49 years of Doyt Perry Stadium

[Falcon137]

Consulting firm Kent State hired, recommends Dix Stadium Renovations. "Tired and outdated."

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ent-state/" target="_blank

Interesting. I thought Dix Stadium was nice and in good shape when BG last played there in 2013. The setup is odd with the bleachers in 1 endzone and the high school sized stands on the one side.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ken ... QY.twitter" target="_blank

"There is a critical need for private donations to support athletics and capital sports projects because Kent State shouldn’t use institutional money and student fees for athletics, she said."

“That is not the right way to invest those funds,” Warren said. “You must have private support to really renovate Dix Stadium, MAC Center or other kinds of capital outlay.”

"160over90 is on campus trying to determine what makes Kent State unique as it develops a branding strategy for the school."

Did BG do something similar to this when they changed the logo? We've been discussing how to get more fans from the city of Bowling Green and Wood County. Figure out a way to become THE team to cheer from Findlay to Toledo.

[jpfalcon09]

Consulting firm Kent State hired, recommends Dix Stadium Renovations. "Tired and outdated."

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ent-state/" target="_blank

Interesting. I thought Dix Stadium was nice and in good shape when BG last played there in 2013. The setup is odd with the bleachers in 1 endzone and the high school sized stands on the one side.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ken ... QY.twitter" target="_blank

There is a critical need for private donations to support athletics and capital sports projects because Kent State shouldn’t use institutional money and student fees for athletics, she said.

“That is not the right way to invest those funds,” Warren said. “You must have private support to really renovate Dix Stadium, MAC Center or other kinds of capital outlay.”

Interesting. I saw on Twitter the other day that Akron is nearly $500 million in debt from InfoCision and other campus renovations. Looks like Kent wants to avoid that at all costs.

Also, if Dix is "tired and outdated" then what does that make the Doyt?

[Falcon137]

Consulting firm Kent State hired, recommends Dix Stadium Renovations. "Tired and outdated."

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ent-state/" target="_blank

Interesting. I thought Dix Stadium was nice and in good shape when BG last played there in 2013. The setup is odd with the bleachers in 1 endzone and the high school sized stands on the one side.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ken ... QY.twitter" target="_blank

There is a critical need for private donations to support athletics and capital sports projects because Kent State shouldn’t use institutional money and student fees for athletics, she said.

“That is not the right way to invest those funds,” Warren said. “You must have private support to really renovate Dix Stadium, MAC Center or other kinds of capital outlay.”

Interesting. I saw on Twitter the other day that Akron is nearly $500 million in debt from InfoCision and other campus renovations. Looks like Kent wants to avoid that at all costs.

Also, if Dix is "tired and outdated" then what does that make the Doyt?

The DDN ran an indepth article of debt for Ohio Public Universities

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/new ... 65b/nj83M/" target="_blank

Here is the current debt of Ohio MAC schools
Miami - $641,065,000
Akron - $487,101,792
BGSU - $147,100,000
Ohio - $332,549,000
Toledo - $332,549,000
Kent State - $506,455,000

O$U leads the charge with over 2.6 billion in debt. UC is second with over 1.2 billion.

[footballguy51]

Consulting firm Kent State hired, recommends Dix Stadium Renovations. "Tired and outdated."

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ent-state/" target="_blank

Interesting. I thought Dix Stadium was nice and in good shape when BG last played there in 2013. The setup is odd with the bleachers in 1 endzone and the high school sized stands on the one side.

http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ken ... QY.twitter" target="_blank

There is a critical need for private donations to support athletics and capital sports projects because Kent State shouldn’t use institutional money and student fees for athletics, she said.

“That is not the right way to invest those funds,” Warren said. “You must have private support to really renovate Dix Stadium, MAC Center or other kinds of capital outlay.”

Interesting. I saw on Twitter the other day that Akron is nearly $500 million in debt from InfoCision and other campus renovations. Looks like Kent wants to avoid that at all costs.

Also, if Dix is "tired and outdated" then what does that make the Doyt?

The DDN ran an indepth article of debt for Ohio Public Universities

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/new ... 65b/nj83M/" target="_blank

Here is the current debt of Ohio MAC schools
Miami - $641,065,000
Akron - $487,101,792
BGSU - $147,100,000
Ohio - $332,549,000
Toledo - $332,549,000
Kent State - $506,455,000

O$U leads the charge with over 2.6 billion in debt. UC is second with over 1.2 billion.

We are being intentional with our current debt levels. We do not take on additional debt without relieving ourselves of other debt. The other schools that are under huge amounts of debt are struggling financially more-so than we are.

[BGSU33]

I dislike Kent State's football stadium for the most part. Their main grandstand with the press box on it is decent and I like the renovations they did in their south end zone taking out the seats and building the videoboard tower and plaza. But the "grandstand" on the other side of the field is a piece of crap! They essentially have what should be endzone seating on their opposite sidelines. Look how short the seating is next time you are there, I think it only runs from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line and is about 1/3 the height of the main grandstand across the field. That large grandstand seating in their north end zone is like that because that actually used to be the sideline seating back in the day as they turned the playing field years ago. That is why that endzone section is so large and the other original grandstand was removed when they did the renovations. The whole stadium has such a mix-match feel to it and I don't like it overall. I like what we have currently better than what Kent State has even after their renovations. Now what Akron has on the other hand....

[MarkL]

I like Akron's new stadium also. We are 2-0 there.

[BGSU33]

I like Akron's new stadium also. We are 2-0 there.

I love, no, make that LOVE, Akron's stadium! I wish we could pick that thing up and set it smack dab on top of the Doyt. But I agree with you, I enjoy even more BG's record in it.

[mscarn]

Terry Bowden doesn't care if Akron is $1 billion in debt. His job is to win football games and a brand new stadium makes that job easier. Everything else is somebody else's problem.

I also love how some ridiculously named consulting group is trying to determine what makes Kent "unique" at the behest of their president. How about the fact that they haven't had winning football in decades despite being in the middle of one of the most fertile recruiting territories in America (and being great at nearly every other sport they sponsor)?

It sounds like they're looking for legitimate ways to enhance the national (or even regional) profile of their school yet rule out the possibility for athletics to do so in favor of a trendier, slicker marketing campaign. Want applications to go up? Want to positively "brand" them? Go undefeated in football for a season (or two or three).

[Falconfreak90]

Akron has a beautiful facility, as they should...after playing in the RB for decades. And yet they're lucky to average 8K a game.

[Falcon137]

We are being intentional with our current debt levels. We do not take on additional debt without relieving ourselves of other debt. The other schools that are under huge amounts of debt are struggling financially more-so than we are.

I am very happy to hear this.

In regards to Kent State....I think a rebranding and marketing effort could really wake up their fan base and athletics program. Their enrollment through all of their branches is over 45,000 students. They are less than 2 hours to Pittsburgh right outside of Akron and Cleveland and Kent is a great college town. I don't think it's money wasted.

[BGSU33]

While I don't like Kent State's football stadium or campus that much, I will say I really like what they did to part of downtown Kent. New restaurants and stores and even a hotel. Very nice job! It had really spruced up the town and I have never seen the kind of foot traffic and turnout of people like that ever before downtown. Not only are more people who live in Kent going to downtown Kent, it appears people from outside of Kent are now going there also. I also love the walking path that follows the river that you can catch right by the bridge downtown. Well done to those involved in these changes!

[MacGuy]

Colleges across the country are issuing bonds aplenty for facilities... it's the new bubble that will surely crash some college someplace when it bursts

And burst it will.

Colleges are going in debt to build these things because they cannot get enough tuition dollars to pay for it without the debt.

The tuition dollars they DO get are all coming from student loans because nobody can afford to pay for college without going into massive debt anymore.

At some point this generation of college kids struggling to find work after college are going to start defaulting on those massive student loans.

All true, but having said that, other schools are still managing to get facilities funded through means other than direct donor contributions and reaping the recruiting benefits that come with them. I'd rather get BG a new stadium than be the lone voice of principled opposition to the higher education debt bubble.

Which MAC schools are reaping recruiting benefits from new/renovated facilities?

[Critical Thinker]

Which MAC schools are reaping recruiting benefits from new/renovated facilities?

I heard a rumor that BG hockey had a recruiting problem before the most recent ice arena renovations; had something to do with the locker room, I think. Can anyone verify that?

(although that doesn't really answer MacGuy's question, since we're not a MAC school in hockey )

[BGFan]

Which MAC schools are reaping recruiting benefits from new/renovated facilities?

I heard a rumor that BG hockey had a recruiting problem before the most recent ice arena renovations; had something to do with the locker room, I think. Can anyone verify that?

(although that doesn't really answer MacGuy's question, since we're not a MAC school in hockey )

The primary reason that we had recruiting problems was because we had coaching problems. Did renovations help? A bit. But a good coach will solve a lot of issues in that area. If you haven't noticed, the more we've won, each recruiting class has become better. No team landed more freshmen on the last all conference rookie team than we did last year.

[mscarn]

Which MAC schools are reaping recruiting benefits from new/renovated facilities?

I heard a rumor that BG hockey had a recruiting problem before the most recent ice arena renovations; had something to do with the locker room, I think. Can anyone verify that?

(although that doesn't really answer MacGuy's question, since we're not a MAC school in hockey )

Good point about the new hockey locker rooms (which are tremendous). As far as who's benefitting from better facilities, pretty much all of 'em. Akron football gets ranked low by the recruiting sites every year because of Bowden's philosophy of taking transfers and riskier players but when Ianello got InfoCision Stadium he was cleaning up. That's why everyone has built or is in the process of building something: indoor facilities, recruiting lounges, meeting rooms, offices, etc. One of the only things you can get coaches to agree on is that better facilities make recruiting easier.

Doing something major with the Doyt will be Kingston's legacy here, even more important than individual coaching hires. The indoor facility, Sebo and Stroh came before he was here. The new baseball facility will be nice but football rules the roost and falling cinder blocks make this priority number one. I just hope he has the administrative support to get it done. The board should demand 5 plans to either renovate or replace the Doyt to review and vote on at the next meeting and get the process started already. Continued dithering is doing nothing but aiding our competitors.