A debate over a proposed stadium at Colorado State University makes literal the issue of how, and how deeply, athletics should fit into today’s colleges.
Colorado State’s Board of Governors this month approved the sale of $220-million in bonds to build a 36,000-seat football stadium in the heart of the Fort Collins campus to replace the existing Hughes Stadium three miles from the university.
That forward motion comes despite widespread attempts to block the project. An opposition group, Save Our Stadium Hughes, has brought in experts in sports economics to evaluate and discuss the university’s plan. All have raised concerns, particularly about financial viability.
With average tuition costs and student debt continuing to climb, critics of athletics spending want to know why colleges continue to gamble on big sports venues.
For most colleges, attendance at games is falling. A CBS Sports analysis said the average attendance at college football games in 2014 fell to its lowest level in 14 years. Average attendance at Colorado State football games has dropped from 23,643 in 2009 to 18,600 in 2013.
Steven Shulman, chair of the economics department at Colorado State, said he can’t understand why anyone would think his institution would be the exception to the rule. “Football is not the future,” he said. “College football is really a relic of the past.”
Colorado State’s top leaders, however, view an on-campus stadium as more than just a way to elevate the football program and bring in money through ticket sales. They see it as an opportunity to engage alumni. Too many alums make it to the football stadium but not onto the actual campus on game days, said Mike Hooker, the university’s spokesman. This way, he said, they might take in a lecture or visit an art gallery while they’re there.
“This is about making those game days, when you’ve got thousands of people here to cheer for CSU, making those game days about more than football,” Mr. Hooker said. He emphasized that the stadium would complement, not counter, the university’s academic mission.
‘Landmark Gathering Place’
The public got its first glimpse of Colorado State’s stadium proposal three years ago, when Jack Graham, the athletic director at the time, gave a presentation highlighting five primary reasons for the on-campus facility: developing game-day traditions, attracting quality coaches and athletes, increasing the college’s exposure, having a positive economic impact on the Fort Collins community, and creating a “landmark gathering place” that could be used for other events besides football, like graduation ceremonies.
In a September 2014 recommendation on the stadium, President Anthony A. Frank emphasized the marketing value of a modern stadium. “Athletics help drive visibility,” he wrote. “Whatever one thinks of the popularity of sports in American culture, factually, sports are highly visible. For an institution of great academic quality in a wonderful location priced to be an exceptional educational value, visibility is a key element in our success.”
Hughes Stadium opened in 1968 and needs $30-million in “necessary maintenance,” Mr. Hooker said. Making the kinds of improvements that would increase revenue could cost up to $150-million, he said, so it makes more sense to start from scratch.
After the stadium proposal was announced, opposition arose swiftly, both on the campus and in Fort Collins. Save Our Stadium Hughes has invited scrutiny by experts like Joel G. Maxcy, an associate professor of sport management at Drexel University who evaluated the plans for the new facility in 2012. Under only the most optimistic of circumstances would that stadium pay for itself, he said.
But Mr. Hooker said the university was confident in an analysis by ICON Venue Group, which indicates financial success for the stadium.
‘Education, Not Entertainment’
To critics of the plan, money is not the only reason to oppose it. Building a new stadium would push Colorado State in a direction that many people there don’t want to go. “This is a university,” said Mr. Shulman, the economics chair. “Our primary mission is education, not entertainment.”
Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College, expressed concern that the project would send a “strange message” about the university’s priorities. Bringing the stadium to the heart of the campus, he said, would make football a central focus—literally—of the university.
Colorado State has never insisted on participating in the athletics “arms race,” said B. David Ridpath, an alum who is now a professor of sport management at Ohio University. “I don’t want this to be a case of I told you so,” he said. “But I’m afraid it’s very much going to be that.”
Corrections (2/18/2015, 7:22 p.m.): This article originally misstated two aspects of the stadium controversy. The Board of Governors approved the sale of $220-million in bonds for the new stadium, not $242-million. The latter figure was discussed at an earlier stage of the process. Also, Hughes Stadium is not at “the edge of the university” but is three miles away. The article has been updated to reflect both corrections.
