Lowly Sun Belt now 1-4 in bowl games after MarshaLL getting whipped by UTSA last night.
From that pic it looks like a ghost town.
The ODU side of the field (press box side) was packed. ODU won the attendance battle at least.
I doubt $20k of tickets were sold.
I was told around 6,000 tickets were sold, and it looked like that in the stadium. Even if tickets were $20 per, that’s $120k. I wonder if we kept parking sales. Parking passes were going for $35 in the orange deck and $20 in the pink deck.
That was a hard hitting piece of journalism right there!!!
Why is that a story?
It almost had the feel of a gotcha piece.
Weird.
Now that you mention it and after I read it, it did kinda seem that’s the direction they were going, but ran out of substance and hence the brevity of the article.
10’s of thousands? Like 2 for $20k. I am sure the University kept parking proceeds and I would imagine the normal concessions cut.
There is another part of the overall deal that has yet to be announced.
Hopefully hosting the bowl game will provide proof of concept that we can host other events at the stadium.
clt says that was garbage, too much “uncc” and of course we were paid
we made a lot of money on bojangles monday
It wont be music…Tep is the the Mac Daddy for concerts
Charlotte 49ers embrace chance to host bowl game.
Mike Hill, Charlotte’s athletic director, told CBJ he anticipates the game will generate a small profit for the university. But, he added, the main motivations for hosting the bowl game were providing exposure for the stadium and campus through ESPN’s telecast; expanding business ties with ESPN; generating visitor spending for the area; and setting the table to stage more outside events at the stadium as it expands to 30,000 seats in future years.
ESPN Events paid $20,000 to use the stadium, according to a copy of the agreement provided by UNC Charlotte. The company also retained all ticket and merchandise sales revenue.
The university kept all concessions and parking revenue, according to the agreement. ESPN Events was responsible for paying for traffic control, security, and stadium workers.
“It was a gorgeous day to showcase the campus,” Hill said, referring to the 2:30 p.m. kickoff on a sunny, 55-degree afternoon. “That was fun for our people to be able to work with (the schools), with the ESPN staff, and the Bahamas Bowl staff. It was great to have that kind of exposure.”
Hill received text messages from friends and colleagues across the country who saw the bowl game on ESPN and remarked upon Richardson Stadium and the campus setting, he said.
The game was watched by 668,000 people, down from 822,000 last year, when it was played on a Friday and started at 11:30 a.m.
“Any opportunity we have to showcase our ability to host events on our campus, we want to do that,” Hill added. “That’s one of the reasons we jumped at the opportunity to help ESPN.”
An expanded stadium will attract more outside events.
Richardson Stadium opened in 2013. Last year, Charlotte’s athletic department unveiled a campaign to raise $81 million for a two-phase expansion that would increase capacity to, first, 21,180 seats and, ultimately, 30,680 seats.
In September, local real estate developer Smoky Bissell donated $25 million to the stadium project, matching a $25 million allocation from the state legislature. Another $12 million had already been raised, with $19 million to go.
UNC Charlotte hired architecture firm McMillan Pazdan Smith to design the expansion projects and help the university determine the specific elements of each phase of work.
Bringing the bowl game here for a year — it will return to Nassau in 2024 after stadium renovations are finished — provided a way “to demonstrate to the community that we’re going to be about more than just six home football games a year.”
Once the stadium expands, “It can host all sorts of events beyond (49ers games), which are, obviously, the centerpiece for our facility. To have an opportunity to host a bowl game again down the road, we would love that. We made that clear.”
Clint Overby, ESPN Events vice president, told CBJ he was pleased with the game, particularly since Old Dominion led 28-0 early in the second quarter and it looked like a blowout. Western Kentucky rallied and pushed the game into overtime.
“Operationally, functionally, that’s all doable,” Overby said of Richardson Stadium hosting a bowl game in the future. “The question is, where do we look to add games or move games from in the future. But the good news is there’s no doubt they’re capable to host a post-season game.”
ESPN Events already works with the Charlotte Sports Foundation on the Jumpman Invitational college basketball event. And the Duke’s Mayo Bowl’s TV contract is with ESPN.
“It certainly doesn’t hurt,” Overby said when asked whether ESPN Events’ Charlotte hub makes a yearly bowl game at Richardson Stadium more attractive.