(02-27-2013 02:51 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(02-27-2013 02:28 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  I guess I broke the news on the UNLV stadium, so here's another one for us. Jackson State of the SWAC is planning to build a 50,000 capacity dome to house their football and basketball teams, among the concerts and university events I presume. The project is planned to cost $200 million, funded by private donors, sponsorship sales, the Mississippi government, and the sale of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium (and surrounding land).

I don't see them wanting to move up to FBS, the SWAC is an athletic and cultural fit for them. If they do, then this is a step in that direction I suppose.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...ed-stadium

I cant imagine that this program would make such a large investment in athletics to continue playing at their current level. Why would they ever need a 50,000 seat stadium to play the teams that they currently play. It seems to me that they are looking to move up at some time in the future. That would be a first conclusion of anyone who is looking at this and being uninformed of their plans.

One of the posters on Anygivensaturday (the FCS messageboard), mentioned that moving up (to presumably the Sun Belt) would not be of interest to them. The SWAC is a group of schools linked by a shared cultural identity. The alumni from these schools want to play each other not necessarily the Sun Belt / CUSA teams in the region.

The SWAC is known for putting on 'Classics' that hold larger crowds. Maybe Jackson wants to host one. In 2011, the Magic City Classic (Alabama State vs Alabama A&M) had 66473. The top 5 classics were all north of 44,000 fans.

Right now, Jackson State plays in Veterans Memorial Stadium that holds 60,492. So this would actually be a smaller stadium.