Mark Gommesen

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/09/27/it-could-be-worse-you-could-be-an-smu-fan/

Me too!

What a mess.

Here it is. The Big 12 only has ten teams Big 12 expands to 12. Florida State and Virginia Tech will leave the ACC for Big 12 The ACC adds two orphans from the Big East. The Big East grabs two more teams from the C-USA. The remaining C-USA teams merge with the MWC. You heard it here first. .

With the obvious exception of UTEP, why would any other C-USA school even consider the MWC? I think a merger between the C-USA and the MWC is more likely.

Here is some wild speculation. The Big East new television contract does not provide the revenues that Houston and SMU areexpecting as a provision to move to the Big East. SMU and Houston choose to remain in the C-USA.

Does a MWC merger with C-USA make since again? Especially, if SDSU and Boise State stay committed to the not-so-Big East.

1. UTSA is located in San Antonio having games at the Alamodome does not help to market their program to greater San Antonio. Having games at the AlamoDoMe does not bring visitors or alumni to the campus. 2. With the Spurs leaving the AlamoDoME and the building of the AT&T Center, there no major professional sports franchises that play at the AlamoDoMe. The AT&T Center and the Alamodome actually compete for events. 3. A Bowl Game once a year and a final four tournament every four years is not enough to support a major sports arena. 4. An empty sports arena benefits no one and costs everyone. 5/6. UTSA receieves no revenue from concessions, parking or permanent advertising or promotions. UTSA has share revenue on suites. UTSA has to pay almost 40k a game to used the Dome and pay ticket fees on sales greater than 20000.. UTSA students pay a sports fee just like UNT students. Unlike UTSA, UNT buyenefits from all the revenues their stadium generates. Yes impressive first game attendance, of course attendance dropped throughout the season by 50%. Once UTSA plays FBS level competition and has several losing seasons, let's compare attendance.

But wait.. isn't the Alamodome twenty miles away from UTSA? I mean, completely across town. I guess there is plenty of parking on campus during games...that's a plus. Along with placating the San Antonio Spurs ownership's demands for a larger basketball venue, the multi-purpose facility was intended to increase the city's convention traffic and attract a professional football franchise which has not occurred. The Spurs played basketball in the Alamodome for a decade, then became disenchanted with the facility and convinced Bexar County to construct a new arena for them now called the AT&T Center at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc Visiting the Alamodome is interesting. It used to the the home of the Spurs, but now sits empty most of the time, a tribute to poor urban planning. It is located in the heart of the city, but lacks adequate parking, forget about tailgating.http://www.utsatailg...g-damn-straight There are approximately only 2,100 on-site parking spaces and 12,000 parking spaces within a mile walking distance to the dome. Eventually, the dome will likely be torn down, as the occasional concert and football game can't cover the costs of keeping it running. The city is currently exploring selling the naming rights to the Alamodome in an attempt to offset rising costs. UTSA's five contract with the city is a real stinker for the Roadrunners. This agreement is expected to generate approximately $40k-$130k per game in City revenue based on estimated attendance of 5k-30k per game. UTSA will reimburse the City for event staffing and other costs estimated at $25k-$37k per game, based on estimated attendance of 5k-30k. In addition, the City will retain the following revenue: 1. $1.00 ticket fee on incremental tickets sold in excess of 20k per game (not including student tickets) 2. All concessions and catering commissions, including beer sales commissions 3. All sales of parking at $10.00 per car 4. City and UTSA to share equally in suite rental on 10 suites sold by either party.

But it's still cheaper than therapy.

Our prayers and thoughts

http://denton-tx.gra...d=3&clip_id=583 http://rodenfordento...vention-center/

Hopefully, in future, C-USA may chose a tourney site that will increase the exposure of the conference. I like .San Antonio.

UNT is not subsiding the convention center. UNT is leasing the land and generating revenue. With the convention the city will have vested interested in the University especially in the area near Apogee. The University will be one the entities that will uses the convention center, why would you not want the convention center on campus? The convention center will allow the University to leverage its facilities and resources. This project will increase the University's visibility. "The xyz convention at the University of North Texas." THIS A BIG WIN FOR THE UNIVERSITY.

I agree Harry, with is size he could cause a lot of havoc in the middle of line and take up a lot of space similar to a Nose tackle. This may allow more flexibility in using your defensive ends especially if you have good speed at defensive end.

Thanks Gray, Clarification , in football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools) and Division I-AA;these were renamed "Football Bowl Subdivision" and "Football Championship Subdivision" in 2006. NCAA does not use the terms "major" and "mid-major" to differentiate between Division I athletics conferences. Division I contains 346 institutions. So what is a mid major?

NCAA does not use the terms "major" and "mid-major" to differentiate between Division I athletics conferences. Calling a conference a mid-major is like calling someone a short-tall person. But, what would you expect from a minor-major sports outlet like the Bleacher Report. This is no minor league in the NCAA Division 1.

Wow, If you read about this kid's background, he may qualify for a hardship exemption.

Hunter,Excellent point! If you look what other suburbs including Frisco, Grapevine, etc. have achieved, it is frustrating to see where Denton stands in the scheme of things. With two major universities, rail mass transit, the convergence of two major major interstate highways, Denton should be the cultural and intellectual center of the metroplex. Denton is the gateway to metroplex from the north, yet Denton does not offer anything to encourage people to stop and explore. Denton, has so much potential. This why an outside developer is willing to invest $85 million on a major hotel/restaurant complex.

The hotel/convention center will have amenities for a convention that are simply not available on campus. If anyone has attended an out of town convention will appreciate the convenience of a hotel, a restaurant, and a lounge connected to the convention center.

Maybe just a little. This is probably not the most compelling argument. But, it is true that UNT has schedule conventions and events outside of Denton due to a lack of adequate facilities. I think we both agree that this project will be a big economic boost. I also believe that building the convention center can be a first step in increasing the needed cooperation between the City and the University. Building a convention center at the proposed location will result in the city having a vested interest in the streets, facilities and traffic flow near UNT sport venues and facilties on the west side of I-35.

You are looking out the window on a Tuesday seeing that is raining and concluding that the picnic on Saturday has to be cancelled. The debt service is to be paid by FUTURE revenues. First if a developer builds a new 12 story, 300 room state of the art hotel it will generate a substantial increase in hotel revenues.. Second Denton is one of the fastest growing areas in the country again hotel tax revenues will increase. Third, the convention center will generate an increase hotel taxes from all the hotels n the city. Fifth will UNT and TWU continuing to grow resulting in an increase in hotel taxes. With UNT moving to the C-USA, there will be an increase in sports tourism that will increase hotel taxes. Sixth, the convention center itself is a revenue generator. The convention center generates rent income. Denton is located perfectly for DFW regional convention activity. If you were to examine the current expenditure of 1.2 million, you would realize that much of that is directed to developing future projects to encourage tourism and economic activity including a convention center. Although, the total cost of this project is $85 million only a small portion of this project is the convention center. The twelve story hotel/restaurant will be financed by the O'rielly family. We're not talking about a huge amount of debt to be financed by the city. UNT gains lease revenues and use of the convention center. The Hotel and Conference Center project will be a great revenue generator for the city of Denton. Many university meetings and events must be shuffled to other metroplex cities because Denton has no comparable hotel and meeting facilities. The new convention center will result in a huge cost savings for University meetings and events and provide new revenue opportunities for the University and the City. It is extremely shortsighted not to realize the business that will "trickle down" to all merchants and service businesses in Denton. This is not to mention the boost to sales tax revenue. Any passed on costs will be far exceeded by the expansion of business that this project brings. This a project that has joint participation with the city of Denton and UNT. The City will have a vested interest in the area west of I-35 on and near the UNT campus. The City of Denton will have to widen bridges and access roads to Apogee and the west campus facilities as economic activity expands. The Hotel and Conference center project will result in other businesses locating near to the convention center and UNT sports venues.

UNT will lease the property to an outside concern. As such, it will not technically be part of the campus. The lessee will establish the "smoking policy." Many public facilities including convention centers prohibit outdoor smoking.

Really Doug Flutie.

Yes, there will be the need to issue construction bonds to finance this project. However, the final cost of the construction center has not been determined. The goal is to have the convention center be self funded, that is, to have future increase in hotel/motel taxes as result of increase in hotel usage and convention center rentals, etc to repay the bonds. This model that has been successfully used by any communities. I haven't seen an estimate for the cost for the convention center, itself. Remember, plans have not yet been finalized. Any construction project has finance charges associated with it, ask Donald Trump. Again, until a more specific proposal is made as to the cost of the proposal and financing, this all speculation. The City's contribution to this project is relatively minor compared to the contribution made by private investors. UNT is exposure is almost not existent. UNT will lease the land for the project. The city is not financing the hotel, the restaurant or the land.