University Of Phoenix Stadium?

[SilverEagle]

How is it that a (mostly on-line) University with no football team built such a fabulous stadium.

http://www.universityofphoenixstadium.com/

From the stadium website

Stadium History

The University of Phoenix Stadium, with its retractable roof and field, is unlike any other stadium in North America, and a marvel of design, engineering, and technology. This multi-purpose facility is located in Glendale, Arizona.

The primary tenants in the stadium include the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The 63,400-seat stadium (expandable to 73,000) opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The ceremonial groundbreaking was held on April 12, 2003.

The first preseason football game was played August 12, 2006 when the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-13. The first regular season game was played September 10, 2006 against the San Francisco 49ers.

The stadium hosted the highest attended soccer match in the state of Arizona on February 7, 2007 when 62,462 fans watched the U.S. National team defeat Mexico, 2-0.

The multipurpose nature of the facility has allowed it to host 91 events representing 110 event days between the dates of Aug. 4, 2006 through the BCS National Championship on January 8, 2007. These events included Arizona Cardinals games; public grand opening tours held August 19 & 20, 2006 (attended by 120,000 people); various shows, expositions, tradeshows and motorsport events; the Rolling Stones concert November 8, 2006; the AIA 4A and 5A state championship games for; an international soccer exhibition match; the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championships; the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2007; and the BCS National Championship January 8, 2007.

[TheTastyGreek]

How is it that a (mostly on-line) University with no football team built such a fabulous stadium.

On the chance that this was a serious question (we've had a lot of "their stadium is better than ours!" jokes on GMG in regards to them)...

The University of Phoenix doesn't own, operate, or in any way oversee the stadium that bears their name. It's a municipal stadium (more than 2/3rds of the total cost was paid by the state of Arizona, with an additional $10 million from the city of Glendale) and legal ownership belongs to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

The place is run by Global Spectrum, a facilities management company that handles a long list of various entertainment venues. You can read more about what they do and how they do it here. Of interest to North Texas fans: Global Spectrum has management or consulting deals with several college athletic facilities. Most notable (given the fancy new stadium forever on our horizon) is UCF's new football stadium. The others are with Miami, St. Louis, Ohio State, Old Dominion, Temple, UMass, Rhode Island, and two venues for South Carolina.

Basically, their business is to handle venue management and daily operations as a way for non-corporate owners to run a venue with productivity similar to a private facility. For publicly owned stadiums/convention centers/theaters, it's a way to squeeze as much as possible out of the building. The municipality/public trust/university pays Global Spectrum a fee, and Global Spectrum (or one of the other firms in this industry) assumes managerial control and responsibility for the site. Instead of having the fancy building run by inexperienced and generally incompetent local government officials, the folks who run the day-to-day are (theoretically) experienced and talented professionals. The ownership entity still sets budgets and so forth, but short term tactical decisions and long term strategic planning are handled by the management company.

Why does private vs. public operations management matter? Well, consider this: The Cotton Bowl, built in 1932, is owned by the City of Dallas and managed directly by the city. It's a decrepit embarrassment, horribly out of date and, at this point, essentially irredeemable. Meanwhile, the City of Pasadena has a quasi-private division called the Rose Bowl Operating Company that manages the stadium and a golf course. They don't operate to make a profit, and the not-really-private management model has it's drawbacks. But it works better than the Cotton Bowl's management has... Even though the Rose Bowl isn't thoroughly modernized, it certainly is well maintained and their leases run through 2023. Even though the Rose Bowl is a decade older than the Cotton Bowl, better oversight and management has allowed Pasadena's stadium to thrive compared to Dallas. And the Rose Bowl will still be running on its centennial. Even with the recent remodeling, I doubt the current Cotton Bowl will still be standing in 2032.

Point being, private management theoretically keeps a facility working as efficiently as possible and as productively as possible. Whatever gets spent on the management contract should (assuming the contract is decent and the management doesn't half-ass the job) be recouped (and much more) through lowered costs and increased revenues.

More corporate fun facts: Global Spectrum is primarily owned by Comcast's Comcast-Spectacor division, a many-tentacled sports management hydra. Facility management/operations, concessions, ticketing, marketing and branding, uniforms... Comcast-Spectacor has their snout in every imaginable subsector of monetizeable sports.

If stuff like this doesn't become relevant to us within the next year or two... Be afraid. Be very afraid.

ANYWAY... The point was that U of Phoenix is nothing but a corporate sponsor. They pay $150 million or so, and they get their name on that fancy desert terrarium for 20 years. Every Sunday (or rare Monday), they get statewide or national exposure thanks to NFL broadcasts. When it's BCS season, they get Fiesta Bowl and sometimes national championship screen time across the whole country.

But they don't have anything more to do with AZSTA's stadium than American Airlines did with the one that Cuban and Hicks own.

(I hope you people missed me at least a little bit while I was gone.)

[SilverEagle]

On the chance that this was a serious question (we've had a lot of "their stadium is better than ours!" jokes on GMG in regards to them)...

The University of Phoenix doesn't own, operate, or in any way oversee the stadium that bears their name. It's a municipal stadium (more than 2/3rds of the total cost was paid by the state of Arizona, with an additional $10 million from the city of Glendale) and legal ownership belongs to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

The place is run by Global Spectrum, a facilities management company that handles a long list of various entertainment venues. You can read more about what they do and how they do it here. Of interest to North Texas fans: Global Spectrum has management or consulting deals with several college athletic facilities. Most notable (given the fancy new stadium forever on our horizon) is UCF's new football stadium. The others are with Miami, St. Louis, Ohio State, Old Dominion, Temple, UMass, Rhode Island, and two venues for South Carolina.

Basically, their business is to handle venue management and daily operations as a way for non-corporate owners to run a venue with productivity similar to a private facility. For publicly owned stadiums/convention centers/theaters, it's a way to squeeze as much as possible out of the building. The municipality/public trust/university pays Global Spectrum a fee, and Global Spectrum (or one of the other firms in this industry) assumes managerial control and responsibility for the site. Instead of having the fancy building run by inexperienced and generally incompetent local government officials, the folks who run the day-to-day are (theoretically) experienced and talented professionals. The ownership entity still sets budgets and so forth, but short term tactical decisions and long term strategic planning are handled by the management company.

Why does private vs. public operations management matter? Well, consider this: The Cotton Bowl, built in 1932, is owned by the City of Dallas and managed directly by the city. It's a decrepit embarrassment, horribly out of date and, at this point, essentially irredeemable. Meanwhile, the City of Pasadena has a quasi-private division called the Rose Bowl Operating Company that manages the stadium and a golf course. They don't operate to make a profit, and the not-really-private management model has it's drawbacks. But it works better than the Cotton Bowl's management has... Even though the Rose Bowl isn't thoroughly modernized, it certainly is well maintained and their leases run through 2023. Even though the Rose Bowl is a decade older than the Cotton Bowl, better oversight and management has allowed Pasadena's stadium to thrive compared to Dallas. And the Rose Bowl will still be running on its centennial. Even with the recent remodeling, I doubt the current Cotton Bowl will still be standing in 2032.

Point being, private management theoretically keeps a facility working as efficiently as possible and as productively as possible. Whatever gets spent on the management contract should (assuming the contract is decent and the management doesn't half-ass the job) be recouped (and much more) through lowered costs and increased revenues.

More corporate fun facts: Global Spectrum is primarily owned by Comcast's Comcast-Spectacor division, a many-tentacled sports management hydra. Facility management/operations, concessions, ticketing, marketing and branding, uniforms... Comcast-Spectacor has their snout in every imaginable subsector of monetizeable sports.

If stuff like this doesn't become relevant to us within the next year or two... Be afraid. Be very afraid.

ANYWAY... The point was that U of Phoenix is nothing but a corporate sponsor. They pay $150 million or so, and they get their name on that fancy desert terrarium for 20 years. Every Sunday (or rare Monday), they get statewide or national exposure thanks to NFL broadcasts. When it's BCS season, they get Fiesta Bowl and sometimes national championship screen time across the whole country.

But they don't have anything more to do with AZSTA's stadium than American Airlines did with the one that Cuban and Hicks own.

(I hope you people missed me at least a little bit while I was gone.)

Yes, this was a serious question, and I very much appreciate the serious answer.

$150 mil, for the University to put it's name on the stadium? Damn! That works out to $7.5 mil a year just for advertising.

And yes, I missed you.

[Ibleedgreen]

This speaks to the number of individuals who are willing to pay tuition to an outfit with a poor academic reputation, just because it's all online. Their advertising is misleading, too, because it suggests a degree will produce a job. Most employers would rather hire anyone with a degree from a more reputable institution.

[UNTflyer]

Univ of Phoenix is not a real school, it's a corporation. Whenever I get a resume with "University of Phoenix" under education, it goes straight to my special file tray:

[LoveMG]

That works out to $7.5 mil a year just for advertising.

but look at all the national advertising they have achieved for that 7.5 million. if unt could name the new cowboys stadium for 7.5 mil per year that would be fantastic advertising.

[LoveMG]

Univ of Phoenix is not a real school, it's a corporation. Whenever I get a resume with "University of Phoenix" under education, it goes straight to my special file tray:

bogus i agree, unfortunately many kids today want the quick and easy online degree.

beware, stebo will be posting shortly to refute all negatives about them as he recruits for phoenix.

Edited January 17, 2009 by LoveMG

[UNTflyer]

but look at all the national advertising they have achieved for that 7.5 million. if unt could name the new cowboys stadium for 7.5 mil per year that would be fantastic advertising.

We don't have $7.5 million a year to put our name on a stadium, and I'm not exactly certain of the legality of such a deal. Not to mention, I think it's funny to discuss sponsoring a stadium when we are begging for donations to build our own.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Univ of Phoenix is not a real school, it's a corporation. Whenever I get a resume with "University of Phoenix" under education, it goes straight to my special file tray:

-- I fully agree with you.. Wish more thought the same way. I don't even like online classes in most subjects. They just aren't the same as being in a classroom and hearing questions and interactions from students etc. So much besides the straight text material is covered and related to similiar items.

[MeanGreenZen]

-- I fully agree with you.. Wish more thought the same way. I don't even like online classes in most subjects. They just aren't the same as being in a classroom and hearing questions and interactions from students etc. So much besides the straight text material is covered and related to similiar items.

DISAGREE about the U of Phoenix. It is a great option for non-traditional students who are seeking to improve their lives.

[Travis]

DISAGREE about the U of Phoenix. It is a great option for non-traditional students who are seeking to improve their lives.

My thoughts exactly. Most students that attend UoP aren't kids, at least of the traditional student type.

I am of the understanding that they are now starting to have campus' around the country too.

[stebo]

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions about the school. We started off as a ground campus school in a garage in California - specifically for working adults. back in the 70's, there were no such things as night classes or adult education programs... about the best that a working man could do was put his wife to work and go back to school full time. Sure, there were correspondence courses out there... and there were some night schools and classes, but you definitely couldn't get a whole degree. Our learning module is different than the traditional school - it is set up much like a real office, you work on teams and also have individual work. It is about 50/50. California nor its region of accreditation for higher learning would not give UOP accreditation. Phoenix and the North Central Association did - thus the move to Phoenix and the new name. Our founder was a hippy and believed in trying new things and changing the world... we were the first on the net.

Now come the incorrect assumptions - the education is a joke... that is just flat out wrong. In the Dallas area, we have about 7000 students attending our 4 campuses... about half go online and the other half go to campus. Yes, we have campus classes right here in Dallas, Las Colinas, Plano, and Arlington - soon to be in Mid Cities as well as Cedar Hill. I do not recruit for the school anymore, I did that for about a year before moving into an administrative position... but I have taken classes. I didn't finish my Masters yet - why? it was too freaking hard. Can you cheat? Sure - but you can cheat in any learning environment. North Texas has online classes... so does UT.. so does UOP. Guess who they rent their software from? That's right - UOP. We rent the software to them to help control the price of online classes and because our online module is certified by the Department of Education. So if the same classes are coming out of UT, UNT, and UOP, all offered in the same learning module - why are the ones from UOP a joke? Especially when we are the ones that developed it?

I don't know - there is no easy way to get a degree. I know that Fortune 500 companies pay for their employees to go to school at UOP, the employee never pays a bill. We are not cheap, for an online student in an undergrad program, a typical student is on the hook for about $14K a year. There are no short cuts, it takes 4-5 years at UOP just like any other school. About the only thing different is that our students only take one class at a time over a 6 week period and then when they are done, they get their grade and move on to the next. Since the classes are only 6 weeks long, they can still go full time by just not taking any breaks. Our students were in class on Thanksgiving. They will be there on Easter. We only shut down during Christmas, otherwise it is a year round school. It is kind of like taking summer school over and over and over again.

If you think it is a joke, I challenge you to take a class. I think that you will change your mind pretty quick. Is it Ivy League? No - but it is every bit as hard as the classes that I took at UNT if not more.

By the way - our stock is trading at over $82 bucks a share. When I started working there it was in the $40's. We have about 400,000 students (nationwide) and our goal is to hit a million. Our students are the largest group of financial aid recipients in the nation... In these tough times, most people are looking to go back to school or prepare to change careers by getting a Masters.. .business is good with most of higher learning and UOP is not an exception. I had many of the same thoughts that you all did about UOP before I started working there... and honestly, even after I started working there. It wasn't until that I started my Masters program that I started to defend their education. It is kind of like someone from SMU or UT telling me that my UNT education wasn't that hard - how would they know if they never went to school there? Just an ignorant statement made by "reputation" rather than proof. Our students on the average come in much lower (IQ) when they enter but graduate at close to and sometimes over the average/traditional university. There are tons of studies on it- we obviously use those studies to show companies like Verizon why they should spend $80K on their employee to get his/her Bachelors degree. Every single company that offers Tuition Reimbursement (that I know of) accepts UOP and happily pays for their employee to better their life... if the end result wasn't a positive one, I can assure you that we would be put on their list of "not acceptable" schools (like Everest or ATI).

Ok, off of my soap box now... and yes, we just sponsor the stadium

[UNT90]

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions about the school. We started off as a ground campus school in a garage in California - specifically for working adults. back in the 70's, there were no such things as night classes or adult education programs... about the best that a working man could do was put his wife to work and go back to school full time. Sure, there were correspondence courses out there... and there were some night schools and classes, but you definitely couldn't get a whole degree. Our learning module is different than the traditional school - it is set up much like a real office, you work on teams and also have individual work. It is about 50/50. California nor its region of accreditation for higher learning would not give UOP accreditation. Phoenix and the North Central Association did - thus the move to Phoenix and the new name. Our founder was a hippy and believed in trying new things and changing the world... we were the first on the net.

Now come the incorrect assumptions - the education is a joke... that is just flat out wrong. In the Dallas area, we have about 7000 students attending our 4 campuses... about half go online and the other half go to campus. Yes, we have campus classes right here in Dallas, Las Colinas, Plano, and Arlington - soon to be in Mid Cities as well as Cedar Hill. I do not recruit for the school anymore, I did that for about a year before moving into an administrative position... but I have taken classes. I didn't finish my Masters yet - why? it was too freaking hard. Can you cheat? Sure - but you can cheat in any learning environment. North Texas has online classes... so does UT.. so does UOP. Guess who they rent their software from? That's right - UOP. We rent the software to them to help control the price of online classes and because our online module is certified by the Department of Education. So if the same classes are coming out of UT, UNT, and UOP, all offered in the same learning module - why are the ones from UOP a joke? Especially when we are the ones that developed it?

I don't know - there is no easy way to get a degree. I know that Fortune 500 companies pay for their employees to go to school at UOP, the employee never pays a bill. We are not cheap, for an online student in an undergrad program, a typical student is on the hook for about $14K a year. There are no short cuts, it takes 4-5 years at UOP just like any other school. About the only thing different is that our students only take one class at a time over a 6 week period and then when they are done, they get their grade and move on to the next. Since the classes are only 6 weeks long, they can still go full time by just not taking any breaks. Our students were in class on Thanksgiving. They will be there on Easter. We only shut down during Christmas, otherwise it is a year round school. It is kind of like taking summer school over and over and over again.

If you think it is a joke, I challenge you to take a class. I think that you will change your mind pretty quick. Is it Ivy League? No - but it is every bit as hard as the classes that I took at UNT if not more.

By the way - our stock is trading at over $82 bucks a share. When I started working there it was in the $40's. We have about 400,000 students (nationwide) and our goal is to hit a million. Our students are the largest group of financial aid recipients in the nation... In these tough times, most people are looking to go back to school or prepare to change careers by getting a Masters.. .business is good with most of higher learning and UOP is not an exception. I had many of the same thoughts that you all did about UOP before I started working there... and honestly, even after I started working there. It wasn't until that I started my Masters program that I started to defend their education. It is kind of like someone from SMU or UT telling me that my UNT education wasn't that hard - how would they know if they never went to school there? Just an ignorant statement made by "reputation" rather than proof. Our students on the average come in much lower (IQ) when they enter but graduate at close to and sometimes over the average/traditional university. There are tons of studies on it- we obviously use those studies to show companies like Verizon why they should spend $80K on their employee to get his/her Bachelors degree. Every single company that offers Tuition Reimbursement (that I know of) accepts UOP and happily pays for their employee to better their life... if the end result wasn't a positive one, I can assure you that we would be put on their list of "not acceptable" schools (like Everest or ATI).

Ok, off of my soap box now... and yes, we just sponsor the stadium

All that is great, but how many 4 star recruits have y'all signed for the defensive line this year?

But semi-seriously, with an enrollment of 400,000 and a major stadium sponsorship that cost $150 mil, doesn't this undercut the argument that we must have recognized athletic success to increase the value of our degrees and to further promote the school?

And on the other hand, with 400,000 students, just think what kind of athletic program they would have if they could just get a $7 per semester hour athletic fee!!!

[NT80]

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions about the school. We started off as a ground campus school in a garage in California - specifically for working adults. back in the 70's, there were no such things as night classes or adult education programs... about the best that a working man could do was put his wife to work and go back to school full time. Sure, there were correspondence courses out there... and there were some night schools and classes, but you definitely couldn't get a whole degree. Our learning module is different than the traditional school - it is set up much like a real office, you work on teams and also have individual work. It is about 50/50. California nor its region of accreditation for higher learning would not give UOP accreditation. Phoenix and the North Central Association did - thus the move to Phoenix and the new name. Our founder was a hippy and believed in trying new things and changing the world... we were the first on the net.

Now come the incorrect assumptions - the education is a joke... that is just flat out wrong. In the Dallas area, we have about 7000 students attending our 4 campuses... about half go online and the other half go to campus. Yes, we have campus classes right here in Dallas, Las Colinas, Plano, and Arlington - soon to be in Mid Cities as well as Cedar Hill. I do not recruit for the school anymore, I did that for about a year before moving into an administrative position... but I have taken classes. I didn't finish my Masters yet - why? it was too freaking hard. Can you cheat? Sure - but you can cheat in any learning environment. North Texas has online classes... so does UT.. so does UOP. Guess who they rent their software from? That's right - UOP. We rent the software to them to help control the price of online classes and because our online module is certified by the Department of Education. So if the same classes are coming out of UT, UNT, and UOP, all offered in the same learning module - why are the ones from UOP a joke? Especially when we are the ones that developed it?

I don't know - there is no easy way to get a degree. I know that Fortune 500 companies pay for their employees to go to school at UOP, the employee never pays a bill. We are not cheap, for an online student in an undergrad program, a typical student is on the hook for about $14K a year. There are no short cuts, it takes 4-5 years at UOP just like any other school. About the only thing different is that our students only take one class at a time over a 6 week period and then when they are done, they get their grade and move on to the next. Since the classes are only 6 weeks long, they can still go full time by just not taking any breaks. Our students were in class on Thanksgiving. They will be there on Easter. We only shut down during Christmas, otherwise it is a year round school. It is kind of like taking summer school over and over and over again.

If you think it is a joke, I challenge you to take a class. I think that you will change your mind pretty quick. Is it Ivy League? No - but it is every bit as hard as the classes that I took at UNT if not more.

By the way - our stock is trading at over $82 bucks a share. When I started working there it was in the $40's. We have about 400,000 students (nationwide) and our goal is to hit a million. Our students are the largest group of financial aid recipients in the nation... In these tough times, most people are looking to go back to school or prepare to change careers by getting a Masters.. .business is good with most of higher learning and UOP is not an exception. I had many of the same thoughts that you all did about UOP before I started working there... and honestly, even after I started working there. It wasn't until that I started my Masters program that I started to defend their education. It is kind of like someone from SMU or UT telling me that my UNT education wasn't that hard - how would they know if they never went to school there? Just an ignorant statement made by "reputation" rather than proof. Our students on the average come in much lower (IQ) when they enter but graduate at close to and sometimes over the average/traditional university. There are tons of studies on it- we obviously use those studies to show companies like Verizon why they should spend $80K on their employee to get his/her Bachelors degree. Every single company that offers Tuition Reimbursement (that I know of) accepts UOP and happily pays for their employee to better their life... if the end result wasn't a positive one, I can assure you that we would be put on their list of "not acceptable" schools (like Everest or ATI).

Ok, off of my soap box now... and yes, we just sponsor the stadium

Nice in-depth detail about their programs. I guess it's fine for the older, working adults or continuing education types but I would still encourage any new, young student to go to a full time full-activity on-campus college. College to me is not so much about academics, although you do need that piece of paper. It is about maturing as a young person, finding who you are, a possible mate, what you want to do, socializing yourself into society and becoming confident in task completion and time management. College is so much more than just books, teachers, and tests.

[stebo]

Nice in-depth detail about their programs. I guess it's fine for the older, working adults or continuing education types but I would still encourage any new, young student to go to a full time full-activity on-campus college. College to me is not so much about academics, although you do need that piece of paper. It is about maturing as a young person, finding who you are, a possible mate, what you want to do, socializing yourself into society and becoming confident in task completion and time management. College is so much more than just books, teachers, and tests.

I agree 100%. We rarely have someone under the age of 24 enroll for class and our average student age is about 35. Honestly, we are too expensive for anyone considered a "dependent" student (as defined by the FAFSA)... They can't even go to our online Junior College (which is about 60% the cost of regular UOP) unless their parents agree to sign a parent plus loan and most just won't do that. We are there for working adults or single parents... kids need traditional education, for shizzle.

[pollock]

And, they're going to be in the Pac-11 this year!!

GO PHIGHTING PHOENICES!!!! GIVE 'EM HELL!!!