PAC12 Scenario = Expansion

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

DFFH- yes, nice article. I was actually referring to selling the decision makers of other conferences on SMU. Obviously the mayor should be on our side as a move to a major conference would help the city as well.

Oh yeah - I totally get your point and agree.

It seems obvious to me someone at SMU was at least involved with the DMN op-ed which is more than anything we have seen in years so maybe (hopefully) it is a start.

[BUS]

For me... if you put Brad Cheves in charge of conference upgrade... it would happen and we would be happy.

2, There are BMD's still. I hear it took some time but we have a couple collectives. Smu can compete.

Win and we will be good.
Peace

[SMU Pom Mom]

You can see the conviction to build based on available seats (students). If you have a large enrollment and a small stadium you don't have the conviction or ability to go bigger. It is unsurprising to see the grouping at the bottom of this table and that they are getting picked last for the team.

I don't know where you got this list, but I can tell you some info is outdated. Last year UNLV upgraded from rickety, remote Sam Boyd Stadium (capacity 40K) to spectacular, indoor, right off the Strip Allegiant Stadium (capacity 65K). By your logic, that's a pretty major commitment to football, and yes, UNLV has been in some conversations, though not as much as SMU.

[Dukie]

You can see the conviction to build based on available seats (students). If you have a large enrollment and a small stadium you don't have the conviction or ability to go bigger. It is unsurprising to see the grouping at the bottom of this table and that they are getting picked last for the team.

I don't know where you got this list, but I can tell you some info is outdated. Last year UNLV upgraded from rickety, remote Sam Boyd Stadium (capacity 40K) to spectacular, indoor, right off the Strip Allegiant Stadium (capacity 65K). By your logic, that's a pretty major commitment to football, and yes, UNLV has been in some conversations, though not as much as SMU.

Well, not exactly; Allegiant is ΓÇ£UNLV’sΓÇ¥ stadium as much as Texas Stadium was ΓÇ£SMU’sΓÇ¥ stadium. Home to the Raiders and miles off-campus both lose a lot of points.

[SMU Pom Mom]

You can see the conviction to build based on available seats (students). If you have a large enrollment and a small stadium you don't have the conviction or ability to go bigger. It is unsurprising to see the grouping at the bottom of this table and that they are getting picked last for the team.

I don't know where you got this list, but I can tell you some info is outdated. Last year UNLV upgraded from rickety, remote Sam Boyd Stadium (capacity 40K) to spectacular, indoor, right off the Strip Allegiant Stadium (capacity 65K). By your logic, that's a pretty major commitment to football, and yes, UNLV has been in some conversations, though not as much as SMU.

Well, not exactly; Allegiant is ΓÇ£UNLV’sΓÇ¥ stadium as much as Texas Stadium was ΓÇ£SMU’sΓÇ¥ stadium. Home to the Raiders and miles off-campus both lose a lot of points.

I don't know anything about Texas Stadium, but as a taxpayer who contributed part of the $750 million in public money used to build the stadium on the condition that UNLV gets to play there, I firmly disagree. Also, the stadium is way closer to campus than the old one. Maybe a 10 minute shuttle ride. You can't build a stadium on an urban, landlocked campus--the land doesn't exist. This is as close as you can get. People here consider the location ideal.

Sorry if this sounds defensive, but we Las Vegas folks are always being misunderstood.

[Dukie]

Allegiant is ΓÇ£UNLV’sΓÇ¥ stadium as much as Texas Stadium was ΓÇ£SMU’sΓÇ¥ stadium. Home to the Raiders and miles off-campus both lose a lot of points.

I don't know anything about Texas Stadium, but as a taxpayer who contributed part of the $750 million in public money used to build the stadium on the condition that UNLV gets to play there, I firmly disagree. Also, the stadium is way closer to campus than the old one. Maybe a 10 minute shuttle ride. You can't build a stadium on an urban, landlocked campus--the land doesn't exist. This is as close as you can get. People here consider the location ideal.

Sorry if this sounds defensive, but we Las Vegas folks are always being misunderstood.

Oh no worries, love how passionate you are about your city. But unfortunately the points you raise are beside the point when conferences look at UNLV. Being the little brother in an NFL stadium hurts, and being off-campus hurts.

[SMUvet]

Pom Mom, I made the list and used the UNLV website. Maybe I referenced the wrong stadium (Sam Boyd)? Website could be out of date too. I collected the data as efficiently as i could as a fan on a workday.

Link: https://www.unlv.edu/maps/sbs#:~:text=T ... lled%20for).

[SMUvet]

I see what youre saying now. I think UNLV should be removed from the list. The stadium serves the pro team (Raiders) as well.

[SMUvet]

The problem with agreeing to keep the Allegiant stadium and juicing the capacity numbers is that it didn't require any conviction from the university to seek financing/fundraise. At least it doesn't appear that it did. it appears it was tax payer raised cash, which is more common for professional stadiums. In other words it doesn't appear the university had to underwrite any real risk.

[SMU Pom Mom]

Allegiant is ΓÇ£UNLV’sΓÇ¥ stadium as much as Texas Stadium was ΓÇ£SMU’sΓÇ¥ stadium. Home to the Raiders and miles off-campus both lose a lot of points.

I don't know anything about Texas Stadium, but as a taxpayer who contributed part of the $750 million in public money used to build the stadium on the condition that UNLV gets to play there, I firmly disagree. Also, the stadium is way closer to campus than the old one. Maybe a 10 minute shuttle ride. You can't build a stadium on an urban, landlocked campus--the land doesn't exist. This is as close as you can get. People here consider the location ideal.

Sorry if this sounds defensive, but we Las Vegas folks are always being misunderstood.

Oh no worries, love how passionate you are about your city. But unfortunately the points you raise are beside the point when conferences look at UNLV. Being the little brother in an NFL stadium hurts, and being off-campus hurts.

Love your passion, too, Dukie! <3 <3 <3.

Actually, what has always hurt us most is that we are Las Vegas. Sin City. It's kind of unbelievable we have an NFL team now when just a few years ago they wouldn't even allow a tourism ad during the Super Bowl because gambling. We are still considered untouchable by a lot of people, even though the mob days are long gone. UNLV isn't exactly Ivy League, either, although we have added a law school, med school, just got R1 research status, and finally got ranked, so things are looking up.

I do think the concerns you mention can go away if attendance climbs a little. I just looked it up and capacity for the lower tier is 27K, with average attendance 22.5K. If they can sell out regularly and maybe open up part of the upper tier, it would send a message,

[SMU Pom Mom]

The problem with agreeing to keep the Allegiant stadium and juicing the capacity numbers is that it didn't require any conviction from the university to seek financing/fundraise. At least it doesn't appear that it did. it appears it was tax payer raised cash, which is more common for professional stadiums. In other words it doesn't appear the university had to underwrite any real risk.

The stadium was built on UNLV land on a very prime location. Probably worth over $100 mil.

[SMUvet]

Totally get your point and don't want to take away from UNLV. It is a cool arrangement and seems like a good deal. It took some sweat to get it done. But as i previously said likely an anomaly and should be excluded from the dataset. Getting a little deep in the weeds now but if i assume a $100m PIK contribution to a ~$1.9b project (~5%) it doesn't really seem to meet the typical financial commitment associated for a collegiate facility. It is interesting that Allegiant is one of the most expensive stadiums ever built.

[gostangs]

DFFH- yes, nice article. I was actually referring to selling the decision makers of other conferences on SMU. Obviously the mayor should be on our side as a move to a major conference would help the city as well.

You are totally out of it apparently. We have several BOT up to their eyeballs on this - flying all over the country plus an extremely well connected consultant working this issue. May or may not be successful but it isn’t because we aren’t working it hard.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

We have several BOT up to their eyeballs on this - flying all over the country plus an extremely well connected consultant working this issue. May or may not be successful but it isn’t because we aren’t working it hard.

This is exciting!!!

[panhandle_pony]

Interest concept : https://theathletic.com/3426046/2022/07 ... all/?amp=1