What's up with the naming rights story?
- Thread starter YakiCoug
- Start date
No poll on potential names?
What if they name it after another UW governor? Gregoire, Inlee, Evans?
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I got lazy and took this from Wikipidia, but it is accurate enough. This is a benchmark for our new deal. If Colorado State in the MW can do this, WSU should be able to do at least as much.
Stadium donations[edit]
In March 2016, the university announced that it had received an anonymous gift of $20 million over a 30-year period with the express purpose of naming the playing field at the new stadium after former Rams head coach Sonny Lubick, whose name was also attached to the playing field at Hughes Stadium.[11] This gift was roughly the amount that the university had hoped to make by selling the naming rights to both the stadium and the field.[12]
In August of that year, New Belgium Brewing Company, an iconic, local Fort Collins brewery, donated $4.3 million to put its name and its product on the party deck of the north end zone of the $220 million stadium.[13] This new bar area is called the New Belgium Porch.
On April 19, 2018, CSU announced it had sold the naming rights of the stadium itself to Public Service Credit Union for $37.7 million over 15 years. ,
Stadium donations[edit]
In March 2016, the university announced that it had received an anonymous gift of $20 million over a 30-year period with the express purpose of naming the playing field at the new stadium after former Rams head coach Sonny Lubick, whose name was also attached to the playing field at Hughes Stadium.[11] This gift was roughly the amount that the university had hoped to make by selling the naming rights to both the stadium and the field.[12]
In August of that year, New Belgium Brewing Company, an iconic, local Fort Collins brewery, donated $4.3 million to put its name and its product on the party deck of the north end zone of the $220 million stadium.[13] This new bar area is called the New Belgium Porch.
On April 19, 2018, CSU announced it had sold the naming rights of the stadium itself to Public Service Credit Union for $37.7 million over 15 years. ,
It's legal in the State of Washington along with an in-state publicly traded company with a ton of cash. MJ is legal in every state in the Pac-12 conference. MJ will likely be legal at the federal level within the next two years or so, too. Hemp is now legal due to the Farm Bill passage - Mike Price Field at Tilray CBD Stadium?
Would you turn down naming rights $$$ from Busch Light?
Reefer Madness Stadium?
When did Utah quit being a state? And AZ is only medical MJ legal - that doesn't count either.
That said, I don't disagree with the hypothetical premise at all. Think of the research powerhouse WSU could become - both on the recreational and medical side. And heck, on the hemp side as well. Maybe we could even work a leaf into the Cougar head logo.
Oh and NO on Mike Price field. He should have stayed and he could have had god-like status.
When did Utah quit being a state? And AZ is only medical MJ legal - that doesn't count either.
That said, I don't disagree with the hypothetical premise at all. Think of the research powerhouse WSU could become - both on the recreational and medical side. And heck, on the hemp side as well. Maybe we could even work a leaf into the Cougar head logo.
Oh and NO on Mike Price field. He should have stayed and he could have had god-like status.
Pretty sure Utah passed medical MJ in the last election. Could be wrong. one time. This year. Usually I like to hold that mulligan into August or September.
Hemp will become the next cash crop in the Ag field. The uses are mind boggling. WSU should be at the forefront of research.
I'm not a user of the THC side of things -but the medical and practical uses of cannabis are far beyond getting stoned out of one's mind. There's crazy science behind CBD, CBG, CBN - all sorts of wild applications.
I'll take it over the opioid epidemic that big pharma has perpetuated on this country. In a heartbeat - and if WSU can rake some jack at the same time, all the better.
Just because we have more stupid voters than wise voters in Washington does not make it a good idea to name our stadium after a big supplier of weed.
To you question...probably not a good PR move either.
"I'll take it over the opioid epidemic that big pharma has perpetuated on this country. In a heartbeat"
Right...but that's what we call a false choice.
Hey, I am willing to listen. Why is that a false choice? If Purdue Pharma said they wanted the naming rights, what would your response be?
And just out of curiosity is there a steady that has shown more deaths on the road from pot smoking than alcohol? Also, do you believe the transition goes from alcohol to pot to either meth or heroin?
Beat me to the punch. Purdue, Core Pharma, any of another half dozen makers of oxy - all have/had the capacity to write a $30 Million check with ease.
Again, I"m not a major fan of recreational use of TCH because like anything else (booze, for instance), unrestrained continual use can have detrimental affects.
But given first hand exposure to the relief it provides people with cancer, other studies that indicate it may assist in dealing with autism and anxiety....it shouldn't be dismissed as simply a socially unacceptable alternative medicine. WSU should be right at the front of the line figuring out how to make use of the plant for the benefit of society.
And if Tilray or Canopy or Aurora wants to drop tens of millions to have their name on the stadium - so what?
Stadiums left and right are taking booze money—which kills in the tens of thousands—whereas marijuana is now legal in many places and kills zero-point-zero people, so agree that the stigma needs to go away. There’s absolutely no difference between recreation pot or booze use except the death rate.
In the 80's gays were untouchable. Now, well, they're just people (notwithstanding extreme group's beliefs, of course)
Same will happen with MJ. Stereotypes go by the wayside with more information and knowledge.
I'm not sure I see any booze company putting their name on our stadium when their products aren't (officially) served there.
If pot companies were that into naming rights, there would already be a name on the Gorge.
Darigold seems like the name that comes up most often, but I think the people in the Creamery and the College of Ag will have significant heartburn over that. Darigold makes cheese and ice cream, competing with WSU creamery's signature items, and as part of a deal I'd bet that Darigold would want their products represented. I would have to agree that selling Darigold ice cream in our stadium would be sacrilege.
It makes sense generally - and seems likely, based on our market - that some ag-related sponsor will get the rights. But, I don't see it being a brand that competes with WSU products. Remember the Seattle game? Sponsored by Washington's Beef Producers? I could see something similar (Northwest Dairy Association is Darigold's parent company).
I also don't think we're going to see numbers anything like UW's or Colorado State's. We have neither the media market or the local market to carry that sort of value, and any for-profit group that considers it has to consider the long-term return. What happens to their value if they sign a 10-year deal and Leach is gone in 2021? I read somewhere that Sterk originally wanted $500K-1M/year for the field, double that for the stadium. I'd guess that the longer the deal, the less we're going to get per year...and anything over about 5 years, Sterk's numbers will be optimistic.
LOL Hadn't thought of it but, yeah, it wouldn't take long for games in Martin (Tilray?) to be referred to as reefer madness. I wonder how CML would like that.
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I went to the Darigold website, and apparently they don't make ice cream OR cheese. So no worries about Ferdinand's - although no product on earth compares or competes with Cougar Gold, and I think ice cream is just a campus-only product.
As far as media markets go, I know that Fort Collins is a little bigger than Pullman, but our media market is the Pac-12 footprint - not the local city limits. Pretty sure our media coverage is higher profile than CSU. So IMHO we should at least be able to get a stadium deal equal to CSU.
And I want to see how we can put in a party deck like CSU, complete with a multi-million beer sponsor. Here's an idea - we take the grassy corner by the flagpoles, and build out a multi-level deck, maybe accessible from the luxury suites and maybe from outside the stadium. Heck maybe incorporate the otherwise lame Section 1 seats! Now there is a cost-effective and innovative idea.
Darigold makes cheese. It's not as good as Tillamook but it's decent. A little too Cheese-Wiz'ish for my tastes.
http://darigoldcheese.com/
http://darigoldcheese.com/
Well WTH? I stand corrected. Wasn't listed on the page I was on. Dang internet - it lies.
If anyone cares to read the actual report to the Regents, link below. Go to Page 171.
https://regents.wsu.edu/meeting-dat...g -March 7-8, 2019 (2).pdf?0.3625877689537096
Excerpt:
A summary of projected expense and revenue impacts are shown below:
Naming Rights Partner Remains in Acquisition Phase $(1.00)
Increases in Bowl game expenses, air charter ( .25)
Contract bonuses earned, unbudgeted ( .21)
Net salary adjustments ( .63)
Fines and settlements ( .06)
Net increase in CAF and other revenue .85
Scholarship savings .24
Misc. Adjustments ( .15)
Projected Net Increase in Deficit $(1.21) M
Budgeted deficit: $6.7M
Projected deficit: $7.9M
The budget was set by Athletics and approved in June, 2018.
Someone who is not enamored with the achievements of our AD so far might look at the above as indicators that his performance since June is less than stellar. Particularly with all 3 Fall programs having great seasons. But luckily there are no detractors on this site. Chun is doing a great job. Fantastic. Award-winning. A "wow" hire.
He’s had 9 months, but to summarize, Moos deserves the credit for the success of our Fall sports and Chun deserves the blame for the budget woes (and the poor performance of men’s and women’s basketball and the baseball program).
The prosecution rests.
I highlighted the better-than budgeted CAF/other revenue, although I don't know what "other" revenue is. Ticket Sales maybe? So good job there, it even more than offsets the $630,000 in "salary adjustments" expense since June 30.
I said I wouldn't pick on the AD for another 10 months, and I'm not. Just sharing factual information with all the posters who have been gushing over what a fantastic job he has been doing, with pretty much -0- basis in fact to back it up.
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o accurately summarize, the budget presented and approved in June for FY19 was CHUN's budget. Chun is now projected to fall short of the budget that HE submitted by $1.2 million. Who bears responsibility for that?
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I guarantee that - considering the fact that he started on January 21 - any budget that was submitted in June was only nominally his. The budget was already under development by then, using data that he wouldn't have had a handle on for several weeks at best. Sure, it was submitted under his watch, but I wouldn't call it "his."
I wouldn't even blame the $630K in salary adjustments on him, necessarily. The state re-adjusted salary schedules for many positions, effective July 1, 2018, and then gave COLAs in January 2019. I'm not sure how many positions in his department were affected by that, but that's an item that he would have had little control over.
I do find it rather supremely annoying that while every other department and campus in the WSU system is being asked to reduce spending, hold positions vacant, etc. (and based on all reports they're doing it and making significant budget improvements) the Athletic Department, which caused the deficit in the first place, is being allowed to continue to dig a deeper hole.
Wazzu's budget is what it is because they have to pay coaches to be here. We had to invest a ton of money into facilities so we maxed out the CC and were expecting revenue from the Pac-12 deal to pay most of it off. It hasn't. We can go back to the Sterk days, play body bag games, pay a coach bare minimum, and go 2-10. We'd operate in the black. Maybe that'll meet your sanctification. I'm sure everybody on this board wants that scenario.
Wazzu is probably the hardest Power 5 AD job in the country. We are notoriously cheap alums. We'll dominate online polls, buy license plates, gear, but we won't give money to Wazzu. We graduate a ton of people that go into jobs that really don't produce much of a flexible income when it comes to donating huge sums of money. We are located in a town that has zero major corporations. The biggest town employer besides the university is Schweitzer Engineering. Moos, nor any other AD could get naming rights for any of our facilities. No AD before him really accomplished much in fundraising. Moos didn't, Sterk didn't, Dickson was terrible, Livingood didn't. We have increased our fundraising within the last year, but not where it needs to be but the trend is showing it's heading up. Says a lot of our alums when I'm ranked like 2300 in my priority points and I'm young and don't give all that much.
We have one sport that is generating revenue for us. If you really think that people are opening their check books because we have good women soccer and volleyball programs you're clearly mistaken. If you're complaining about donations not being at your satisfaction because we have a few non revenue sports producing results in the fall than that's your choice. Our 2nd biggest sport is a disaster, which he inherited a coach on a 5 year deal at $1.4M a year. We are selling tickets for $5 dollars this weekend to get people in the stands. ALL TICKETS FIVE DOLLARS. Yet, he'll probably be here next year because we owe him $4.2M.
Takes time to build something, Leach was 12-23 after the Portland State game. I was done with him, wanted him gone. Many of us did. Since that game he's gone 37-14. I and many others were wrong. Let's see where we are at the end of year 3 with Chun. That is when we'll have good idea of what's going on.
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I don't find it annoying at all. No other department in the University is expected to act as the de facto marketing department or be ambassadors for the school, and none of them generate TV revenue or ticket sales.
Other departments, the medical school in particular, contributed to the deficit as well.
Nobody has been gushing over Chun, most of the comments have been of the he-deserves-some-time type in response to your incessant and unfounded criticism from the moment his name was announced as our new AD.
