7

Maybe I was comparing to the center of campus when I looked at it a few years back. You are right. It looks like between a 1/4 mile and half mile from the southern edge of campus. It has the advantage that the exposition area that includes Memorial Stadium borders campus. Its not like you have to walk through Watts to get there.

Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

When was the last time you went there?

(01-30-2023 07:53 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 06:47 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 03:34 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  Yep. From the center of the campus, you are correct.

The Coliseum is a very manageable stroll even from Trojan Village (located on the north side of the campus). My sister did it and she is not much of a walker.

From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

I'll use my sister (who lives in relative luxury in suburban Nashville), again, for a frame of reference — as she has interacted (the past two years) about five times with the campus and the general University Park and Vermont Square neighborhoods. The immediate areas surrounding the USC campus are actually pleasant and stable. They are not war zones hammered by poverty and crime. However, there are some areas not too far from the campus that are rough, specifically on the east side of Interstate 110. So I suppose it depends on how we geographically define "surrounding areas." But I get your point, bullet.

Its been quite a few years since I have been on the USC campus (decades), so maybe the immediate area has cleaned up a little. But the slums were right across the street from campus when I was there. But I do know Watts (younger posters look up the 1960s race riots in LA) is still bad even if USC may have pushed it back a couple blocks.

Using Google Maps, the northern segment of Watts is located at least three miles (and maybe four) from the southern segment of the USC campus. You might be thinking of South Central. But even that district, despite being perceived by outsiders as rough, offers nice pockets.

In general, and from what little I know, the most scary looking and dangerous districts in L.A. will not have the same intimidating feel as the those in, say, Philly, the Bronx and Chicago.

(01-30-2023 10:32 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  However, Pitt's campus faces tremendous land constraints. At only 132 acres and hemmed in by very steep hills and other major land-hungry institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, they are almost certainly the 2nd most landlocked major college campus in America (other than Columbia). (Marquette has slightly less land but a lot fewer students).

I dunno how you could measure "most landlocked" but surely there are plenty of other major urban schools in similar situations. Temple, Boston U. and Northeastern come to mind. George Washington. I am sure there are others.

Thanks for the responses. I've also felt there were other factors that held more weight than having an OCS, but did believe that probably the main purpose was it showed a schools financial commitment to the program which some of you said as well. And tying in with that, supposedly at least one of the things that hurt Memphis in the latest round based on some with inside info is that donation level and one of them added demographics as an issue. That was vague so I don't know the exact meaning of that. I think our biggest problem is that we are just behind the other schools is progress. Even with football I would say there wasn't a serious attempt at trying to build a winning program till 2012 when Justin Fuente was hired. Past coaches seemed to get hired being given promises that were left unmet.

@Native Georgian and bullet - No idea how I messed that up. Everything I looked at talked about Turner Field and I still typed they built a new stadium. NG I would take your info as fact and not opinion. And bullet thanks for the added info for Houston.

@Frank - The academics side has been an ongoing debate as well for its impact. Just like how msu35 posed this question about stadiums, shere khan brought up comparing schools based on acceptance rate and graduation rate as we were still waiting to find out about R1 classification. So I made this thread comparing those numbers for the schools in conference at the time using College Scorecard. What stood out to me the most is Memphis has a withdrawal rate problem. Most schools I looked at had higher transfer rates than withdrawal rates, but it was the opposite for Memphis. Bill already talked about who the university primarily serves and the lack of preparation they get. Life happens so there will always be people that withdraw, but the numbers for Memphis are so high that lack of preparation is obvious. I think when I looked at it back then almost 1/3 of the students in that group withdrew. In the most recent one out of 10k+ students it's "down" to 27%. Add to that 22% transferred. If donation level and demographics are an issue we are going to have a hard time building that up, among other things, if the school is losing almost half of it's students at a time.

@Matt - Thanks for the added insight on that debacle. There have been some changes since then. Memphis among five other Tennessee schools used to be under the same Regents as the community colleges. In 2017 the state made the change allowing each of those schools to have their own Board of Regents. The Memphis DMA has a chance for some growth. Ford and SK Innovation are building BlueOval City which will begin truck production in 2025. It's just a bit over 50 miles from Downtown Memphis. Unfortunately it's still going to take some time before all these changes show their benefits.

@Bryan - Screw that walk. It is long. In the late 90s I started having some car trouble, had to park near the stadium (I think it was by the Children's Museum), and walk back to my dorm which was probably the closest on-campus building to the stadium. I definitely wouldn't want to walk there AND back.

@Gitanole - Florida State took a good amount of our "exciting highlight clips on the right side of the score" production. But I think most Memphis fans were happy for Norvell and for what he did for Memphis. And I'm glad that it looks like he's getting y'all back on track. I became a casual FSU fan after he got hired.

@ken_d - I think Memphis would definitely make more money. In an old interview with former AD Tom Bowen, he said the only money Memphis makes from FB and Men's BB is ticket sales. After another Memphis poster (Browning Hall) helped me remember Syracuse. I've been on the "copying them" horse ever since.

@Mike and Mike - Thanks for the clarification. By the time I got to Rutgers I tunnel-visioned on satellite campuses. So when Rutgers' site said five smaller campuses I didn't consider they were equal. Looking at the Google map I treated College Avenue as the primary despite it looking smaller than the other locations.

(01-31-2023 07:09 PM)Alanda Wrote:  Thanks for the responses. I've also felt there were other factors that held more weight than having an OCS, but did believe that probably the main purpose was it showed a schools financial commitment to the program which some of you said as well. And tying in with that, supposedly at least one of the things that hurt Memphis in the latest round based on some with inside info is that donation level and one of them added demographics as an issue. That was vague so I don't know the exact meaning of that. I think our biggest problem is that we are just behind the other schools is progress. Even with football I would say there wasn't a serious attempt at trying to build a winning program till 2012 when Justin Fuente was hired. Past coaches seemed to get hired being given promises that were left unmet.

@Native Georgian and bullet - No idea how I messed that up. Everything I looked at talked about Turner Field and I still typed they built a new stadium. NG I would take your info as fact and not opinion. And bullet thanks for the added info for Houston.

@Frank - The academics side has been an ongoing debate as well for its impact. Just like how msu35 posed this question about stadiums, shere khan brought up comparing schools based on acceptance rate and graduation rate as we were still waiting to find out about R1 classification. So I made this thread comparing those numbers for the schools in conference at the time using College Scorecard. What stood out to me the most is Memphis has a withdrawal rate problem. Most schools I looked at had higher transfer rates than withdrawal rates, but it was the opposite for Memphis. Bill already talked about who the university primarily serves and the lack of preparation they get. Life happens so there will always be people that withdraw, but the numbers for Memphis are so high that lack of preparation is obvious. I think when I looked at it back then almost 1/3 of the students in that group withdrew. In the most recent one out of 10k+ students it's "down" to 27%. Add to that 22% transferred. If donation level and demographics are an issue we are going to have a hard time building that up, among other things, if the school is losing almost half of it's students at a time.

@Matt - Thanks for the added insight on that debacle. There have been some changes since then. Memphis among five other Tennessee schools used to be under the same Regents as the community colleges. In 2017 the state made the change allowing each of those schools to have their own Board of Regents. The Memphis DMA has a chance for some growth. Ford and SK Innovation are building BlueOval City which will begin truck production in 2025. It's just a bit over 50 miles from Downtown Memphis. Unfortunately it's still going to take some time before all these changes show their benefits.

@Bryan - Screw that walk. It is long. In the late 90s I started having some car trouble, had to park near the stadium (I think it was by the Children's Museum), and walk back to my dorm which was probably the closest on-campus building to the stadium. I definitely wouldn't want to walk there AND back.

@Gitanole - Florida State took a good amount of our "exciting highlight clips on the right side of the score" production. But I think most Memphis fans were happy for Norvell and for what he did for Memphis. And I'm glad that it looks like he's getting y'all back on track. I became a casual FSU fan after he got hired.

@ken_d - I think Memphis would definitely make more money. In an old interview with former AD Tom Bowen, he said the only money Memphis makes from FB and Men's BB is ticket sales. After another Memphis poster (Browning Hall) helped me remember Syracuse. I've been on the "copying them" horse ever since.

@Mike and Mike - Thanks for the clarification. By the time I got to Rutgers I tunnel-visioned on satellite campuses. So when Rutgers' site said five smaller campuses I didn't consider they were equal. Looking at the Google map I treated College Avenue as the primary despite it looking smaller than the other locations.

I have been a Memphis Tiger fan for about 50 years (my father was an athletics trainer for then-Memphis State College in the 1950s; at 91, he ranks among the oldest Memphis fans). Of all the Memphis fans posting on this board, you are one of the most classy and likeable, Alanda. Keep up the fine work repping our Tigers.

(01-31-2023 07:27 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I have been a Memphis Tiger fan for about 50 years (my father was an athletics trainer for then-Memphis State College in the 1950s; at 91, he ranks among the oldest Memphis fans). Of all the Memphis fans posting on this board, you are one of the most classy and likeable, Alanda. Keep up the fine work repping our Tigers.

Haha. Thanks Bill. You too. I just try to respect and learn what I can from other people's views even if we see things differently. I believe that there's nothing wrong with saying I was wrong on something because I want accuracy over ego. And give support to my view the best I can without being all "I'm right. You're wrong. Deal with it."

(01-31-2023 09:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 07:53 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 06:47 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:51 PM)Aztecgolfer Wrote:  From what I recall, not the greatest of places to walk in. I went to John Elway's last game at USC, my best friend's father and brother were USC alumni. We parked in a neighborhood and when we were getting our stuff out of the trunk a kid came up and said "20 bucks to watch your car." Now, my buddy knew me and before a word escaped my mouth he said "you better pay it if you want your tires when we come back."

The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

I'll use my sister (who lives in relative luxury in suburban Nashville), again, for a frame of reference — as she has interacted (the past two years) about five times with the campus and the general University Park and Vermont Square neighborhoods. The immediate areas surrounding the USC campus are actually pleasant and stable. They are not war zones hammered by poverty and crime. However, there are some areas not too far from the campus that are rough, specifically on the east side of Interstate 110. So I suppose it depends on how we geographically define "surrounding areas." But I get your point, bullet.

Its been quite a few years since I have been on the USC campus (decades), so maybe the immediate area has cleaned up a little. But the slums were right across the street from campus when I was there. But I do know Watts (younger posters look up the 1960s race riots in LA) is still bad even if USC may have pushed it back a couple blocks.

Using Google Maps, the northern segment of Watts is located at least three miles (and maybe four) from the southern segment of the USC campus. You might be thinking of South Central. But even that district, despite being perceived by outsiders as rough, offers nice pockets.

In general, and from what little I know, the most scary looking and dangerous districts in L.A. will not have the same intimidating feel as the those in, say, Philly, the Bronx and Chicago.

There’s no ghetto in NYC anymore. (Not even Harlem at this point.) And Los Angeles’ ghettoes are at least as bad as Philly’s or Chicago’s.


USC is a gated enclave that’s almost entirely separated from the surrounding neighborhood. For what I hear, Temple (which is also surrounded by a ghetto) isn’t quite as protected from its neighborhood as USC is.

You expect me to believe the South Bronx isn't ghetto and impoverished?

(01-30-2023 11:02 AM)Claw Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 07:51 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 01:44 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just mapped it out, the Liberty Bowl is 2.3 miles from the Campus. Yes, it's an ageing facility, but it's more than adequate and the location isn't so much worse than an OCS that you'd want to drop hundreds of millions replacing it with something 2 miles down the road. As others have noted, Memphis' issues are largely unrelated to the Stadium.

What would an on-campus stadium give Memphis? Would it improve their attendance? More important, would it increase their revenues? If more students were to attend their games, would they sell more tickets or just have more seats filled with no additional revenue and probably a lot of debt service for many years into the future? Spend your money on something else.

At the risk of cutting my own school's throat, I am going to answer that question.

Here's what an on-campus stadium would give The University of Memphis:

- Higher ticket prices. The current stadium is 55,000 seats. We need a 35-40K seat facility to drive ticket prices. The city needs a larger stadium to support the Liberty Bowl game and the Southern Heritage Classic. The hotel and restaurant revenue from out-of-towners attending these games is in the millions. This is one reason the city opposes an on-campus stadium.

- Secondary Revenue - The city owns the current stadium. Money from parking, concessions, suite sales, signage advertising, naming rights, and all non-football events goes to the city. The university gets a cut of some of these for our game days, but not all of them. That's a lot of money, and it's one reason they city has never supported on-campus facilities for the university.

- Jobs The city controls the employment for stadium workers from groundskeepers to parking attendants and all points in between. This is used as a political tool for local politicians to reward their supporters with some extra cash working various stadium jobs (or perhaps being paid for them when they didn't actually work). Other schools hire students to do a lot of these jobs or use them to supplement the income of other school employees. Contracts or stadium services and repairs also fall into the same political arena. Another reason the city doesn't support an on-campus stadium.

- Political Advantage The University can bring the Governor or other state officials to a suite to see a game and those people will never place their feet on the campus. The city owns their own suites as well, and influential figures will find their way into the city's clutches even at a Tiger game. Control of the suites and having them on the campus would increase dignitaries time on the campus dramatically as it is now essentially none. Keep in mind men's basketball is played downtown at the FedExForum. We need those players on campus to see what needs to be done. Perhaps another reason the city doesn't support an on-campus stadium?

- Miscellaneous
High school students attending games never see the campus.

TV coverage never shows the campus.

Restaurants and retailers supporting the school would benefit greatly from the additional business. (There is virtually nothing around the current stadium).

Alumni attending games remain detached from their campus, schools, departments, and faculty. Alumni giving is low.


I could go on some more, but by now you should get it. The University of Memphis is a state school - not a city school. The city has numerous interests in owning and controlling the football stadium, but without the university as a tenant, it would be difficult to justify. Since they own the stadium, the city reaps the vast majority of the benefits of ownership. That's where we have been for 100 years, and it is not going to change for another 25 to 50 years. The city has secured funding for major upgrades to the stadium. Memphis' plight will continue for a few more decades at least.

Building a smaller stadium so Memphis can raise ticket prices seems like a Bizzaro World idea to me. Do Memphis fans want to pay much higher prices for their tickets?

(02-01-2023 05:42 PM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 11:02 AM)Claw Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 07:51 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 01:44 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just mapped it out, the Liberty Bowl is 2.3 miles from the Campus. Yes, it's an ageing facility, but it's more than adequate and the location isn't so much worse than an OCS that you'd want to drop hundreds of millions replacing it with something 2 miles down the road. As others have noted, Memphis' issues are largely unrelated to the Stadium.

What would an on-campus stadium give Memphis? Would it improve their attendance? More important, would it increase their revenues? If more students were to attend their games, would they sell more tickets or just have more seats filled with no additional revenue and probably a lot of debt service for many years into the future? Spend your money on something else.

At the risk of cutting my own school's throat, I am going to answer that question.

Here's what an on-campus stadium would give The University of Memphis:

- Higher ticket prices. The current stadium is 55,000 seats. We need a 35-40K seat facility to drive ticket prices. The city needs a larger stadium to support the Liberty Bowl game and the Southern Heritage Classic. The hotel and restaurant revenue from out-of-towners attending these games is in the millions. This is one reason the city opposes an on-campus stadium.

- Secondary Revenue - The city owns the current stadium. Money from parking, concessions, suite sales, signage advertising, naming rights, and all non-football events goes to the city. The university gets a cut of some of these for our game days, but not all of them. That's a lot of money, and it's one reason they city has never supported on-campus facilities for the university.

- Jobs The city controls the employment for stadium workers from groundskeepers to parking attendants and all points in between. This is used as a political tool for local politicians to reward their supporters with some extra cash working various stadium jobs (or perhaps being paid for them when they didn't actually work). Other schools hire students to do a lot of these jobs or use them to supplement the income of other school employees. Contracts or stadium services and repairs also fall into the same political arena. Another reason the city doesn't support an on-campus stadium.

- Political Advantage The University can bring the Governor or other state officials to a suite to see a game and those people will never place their feet on the campus. The city owns their own suites as well, and influential figures will find their way into the city's clutches even at a Tiger game. Control of the suites and having them on the campus would increase dignitaries time on the campus dramatically as it is now essentially none. Keep in mind men's basketball is played downtown at the FedExForum. We need those players on campus to see what needs to be done. Perhaps another reason the city doesn't support an on-campus stadium?

- Miscellaneous
High school students attending games never see the campus.

TV coverage never shows the campus.

Restaurants and retailers supporting the school would benefit greatly from the additional business. (There is virtually nothing around the current stadium).

Alumni attending games remain detached from their campus, schools, departments, and faculty. Alumni giving is low.


I could go on some more, but by now you should get it. The University of Memphis is a state school - not a city school. The city has numerous interests in owning and controlling the football stadium, but without the university as a tenant, it would be difficult to justify. Since they own the stadium, the city reaps the vast majority of the benefits of ownership. That's where we have been for 100 years, and it is not going to change for another 25 to 50 years. The city has secured funding for major upgrades to the stadium. Memphis' plight will continue for a few more decades at least.

Building a smaller stadium so Memphis can raise ticket prices seems like a Bizzaro World idea to me. Do Memphis fans want to pay much higher prices for their tickets?

It's hard to sell season tickets to people who can walk up the day of the game and get a seat.

(02-01-2023 03:16 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-31-2023 07:27 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I have been a Memphis Tiger fan for about 50 years (my father was an athletics trainer for then-Memphis State College in the 1950s; at 91, he ranks among the oldest Memphis fans). Of all the Memphis fans posting on this board, you are one of the most classy and likeable, Alanda. Keep up the fine work repping our Tigers.

Haha. Thanks Bill. You too. I just try to respect and learn what I can from other people's views even if we see things differently. I believe that there's nothing wrong with saying I was wrong on something because I want accuracy over ego. And give support to my view the best I can without being all "I'm right. You're wrong. Deal with it."

(02-01-2023 03:46 PM)Poster Wrote:  

(01-31-2023 09:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 07:53 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 06:47 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-30-2023 04:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  The area surrounding USC is one of the worst parts of LA. But the neighborhood is not between USC and the stadium.

I'll use my sister (who lives in relative luxury in suburban Nashville), again, for a frame of reference — as she has interacted (the past two years) about five times with the campus and the general University Park and Vermont Square neighborhoods. The immediate areas surrounding the USC campus are actually pleasant and stable. They are not war zones hammered by poverty and crime. However, there are some areas not too far from the campus that are rough, specifically on the east side of Interstate 110. So I suppose it depends on how we geographically define "surrounding areas." But I get your point, bullet.

Its been quite a few years since I have been on the USC campus (decades), so maybe the immediate area has cleaned up a little. But the slums were right across the street from campus when I was there. But I do know Watts (younger posters look up the 1960s race riots in LA) is still bad even if USC may have pushed it back a couple blocks.

Using Google Maps, the northern segment of Watts is located at least three miles (and maybe four) from the southern segment of the USC campus. You might be thinking of South Central. But even that district, despite being perceived by outsiders as rough, offers nice pockets.

In general, and from what little I know, the most scary looking and dangerous districts in L.A. will not have the same intimidating feel as the those in, say, Philly, the Bronx and Chicago.

There’s no ghetto in NYC anymore. (Not even Harlem at this point.) And Los Angeles’ ghettoes are at least as bad as Philly’s or Chicago’s.


USC is a gated enclave that’s almost entirely separated from the surrounding neighborhood. For what I hear, Temple (which is also surrounded by a ghetto) isn’t quite as protected from its neighborhood as USC is.

The last time I was in Harlem (1991), the parts I saw were bustling, vibrant, diverse and safe. Taking a train and a bus, I visited the Bronx Zoo (outstanding) that summer and saw lots of both nice and rough areas of The Bronx. The girlfriend of one of my best friends is from The Bronx (I call her "The Bronx Bombshell") and she has said a good bit of the borough has gotten safer over the years. Good to hear.

And yes, USC is essentially gated, with the university offering (as I understand) security escorts for those students who live off campus. My nephew has enjoyed living in Trojan Village but he is moving off campus next academic year (to an apt).