Facilities

TMac1325

Hootyhoo Anyone that knows anything about college football could list off every CUSA school in their sleep.

2 true facts..

1..We won't be able the have decent ooc schedules in an 8300 seat stadium, and we would be the laughingstock of FBS if we tried..

2..In the few games that KSU has played that were "interesting", we have brought the fans. We put 18k at Truist Park when we played Jax State there. When we played Ga State in Atlanta it was their biggest home attendance ever because we brought about 12k, because the KSU fanbase was interested in that game. We sold more tickets to the Ga Tech game than any road opponent on Techs schedule with the exception of UGA.. KSU has tons of alumni around Atlanta, and when KSU plays anyone that is notable, they turn out..

JJOHN368

TMac1325 Very good points! You bring the interest and a desirable venue, the people will show up. The current scheduling and state of 5/3, is not going to cut it.

TMac1325

JJOHN368 I actually think all this talk is a mute point anyway. KSU made the commitment to CUSA to get our stadium up to par for the conference. SHSU had to make the same promise. JSU had to commit to refreshing their old beat down stadium. Our commitment was to get to at least 15k. And that's not an enormous monetary amount. 1500 to 2000 seats in the open north end zone . 2000-2500 seats in the new field level section that Overton said would be built. 500-800 seats closing the corner between the south end zone and the visiting side seats. I have been told we could gain an additional 2000 to 2500 seats by replacing the upper sections of stadium seating with bench seating. Just doing this gets us close to 16k.. That's all we would need until we are ready to proceed with the new stadium project.

jones682

Hootyhoo Georgia State is not a big name. The reason why P5 are playing state because they are in the Atlanta area. KSU can do the same if they expand or build a new stadium. Georgia State has not been good as a football program. We got to stop thinking of ourselves as a start up FCS team. Keep in mind that KSU has a higher budget then other C-USA teams.

OwlFan

jones682 what is our budget?

jones682

Do you think it is a wast of money to put money in a stadium expansion then put money in a new stadium?

chandler-wright

OwlFan I now head the painting up and when I try to recruit people I normally just get laughed out or yeah sounds cool then they never come to another football game again

chandler-wright

chandler-wright six state last year at 5/3 was big because they had its beaten fsu two weeks prior so it was big buzz

OwlFan

TMac1325 you're right. Some of the teams in CUSA of note have been ranked.

OwlFan

JJOHN368 you bring up very good points. I think also more students IMO would travel to these games like State, Southern, Jax State, and the like. Hell, we drew a great crowd when we went to JSU and beat them. If you remember correctly, the announcer said something along the lines of "KSU has won the crowd advantage with the noise tonight." That was a loud crowd, tons of students went to the game. I also think tons of students went because tbh there was so much animosity between us 2 at the time, still is lol. The old folks in Cobb County don't want the young folks taking over. The yellow gross seats need an upgrade, and I think FB needs their own stadium--not shared.

jones682

OwlFan our budget is 27M. LA Tech, JSU is 22M. SHSU is 16M. There was a study don online regard KSU moving to the FBS. It was done last year.

OwlFan

jones682 Interesting. You'd think we'd have way more. LA Tech has 12,000 students, JSU a hair below 10,000. SHSU has 20,000.

jones682

OwlFan it is on par with the rest of CUSA and the Sunbelt in other words KSU had no business in the Big South.

JJOHN368

OwlFan I think Jones brought this up in a blog once before. While everyone who are now the newer FBS teams 2015-present were starting and building, their programs, we were building up our internal infrastructure and academics. That is why financially, academically, and personnel wise, we are way ahead of the game, but the only areas that we are now having to play catchup on is, facilities (sports stadiums). It was a pretty interesting look on how we have gotten in the predicament that we are in now.

OwlFan

jones682 I still think it should be more with over 40,000 students....

The51stState

Hey everyone. This is my first post here. Looking forward to chatting with everyone and reading the back and forth here about facilities.

We as a university have to stop thinking small. Thinking small is whats hurt attendance currently. No one is looking to go out of their way to attend a game against a school they've just heard about for the first time when they see the schedule.

While we aren't filling the stadium now. NOT expanding it will prevent us from ever taking off. As it stands the size of the stadium is a bit embarrassing. We are moving to FBS and have to look like we're ready to play the part. Looking at Liberty alone, they are running circles around us facilities wise (they have plenty other issues). Also, Western Kentucky, MTSU, and Liberty fans will fill up half the stadium alone in its current form.

And to TMacs point. We really are never going to get anyone exciting to schedule us if we don't expand. I didn't push for FBS to play Toledo at home. Give us UCF, give us UNC, give us Navy or Army. And none of those schools will come to visit if we're playing in just a little 15,000 seat repurposed soccer stadium.

The stadium excites the fanbase and facilities excite athletes to commit to KSU. As it stands now, we have got to improve for both.

KingOwlLegacy

The51stState Welcome! Thanks for joining

bb_fan

Where you gonna get the $ for this large stadium y'all want to build?

TMac1325

bb_fan The same way every school that has ever built anything does..You fundraise, you find corporate sponsors, you lobby the county to help. I don't think KSU folks in general understand how ridiculously small an 8300 seat stadium is. West Georgia, Mercer, and Valdosta St play in larger stadiums. McEachern Highschool seats 12.5k..

The51stState

I would imagine finding $ was something that was discussed in front of the BOR, and I would imagine the school has a plan. Where they get it is above my pay grade. But I do know they need to find it. Every school has to fundraise, find sponsors, get donations somewhere. We have 43,000 students the value in corporate sponsorships alone can be huge. How willing is Cobb County to help? That can be huge. The naming rights and our agreement with 5/3rd last through 2023. Sell it to Wellstar for more. There are so many options which again are above my pay grade.

What I do know is the size of the stadium isn't great.

TMac1325

The51stState The question is..Do we spend money to get 5/3rds up to par, 20k-ish, which probably works for now, or do we just go for broke on the proposed 30k seat stadium plans for the old Brandsmart property..

Also, if we do expand 5/3rds with a field level section that Overton eluded to, is it still viable for soccer?

bb_fan

Cobb County took it up the azz from the Braves to the tune of $400 million. No way that ever happens again. Tim Lee, who kept all the negotiations a secret, was booted out of office for someone no one had ever heard of before at the next election. Asking Cobb County to contribute to another stadium is a waste of time.

TMac1325

bb_fan It was an intial disaster, but now Cobb County is getting drunk on tax revenues generated by Truist/Battery and it looks like a long-term grand slam. Having an MLB team in your backyard is a growth enhancer. Having a successful FBS football program would work much in the same way.

One thing we can probably expect in the next few years is getting a new Convocation Center. The State completely funded the new GSU arena and they are getting ready to build one at Southern. I imagine KSU will be among the next in the list..

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