FCS Football in Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC

[Touchdown Yosef]

Ok so for the majority of you who are not familiar with Charlotte just outside of Uptown Charlotte sits a 24,000 seat stadium that is almost never used. Some high schools play rival games there and it is used for several other small events. It is where UNCC should start their football plans (which plans for have been put on hold for at least a year or two per their administration)

I would personally like to see Appalachian continue its presence in the college football wasteland that is Charlotte and I think Memorial stadium would be the perfect place to host such an event.

I would like to see us play there every other year, maybe every year. Appalachian has a ton of alumni in Charlotte and should be able to fill the stadium to at least 15k without much of a problem. What I want is another FCS team who recruits in the area to say hey that sounds like a great game and some great exposure lets meet up and do this thing.

First I thought of Davidson. They would really just be an opponent and sorry to say they don't bring much to the table other than the fact we could bill it as an OOC away game and still play it like a home game. We wouldn't lose any home games and Davidson would stand to gain from maybe a split revenue of ticket sales or something of that nature.

For a more viable and geographically logical opponent I thought of Coastal Carolina. Any thoughts here? How many fans can you bring CCU?

Then I thought back to the playoffs of last year and what about SC State? How many fans do you think you could bring? Would it be a favorable situation to do every other year or so?

Any other options? I don't want to do it with a Socon school and give up home field in a conference game once every other year.

I just thought it would make for some interesting discussion and add a dynamic game to two schools schedule to help with exposure and recruiting. It is all conjecture of course and not really on anyone that matter's radar. So what are your thoughts?

Here is some interesting info on Memorial Stadium and some pics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion_Memorial_Stadium

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+and+Rec/Facilities/Event+Facilities/Memorial+Stadium.htm

It is owned by parks and rec. and could be rented out for under 7k, plus scheduling conflicts should really be non-existent. It would also bring some nice economic tourism gains to the city and could be a nice incentive for the city to drop the rates and even help promote the game. Heck if the demand isn't strong enough to sell it out give tickets away to high school seniors who have applied or have been accepted to the schools playing in the game.

http://www.cgcfields.com/CarolinaGreenAssets/Projects/ProjectsPhoto12.jpg

http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/Resource_Center/venues/other/charlotte_memorialstadium.jpg

Any other teams you think might match up well here? Maybe Wofford and Richmond if they both drew more fans. GSU and Delaware? Just throwing names out there at this point.

[BearsCountry]

How come Charlotte wants to build its own stadium? Memorial Stadium would be perfect for them.

[Touchdown Yosef]

I forgot to run some hypothetical numbers...

24k seat stadium

Give 4k tickets away to admin, recruits, radio prize winners, local high school students, ect.

Sell 8k student tickets priced at say $12.

Sell 12k tickets at say $30k

That nets $456,000 in revenue.

Say you profit another $50,000 in concessions to split between the 2 schools and the stadium. (16,666 for each party)

Ideal rental fee of just under 7k instead of % of ticket sales.

So ballpark of $241,160 per school. Let the city keep parking revenues.

Thats not bad especially for a school that isn't used to those kind of payouts from regular season games.

This is of course a very loose guess as I am not to schooled in the way of these things. I am sure there are a ton of other costs associated with using the stadium, but I just wanted to ball park it.

Maybe even get news 14 to broadcast the game and bring in a little more revenue.

[Touchdown Yosef]

How come Charlotte wants to build its own stadium? Memorial Stadium would be perfect for them.

It makes logical sense especially since the school wants to have a greater presence in the city. The school is actually located several miles north east of the city. I don't know why they didn't say hey lets use the money to revamp that stadium. It is a really cool stadium and has an amazing view of the charlotte skyline.

[crossfire07]

I think Arkansas has another stadium they play at from time to time so it is not like it would be out of the ordinary.

[thefortyniner]

It makes logical sense especially since the school wants to have a greater presence in the city. The school is actually located several miles north east of the city. I don't know why they didn't say hey lets use the money to revamp that stadium. It is a really cool stadium and has an amazing view of the charlotte skyline.

I have been shouting this at the top of my lungs for quite some time.

As it stands right now, the stadium is a dump. We had estimates done that said it would cost just as much to bring the stadium to a usable state as it would to build a new one. Granted, that estimate was done by HOK Sports.

Personally, I would love to play down there. Imagine this sweet weekend:

Friday: Get off of work. Take tailgatemobile (short bus with sleeping berths and built-in grill) to HS football game. After game, begin drinking. Sleep in tailgatmobile.

Saturday: Wake up. Drink face off. Watch Niner football game. After game, sleep in tailgatemobile until sober enough to drive home.

[g-webb1994]

SC State makes the most sense. You don't want to move a conference game there.

[T-Dog]

That stadium is not one mile from downtown. If the downtown Charlotte transit system runs by there, then it would make too much sense for UNCC to use.

UNCC is about 2-3 miles from the stadium (which when you factor in city traffic, can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes drive).

Even if it cost a little more for UNCC, it would reap benefits in the long run from being right next to downtown, rather than north of the city where UNCC is.


As for App having a game there, I don't see it. 24K at a neutral site vs 30K for a home game. Doesn't add up. If the stadium were 40-50K seats, then we'd be talking turkey. And no way App would play in BOA Stadium unless it were the Tar Holes. It's just too big and too expensive to use.

[Touchdown Yosef]

That stadium is not one mile from downtown. If the downtown Charlotte transit system runs by there, then it would make too much sense for UNCC to use.

UNCC is about 2-3 miles from the stadium (which when you factor in city traffic, can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes drive).

Even if it cost a little more for UNCC, it would reap benefits in the long run from being right next to downtown, rather than north of the city where UNCC is.


As for App having a game there, I don't see it. 24K at a neutral site vs 30K for a home game. Doesn't add up. If the stadium were 40-50K seats, then we'd be talking turkey. And no way App would play in BOA Stadium unless it were the Tar Holes. It's just too big and too expensive to use.

I'm not saying you have to give up a home game to do it. Like I said Davidson would be ideal for that. But even if it was every other year with say SC State thats one home game every 4 years assuming a home and home. Beyond the numbers I like the value it brings for the exposure for App State football especially considering how much we like to recruit there.

[DEX]

That stadium is not one mile from downtown. If the downtown Charlotte transit system runs by there, then it would make too much sense for UNCC to use.

UNCC is about 2-3 miles from the stadium (which when you factor in city traffic, can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes drive).

Even if it cost a little more for UNCC, it would reap benefits in the long run from being right next to downtown, rather than north of the city where UNCC is.


As for App having a game there, I don't see it. 24K at a neutral site vs 30K for a home game. Doesn't add up. If the stadium were 40-50K seats, then we'd be talking turkey. And no way App would play in BOA Stadium unless it were the Tar Holes. It's just too big and too expensive to use.


That stadium would be to far from their campus just like Independence Arena was to far away for their basketball team. Of course it's a moot point since I don't think football will ever get off the ground for Charlotte.

[Libertine]

SC State makes the most sense.

Agreed and I think that SC State would be one of the few programs in the region who could do anything with a 24K-seat stadium. Coastal's house sits just over 6K and they don't fill it.

[ASU]

I really enjoyed the SC State crowd coming to Boone last year....they have some good knowledgeable fans.

However, Memorial Stadium needs too many repairs to be used. It would be like playing at a land dump. Besides, ASU would not want to do a neutral site if it means giving up a home game.....they didn't put all that money into a stadium upgrade to wander around the country for no reason.

[WVAPPmountaineer]

What APP really needs to do is find an opponent who would play them and also bring a large crowd and play in the Panthers Stadium - I have heard, don't know it to be true, that APP wanted to play ECU in BOA Stadium but ECU didn't want to give up a home game ---- Honestly, that is the only way I see APP playing in Charlotte - why give up 30k+ attendance at home with the Band and students right there and the fans enjoying another beautiful day in the High Country for just a "game" in Charlotte ----

[DLS]

they did film the final game from Leatherheads there.


just thinking about my boys playing on the same field as clooney gives me all kinds of goose bumps. anyone else excited as i am?

[Touchdown Yosef]

What APP really needs to do is find an opponent who would play them and also bring a large crowd and play in the Panthers Stadium - I have heard, don't know it to be true, that APP wanted to play ECU in BOA Stadium but ECU didn't want to give up a home game ---- Honestly, that is the only way I see APP playing in Charlotte - why give up 30k+ attendance at home with the Band and students right there and the fans enjoying another beautiful day in the High Country for just a "game" in Charlotte ----

Again I'm not trying to get rid of a home game. If we did it with SC State in an every other year capacity it would be like giving up one home game every 4 years. And with davidson it would be an away game. If we split revenues in a sellout 24k game just about any FCS team in the region might be convinced to use it as one of their home games just for the revenue boost it would bring in.

For instance if CCU only has 6k per home game and we offered them 200k to host this game in charlotte as one of their home games I think they would be all ears.

So again I don't want to take away from our home games I thought it would be interesting to see our team play in Charlotte and establish a better presence in a city with no college football, the biggest city in 2 states, a huge Appalachian alumni base, and in a place we love to recruit. Again its all conjecture I just thought it would make for some good conversation.

[jmufan999]

i've been waving the "JMU vs. App State" flag since last year's game (before that, we hadn't shown we could beat you guys so it really wasn't a rivalry)..... i think it's great on many, many levels:

a.) it would have the POSSIBILITY of becoming a top 3 FCS rivalry (nothing is going to beat Montana-Montana State in my opinion, because of all the history. and i don't count the Ivy League rivalries because they don't play in the playoffs so i'm therefore uninterested).
b.) both schools travel very well, so you could do a neutral site, home-away, whatever.
c.) the argument that the loser will be out of the playoff race? hogwash. what happened after #1 ASU lost to #3 JMU last year? JMU went to #1 and ASU only fell to #4 for crying out loud. losing to good teams doesn't hurt you much, and helps you on Selection Sunday, when the committee rewards a tough schedule.
d.) POSSIBILITY of a network (ESPN2 maybe) picking up on interest.... maybe making it a once-a-year thing... Halloween night? i thought that worked great last year. very festive and exciting.

let's make Halloween night JMU vs. ASU yearly... what do you say?

[jmufan999]

just read my last post... before someone says it, i'm not saying that ASU and JMU will have very good teams each and every year... but for at least the past 5 years, both have been top 10 programs at worst. so both schools are at least doing well at the current time. not saying it'll be that way for forever, i can't predict the future.

yet.

[WVAPPmountaineer]

Again I'm not trying to get rid of a home game. If we did it with SC State in an every other year capacity it would be like giving up one home game every 4 years. And with davidson it would be an away game. If we split revenues in a sellout 24k game just about any FCS team in the region might be convinced to use it as one of their home games just for the revenue boost it would bring in.

For instance if CCU only has 6k per home game and we offered them 200k to host this game in charlotte as one of their home games I think they would be all ears.

So again I don't want to take away from our home games I thought it would be interesting to see our team play in Charlotte and establish a better presence in a city with no college football, the biggest city in 2 states, a huge Appalachian alumni base, and in a place we love to recruit. Again its all conjecture I just thought it would make for some good conversation.

I understand your points and I think a game in Charlotte would be great - I just don't any real value unless it was played at the Panthers Stadium

[Touchdown Yosef]

I understand your points and I think a game in Charlotte would be great - I just don't any real value unless it was played at the Panthers Stadium

Understandable but we cannot fill panthers stadium and the rental fee is astronomical. There is no other FCS team we could pair with that would help to fill it either.

[Touchdown Yosef]

i've been waving the "JMU vs. App State" flag since last year's game (before that, we hadn't shown we could beat you guys so it really wasn't a rivalry)..... i think it's great on many, many levels:

a.) it would have the POSSIBILITY of becoming a top 3 FCS rivalry (nothing is going to beat Montana-Montana State in my opinion, because of all the history. and i don't count the Ivy League rivalries because they don't play in the playoffs so i'm therefore uninterested).
b.) both schools travel very well, so you could do a neutral site, home-away, whatever.
c.) the argument that the loser will be out of the playoff race? hogwash. what happened after #1 ASU lost to #3 JMU last year? JMU went to #1 and ASU only fell to #4 for crying out loud. losing to good teams doesn't hurt you much, and helps you on Selection Sunday, when the committee rewards a tough schedule.
d.) POSSIBILITY of a network (ESPN2 maybe) picking up on interest.... maybe making it a once-a-year thing... Halloween night? i thought that worked great last year. very festive and exciting.

let's make Halloween night JMU vs. ASU yearly... what do you say?

I love that rivalry as well but forget a neutral site for that game. It is too much fun to alternate home fields. Plus I don't know of a neutral site that makes sense geographically.

[turbodean]

NC A&T played there in '08 vs NCCU. It was also one of the stadiums used in the movie Leatherheads?

HISTORIC RIVALRY MOVES TO HISTORIC STADIUM
http://nccueaglepride.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/052208aaa.html

[DLS]

NC A&T played there in '08 vs NCCU. It was also one of the stadiums used in the movie Leatherheads?

HISTORIC RIVALRY MOVES TO HISTORIC STADIUM
http://nccueaglepride.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/052208aaa.html

also the site where chris leak broke the highschool touchdown record for a QB

[jonmac]

JMO but I don't understand the fascination with neutral site games. I think the games lose some of their luster when not played in a stadium that at least has something to do with one of the schools playing. I just think the atmosphere is better when the stadium is decorated/designed for the host school. And if it's done for both schools at a neutral site it seems fake to me.

[Appfan_in_CAAland]

I don't think App should even consider playing at Memorial Stadium on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College. App vs. ECU, UNC-Chapel Hill, or USC-Columbia at BOA Stadium is worth some talk.

[SU Jag]

Wasnt the Aggie-Eagle Classic played here a few years back?

[DEX]

Wasnt the Aggie-Eagle Classic played here a few years back?


No, that was in Raleigh at Carter Finley. Last season NCCU moved their home game vs. A&T to Charlotte's Memorial Stadium. Attendance was around 20,000. Our best attendance in C-F was around 44,000 in 1996 I think.

[KiddBrewer]

i've been waving the "JMU vs. App State" flag since last year's game (before that, we hadn't shown we could beat you guys so it really wasn't a rivalry)..... i think it's great on many, many levels:

a.) it would have the POSSIBILITY of becoming a top 3 FCS rivalry (nothing is going to beat Montana-Montana State in my opinion, because of all the history. and i don't count the Ivy League rivalries because they don't play in the playoffs so i'm therefore uninterested).
b.) both schools travel very well, so you could do a neutral site, home-away, whatever.
c.) the argument that the loser will be out of the playoff race? hogwash. what happened after #1 ASU lost to #3 JMU last year? JMU went to #1 and ASU only fell to #4 for crying out loud. losing to good teams doesn't hurt you much, and helps you on Selection Sunday, when the committee rewards a tough schedule.
d.) POSSIBILITY of a network (ESPN2 maybe) picking up on interest.... maybe making it a once-a-year thing... Halloween night? i thought that worked great last year. very festive and exciting.

let's make Halloween night JMU vs. ASU yearly... what do you say?

i like your ideas...but it couldnt be on Halloween, IMO. The MAIN reason last years Halloween game was so festive and exciting is because the students were wasted out of their (our) minds. MOST of the students that were at that game last year aren't going to travel to Charlotte for a game and miss Halloween night in Boone. xreadx

[Saint3333]

1. I agree neutral games for the FCS wouldn't work to well (sans the HBCUs).
2. I also agree that JMU/ASU should try and schedule a long-term series.
3. You don't want to play in Boone on Halloween...

[SU Jag]

neutral site games only work when you can get tne community of the host city behind you and both schools travel well. Take the Circle City Classic in Indy, there is not an HBCU in Indiana but the game is one of the biggest events of the year in Indy and the people up there really look forward to it, plus the teams have fanbases that will travel.

[Eight Legger]

We'll come play you there. That stadium looks a lot like UR Stadium, so it can be a "retro' game for us after we close down our stadium this year.

[ASU]

Ok so for the majority of you who are not familiar with Charlotte just outside of Uptown Charlotte sits a 24,000 seat stadium that is almost never used. Some high schools play rival games there and it is used for several other small events. It is where UNCC should start their football plans (which plans for have been put on hold for at least a year or two per their administration)

I would personally like to see Appalachian continue its presence in the college football wasteland that is Charlotte and I think Memorial stadium would be the perfect place to host such an event.

I would like to see us play there every other year, maybe every year. Appalachian has a ton of alumni in Charlotte and should be able to fill the stadium to at least 15k without much of a problem. What I want is another FCS team who recruits in the area to say hey that sounds like a great game and some great exposure lets meet up and do this thing.

First I thought of Davidson. They would really just be an opponent and sorry to say they don't bring much to the table other than the fact we could bill it as an OOC away game and still play it like a home game. We wouldn't lose any home games and Davidson would stand to gain from maybe a split revenue of ticket sales or something of that nature.

For a more viable and geographically logical opponent I thought of Coastal Carolina. Any thoughts here? How many fans can you bring CCU?

Then I thought back to the playoffs of last year and what about SC State? How many fans do you think you could bring? Would it be a favorable situation to do every other year or so?

Any other options? I don't want to do it with a Socon school and give up home field in a conference game once every other year.

I just thought it would make for some interesting discussion and add a dynamic game to two schools schedule to help with exposure and recruiting. It is all conjecture of course and not really on anyone that matter's radar. So what are your thoughts?

Here is some interesting info on Memorial Stadium and some pics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legion_Memorial_Stadium

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+and+Rec/Facilities/Event+Facilities/Memorial+Stadium.htm

It is owned by parks and rec. and could be rented out for under 7k, plus scheduling conflicts should really be non-existent. It would also bring some nice economic tourism gains to the city and could be a nice incentive for the city to drop the rates and even help promote the game. Heck if the demand isn't strong enough to sell it out give tickets away to high school seniors who have applied or have been accepted to the schools playing in the game.

http://www.cgcfields.com/CarolinaGreenAssets/Projects/ProjectsPhoto12.jpg

http://www.midatlanticgateway.com/Resource_Center/venues/other/charlotte_memorialstadium.jpg

Any other teams you think might match up well here? Maybe Wofford and Richmond if they both drew more fans. GSU and Delaware? Just throwing names out there at this point.

I told you that Memorial Stadium was in too bad a shape to play football in!
This evenings news had a story about part of it collapsing......some of the East End Zone collapsed because of rain opening up areas under the stands that it collapsed into. They said that the engineers would be doing an assessment and or cost analysis of rebuilding it....showed a lot of yellow taped areas....kind of crime scene tape. Will probably be repaired, but Charlotte had been hoping for some federal funds to repair it, they just have not heard about getting any to help repair it.

[WileECoyote06]

No, that was in Raleigh at Carter Finley. Last season NCCU moved their home game vs. A&T to Charlotte's Memorial Stadium. Attendance was around 20,000. Our best attendance in C-F was around 44,000 in 1996 I think.

That was the option we chose due to schedule changes. Our game was originally supposed to be in Wallace Wade. It still hit 20K and was a great atmosphere. But then again, Eagles and Aggies love to beat each other.

[yosef1969]

The City of Charlotte (with help from UNCC) should shell out the $$$ and make the necessary renovations to Memorial Stadium.

UNCC could use it for home games in the short term as they build their program and the City could go after the FCS Championship game.

That's a neutral site game that would work well for me...

[centexguy]

It costs a lot of money these days just to bring an old stadium up to standards. Lamar will spend over $10 million renovating their stadium so it meets ADA standards and other similar upgrades. Since Memorial Stadium is older and larger than Lamar's stadium, they are probably looking at $15 to $20 million in renovations, which is why they probably would prefer a stadium on campus.

I am surprised that UNCC and the city haven't worked out some type of deal that would be benefit both. Both UTSA and Georgia State are getting some good deals on using their city's stadiums, too bad Charlotte can't do the same for UNCC.

[WileECoyote06]

The City of Charlotte (with help from UNCC) should shell out the $$$ and make the necessary renovations to Memorial Stadium.

UNCC could use it for home games in the short term as they build their program and the City could go after the FCS Championship game.

That's a neutral site game that would work well for me...

Not in 2009 xeyebrowx When the economy recovers, that wouldn't be such a bad idea.

However, remember Memorial is close to the hood. If they were to do that they'd probably start the gentrification process; just like DC and NYC.

[DLS]

The City of Charlotte (with help from UNCC) should shell out the $$$ and make the necessary renovations to Memorial Stadium.

UNCC could use it for home games in the short term as they build their program and the City could go after the FCS Championship game.

That's a neutral site game that would work well for me...

trust me you dont want "The City of Charlotte" sinking it's teeth into anything that requires construction --->

Lightrail, 485, whitewater center, . . . . roads.

their list of failures is epic.

[SideLine Shooter]

Don't even think about it. Total waste of time!xnodx

[g-webb1994]

I know Citadel and VMI played there a few years back, can't remember what kind of attendance figure they drew. Maybe CitDog or someone else can research?

[ericsaid]

Should host the NC game.

[Rekdiver]

Memorial stadium has seats and that is all that UNCC needs right now. Build your program and then you can buy a stadium. Attendance will be better here than an on campus venue for some time AND ther is something to do in downtown. You would attract a lot of casual fans here that wouldn't come out to UNCC.

ASU has no business playing in this stadium. ASU/ECU for instance would draw 60,000 and BofA Stadium would be perfect. (30,000 ASU and 30,000 ECU).

[Bulldog87]

SCSU vs A&T was played there for years. The game was called the"Batle of the Border" and was well attended when both schools had good squads. One year the game was moved to BOA and due to the folks in charge not opening the upper deck there were a lot of folks clamoring to get in that couldn't see the game. The Lower deck was soldout. SCSU or A&T vs App State would do well in Charlotte if promoted right and especially if both teams were good. I'm one for home and home moreso than neutral site games but i would be cool to have a 3 game series with App,1 home game for each school with the potential tiebreaker in Charlotte. If the series is tied going into the 3rd game you'll see a huge crowd in Charlotte.

[CornCobPipes]

I have been shouting this at the top of my lungs for quite some time.

As it stands right now, the stadium is a dump. We had estimates done that said it would cost just as much to bring the stadium to a usable state as it would to build a new one. Granted, that estimate was done by HOK Sports.

Personally, I would love to play down there. Imagine this sweet weekend:

Friday: Get off of work. Take tailgatemobile (short bus with sleeping berths and built-in grill) to HS football game. After game, begin drinking. Sleep in tailgatmobile.

Saturday: Wake up. Drink face off. Watch Niner football game. After game, sleep in tailgatemobile until sober enough to drive home.
Do they not still play the Shrine Bowl there?

[g-webb1994]

Shrine Bowl has been down at Wofford the past couple of years....

[PTW16]

I know Citadel and VMI played there a few years back, can't remember what kind of attendance figure they drew. Maybe CitDog or someone else can research?

Great student attendance considering both schools cadets were required to attend (from what I understand). Other than that, I don't think it was well attended. But I wasn't there and can't say that for any certainty.

And if Appalachian is getting ready to open their newly renovated stadium with luxury suites and all, why would they give up all that revenue for a game in a crappy stadium well off campus? If I owned a suite there, I'd be pissed as hell because no matter how you look at it, you'll be giving up a home game in your suite for this to work.

Just my humble $0.02

[ASU]

Great student attendance considering both schools cadets were required to attend (from what I understand). Other than that, I don't think it was well attended. But I wasn't there and can't say that for any certainty.

And if Appalachian is getting ready to open their newly renovated stadium with luxury suites and all, why would they give up all that revenue for a game in a crappy stadium well off campus? If I owned a suite there, I'd be pissed as hell because no matter how you look at it, you'll be giving up a home game in your suite for this to work.

Just my humble $0.02

Absolutely correct.

[Aho_Old_Guy]

Ooops!