They Can Do It But We Can't?

GoPurpleAces.com

They say we can't do it. As of today, they have spent zero minutes and zero hours trying to do it. Yet at the same time, there's already another group doing it.

What is "it" that I am referring to? That would be the ability to raise private funds in order to construct/renovate a sports facility. I have long said that selling naming rights to the four gates at Roberts Stadium as well as the plazas, pavilions, and concourses would raise the vast majority of the funds we need to renovate Roberts Stadium. If we couple those naming rights with the selling of bricks and the old Ace's court, we could put together a financing plan that would rely very little on public funds while renovating a facility that would pay enormous benefits to our city.

Like always, we have town naysayers coming out against the idea claiming it has never worked and it never will work. Ironically enough, it does work and it's working just a handful of blocks from Roberts Stadium.

The organization I am referring to is the Evansville Aces who have already privately raised 80% of the $3.3 million needed to construct a new practice facility...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/mar/14/no-headline---ev_ueplan/?preventMobileRedirect=1

First of all, for those who have contacted me asking for my opinion, I do not believe that the Aces should have considered using Roberts Stadium as their practice facility. The design layout, the campus arrangement in regards to Roberts Stadium, and the overall size of the facility just don't make sense for either Roberts Stadium or the Aces. I am glad to see the Aces building a new practice facility on campus although I wish the renderings looked better.

The most important part of the C&P article above is the following line...

"The building is being funded through donations, and university officials said about 80 percent of the cost has been raised."

Although a lot of the funds that were raised are donations with no strings attached, a lot of the funds were also business deals such as 5/3rd buying the naming rights to the facility. These type of fundraisers have been the backbone for college athletics for many years now.

When I was at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the UKAA sold 1,000 bricks for $1,000 each to obtain the final funds needed to build their practice facility (those bricks alone would pay for most of our renovations)...

http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/kfund/spec-rel/brick.html

There have also been several other teams who have done this type of fundraising...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-make-funding-personal.html

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/selling-secondary-naming-rights-can.html

As we size up a renovated Roberts Stadium against a new Ace's practice facility, there are several similarities and several differences we must take into account...

1. The Aces have an advantage over us in the sense that UE has a fan base they can go to for fundraisers. We do not have a specific fan base given that we are working with just a building and not a team.

2. Although 5/3rd purchased naming rights for the whole entire Ace's practice facility, our gates would be worth more as they will bring in much more foot traffic to Roberts Stadium events as well as non-events such as those using the facility as a Greenway indoor trail hub.

3. We also have the advantage of history on our side. Not only can we market to the same Aces fans that donated to the practice facility, we can also market to the residents of Evansville and surrounding counties who have enjoyed Roberts Stadium for nearly 56 years. Our product has already proven itself in the Evansville market.

4. Our gates will provide our sponsors with an adequate amount of room to market their products to customers coming into the facility. With the Ace's practice facility there will be no room to market. Also, those who purchase bricks will have their names seen frequently by guests of Roberts Stadium.

5. We have more areas we can sell. If we correct the street that goes from Swonder to Roberts, we can sell naming rights to it. We can also sell naming rights to the two main concourses at Roberts as well as any pavilion we build outside the building (including a green space in the back lot) as well as the four gates I have already discussed.

The main point that our city leaders need to gather from this concept is that they MUST be willing to give an effort for this work. If our city is willing to market Roberts Stadium effectively instead of running its name through the mud at every chance they get, our city residents will step up financially for this facility.

Not only are the Aces building a new practice facility, they also have plans to renovate their armory which was the home to Aces Basketball BEFORE Roberts Stadium...

Photo Credit: University of Evansville

Wouldn't it be nice if our city committed to doing things the way our universities do? Wouldn't it be nice if our city was committed to raising private funds for new facilities like a basketball practice facility while working on additional funding for our historical facilities like the old armory?


If they can do it, WHY CAN'T OUR CITY LEADERS DO THE SAME?