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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 12:11:16 GMT -5
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Post by DOOMS on Oct 17, 2006 12:17:09 GMT -5
I'm just curious:
How many of y'all would be willing to pay like... $1,000 to put your name on a seat in Aggie Stadium? Better yet, paying more or less depending on where the seat is. And then with each year when season ticket time starts you get the right of first refusal on the seat or seats with your name on it. Maybe they could bolt one of those 25 buck folding cushioned seats there and put a little plaque with your name on it. I think they did that at State to fund the expansion.
Seats inside the forty yard line on the home and visitor's sides could be subject to a silent auction or an online bidding system on the ncataggies website. Let the bids last for like five or ten years or something (that way we're not stuck with gold helmet syndrome).
Well?
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Post by aggiebred09 on Oct 17, 2006 12:21:18 GMT -5
BET Stadium....I'll get Terrance J. on it right away.
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JayBee
Official BDF member
Posts: 1,852
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Post by JayBee on Oct 17, 2006 12:23:24 GMT -5
That sounds like a great promotion to me.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 12:26:21 GMT -5
I wouldn't. The idea of having my name on a rusted bleacher at Dell Stadium doesn't sound that attractive to me. However, I'm pretty sure that me, you, Dex, Aggie 77 and Craig would glady take out a loan just so we could chill in our own BDF luxury suite duing homecoming each year. Imagine having a flatscreen showing ESPN on one side of the room and a buffet table with chicken wings and barbecue ribs on the other.
If they build it, we will come ...
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Post by Aggie One on Oct 17, 2006 14:04:35 GMT -5
You won't be able to touch the gold helmet seat owners since those seats were sold as deeded property to the folks who put up the original capital to build Aggie Stadium back in 1977. My family ponied up for four of those and I paid for my own out my pocket as rising senior then. Those seats cost $1500 apiece at that time giving you permanent free admission and a seat of your choice for all regular season games in Aggie Stadium.
That issue was litigated in court back in 1994 when then assistant to the chancellor Dr. Dorothy Alston tried to void those deeds then have the owners buy $500 PSLs each year to retain them. Little did she realize nor did she research the fact that most of the large contributors to the stadium outlay were also Aggie Club members as well as Gold Helmet members and the Forte was called out by that group of alumni.
The the Gold Helmet owners sued in a class action and won complete and final judgment against the university two years later. That misjudgment eventually led to Alston's ouster and subsequent early retirement in 1999.
The N.C. State Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in 1996 that all seat holders that paid their purchases in full at the time of purchase and had not let any of their payments lapse the six month payoff period indeed owned those seats as private property and the deeds were not subject to be resold or voided.
Those seats are permanent deeded property owned by the seat holders and/or by their heirs if they so choose. If their are no heirs to the deeds then the seats revert back to the university but they must notify those families in writing and they have the opportunity to lay claim or forfeit their rights within 90 days of notification.
Those 450 some odd folks, many no longer alive or now in advanced in age, raised all the 2.5 million bucks to build the original Aggie Stadium and no state money was used in its construction. They did it without promise of a championship team, fancy amenities or the like but because they wanted a place of they could call their own and not be beholding to the city or anyone else. They were willing to make the financial sacrifice to get things done.
There is a dedication plaque underneath section V on the main support wall with a listing of the names of those folks. It might be a good history lesson for us to stop and read it sometime this weekend because a lot us really don't know what the true story was and what history went on before we graced the campus as students.
I frankly don't know if this new generation of 30 somethings would answer the call to do the same or something similar for PSLs to all the open seats between the forties if asked to come forward with the dollars that those folks did some 33 years ago.
Now as far a naming rights, I have no problem in selling the naming rights to a private corporation for a rather substantial sum (say no less than $14 million over a 4 year period).
Sky boxes would be sold on a corporate and a private tier basis yearly much like the Greensboro Coliseum for football events, for all other events, the boxes would be rented out on a first come first serve basis at a premimum price with all of these track events during the summer and yeah even a couple of major outdoor concerts like the city did at the baseball park along with the purchase of major damage insurance by promoters fronting a $75,000 deposit up front.
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Post by DOOMS on Oct 17, 2006 14:13:45 GMT -5
Damn, that's interesting! I never knew the full story. Thanks A-1. That's the kind of thing that should be printed on one of the first pages in every game program or at the very least put in the blurb they print about Aggie Stadium. It's shameful that it's omitted.
Well, I guess you can still sell the seats that the golden helmet owners either a) allow you to or, b) have bequeathed or let lapse back to the school. And of course there's still the other seats that ain't gold helmeted in the first place. I guess it all comes down to how much you ask for the seats. Even 25 bucks per seat is 25 bucks more than you were getting.
If we could get 14 mil over four years we would be set. I'd be shocked if a corporation would come up with that kind of cheese for the naming rights to Aggie Stadium unless the corporation has an Aggie or seven in key positions and/or is trying to get an initial foothold in the triad among black people.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 14:17:17 GMT -5
Aggie One, it will be hard to get $14 million over four years. The Greensboro Grasshoppers only got $3 million for 10 years for the naming rights of First Horizon Park.
I still think we could strike a $15 million, 20-year deal with Dell, but we would really have to show them that we would be building a new pressbox with luxury suites and give them additional signage opportunities in other places on campus besides Dell Stadium.
Imagine walking into Price, McNair and the new science building and seeing huge ceiling banners advertsing dell computer products. That is the type of commitment we would likely have to make to them in order to seal that deal.
However we are a technical school, so I don't feel bad about selling ad space to a world-famous computer manufacturer.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 14:26:41 GMT -5
Dammit, I'm about to apply for McAlphin's job. I'm ready to start making some phone calls about this.
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Post by Aggie One on Oct 17, 2006 14:30:43 GMT -5
A group of four of five corporations owned by a main parent company or everyone that recruits on campus for career day would be my targets. Say for instance go after Pepsi or Coke who both own eleven different food entities (KFC, Taco Bell, FritoLay, etc.) , Microsoft, Alltell, GE, Wal-Mart, Target, Cingular, IBM, McDonnell-Douglas, Daimler-Chrysler, GM, Ford and the list goes on.
A good marketing strategy could probably find eight companies each putting up 2 million a pop to get that name out there without going the more expensive route of TV advertiising. Its not that hard of a sell to spread it over several companies instead of lumping everything into one basket trying to hook one fish if its done properly.
Chances are more likely once the ball starts rolling one big fish will step up with a double digit 20 year deal just to keep pace and a step ahead of the competition.
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Post by DOOMS on Oct 17, 2006 14:35:39 GMT -5
I'd sell it for less at first. Honestly could we sell KFC on spending a mill on A&T when we can't barely fill up the advertising panels on the replay screen. Just like the seats if you sell space for 100,000 that's 100,000 more than you would get. If you lock somebody in a long-term deal you get what appears to be great money up front. But it might look like sheeet a few years later. The house I live in has tripled in value since 1999. It's probably better to undersell the first year and show the folks a great time (free tix, seafood, drinks in the new press box we don't have) and get them to re-up at double what they paid the year before.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 14:44:20 GMT -5
What type of deal do you think we could get initally?
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Post by DOOMS on Oct 17, 2006 14:55:36 GMT -5
I honestly have no idea and I couldn't venture a guess as to what would be too low. I think it would depend largely upon the business in question. A rib shack sized place I'd probably try to get 500 to a grand for the first year and let them pay it over the course of the fiscal year. A larger local based corporation like Wrangler, I'd probably feel them up to see what we could do and try to get them on a panel at first. Then get them on the press box or end zone.
We should probably hit up places that A&T students either frequent or work at, or both.
I think a good barometer is how much Coach Hayes was able to get during his tenure. I mean he made ribs and sauce for people and he wasn't pulling in millions, let alone 100,000. I understanding shooting for the moon but don't miss and end up shooting yourself in the a$$. Basically if it's me doing the negro-tiating I'm going in with different tiers of giving starting at a mere 25 bucks that gets your name in the program, just like the annual fund. Nobody's gonna turn down 25 bucks if you ask them for it and most will probably go up to 100 bucks. From there let them outbid and embarass each other. If I'm Crown Auto and I'm being outshined by Gate City Mazda that's embarassing to me.
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Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 17, 2006 15:03:33 GMT -5
Nah, you're talking that bake sale/ car wash type isht. I'm talking about playing a couple rounds of golf with the C.E.O of a fortune 500 company to seal a multi-million dollar deal type isht.
You're thinking Maury Povich right now. I'm thinking Larry King.
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Post by DOOMS on Oct 17, 2006 15:24:25 GMT -5
How much did Hayes get from Sara Lee? How much did Renick swing from Ford? They're still major corporations, right? I'm just going off set precedent.
Right now we're both just talking. The last time I checked fortune 500 companies weren't playing golf with hbcu boosters looking to throw money their way. They buy naming rights for pro stadiums that are on t.v. every week and seat 75,000 folks. We simply don't have that to offer, point blank. What could you possibly tell a Fortune 500 company to convince them to spend millions on A&T athletics?
Isn't Larry King getting senile?
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