USF needs an identity. Actually, no–not the school itself, because the university is doing just fine. It attracts internationally-renowned scholars and gains status in the medical field cementing its place as a destination for higher learning every single day. It is a school that has one of the highest-funded nursing programs in the country for public schools and is intertwined with one of the premier hospitals in the world fighting Cancer. Things are fine in terms of USF’s identity as a school.
Of course we are talking about football. Winning helps build an identity in sports, but when winning isn’t necessarily around all the time, you’ve got to find other ways to get butts in the seats. The ability to leave the game early if your team isn’t having their best day on the field and take a stroll through campus to remind yourself of better times isn’t possible if you attended USF and go to a home game. The experience of showing your children or friends where you “suffered” through classes and acted “responsibly” in the dorms only exists if you want to pile them up in the car and drive fifteen to twenty minutes further down the road after you’ve likely sweat thirteen pounds, have heat stoke and mild dehydration on top of it–because, September in Florida.
We know it’s easier said than done and that it takes more layers of bureaucracy than your favorite taco-dip in order to build an on-campus stadi–scratch that–build on an on-campus “experience”, but the clamoring and calling for it to happen–from those that can actually make it so–is starting to cause a ground swell that is producing waves of momentum that you can actually ride.
Although the most recent “public” statements pertaining to the “5 W’s” of the new stadium come from last year, that hasn’t stopped us and several others from hearing that things might be closer than we realize. To refresh, last May, Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik suggested relocating the MOSI to downtown in order to make room for the USF’s new digs. With the Morsani School of Medicine receiving full-support from city leaders and approved funding from the schools’ Board of Governors during that same time, those two relocations to downtown could be HUGE for Vinik’s plans to turn that area into a world-class destination for tourists and businesses plus give the alumni and current students–pretty much EVERYONE involved with USF–the gameday experience they’ve been waiting on all these years by building the stadium on the land that the MOSI currently occupies.
Like we mentioned earlier, if you can’t win all the time, you’ve got to find ways for people to spend the time they have when they’re not watching you lose. It may be grounded in a bit of romanticism for the lore of Saturday’s on campus in the fall, but it’s a very real draw for graduates whether their team is good or not. Of course the students should be able to walk to games instead of putting themselves in positions to experience a night in jail versus their dorm room, but that’s a different argument.
One of the most overlooked things about on-campus stadiums and gameday experiences is that they tend to create tons of impulse buying. People get antsy at their tailgates and head to the bookstores to buy clothes, or head to the convenience stores to stock or re-stock on ice and beverages. Last time we checked, those things are not exactly “accessible” adjacent to Raymond James. Not unless you want to take your life into your own hands playing human frogger on Dale Mabry or Columbus. Last time we checked, you can’t walk fifty feet without walking past a convenience store or a place to buy USF gear on Fowler Avenue. That’s revenue lost. Gameday experience lost as well.
The fact that the two newest stadiums in the country come from in-state public universities probably helps get this process sped-up, too. FAU’s stadium has a press box that literally overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and even though the Owls aren’t winning conference titles just yet, they’re starting to win recruiting battles because they can produce an on-campus experience to go with those views.
And it goes without saying that a first-class atmosphere at an on-campus stadium helps with recruiting. Look, the one thing the Bulls HAVE been able to do amidst the down years in wins and losses is recruit. Imagine what you can sell to players that are committing to schools that are located in towns that, if not for the school itself–would be smaller than high school populations JUST to play in a “live” atmosphere. Just think what happens when you pair a stadium such as UCF’s in the setting around USF’s campus? Those same players may be thinking twice about going to the middle of nowhere when they can feel like they’re on a campus that just-so-happens to be in a big city.
UCF’s stadium has already gone through renovations and expansion which should give USF’s supporters great confidence given the fact that when the school announced their plans–editorials from the Orlando Sentinel’s columnists popped up claiming it was a death blow to the Citrus Bowl. WELP–the Citrus Bowl has already received a new upgrade itself since the Knights opened up their stadium and “The Bowl” is attracting events like a THIRD bowl game and FSU’s spring practice and Labor Day night kickoff game against Ole Miss. Some impact their little ole on-campus field had on the Citrus Bowl, huh?
It’s time, Tampa. It’s time. It’s not a cliche. If you build it, they will come. Open up the pen and release the Bulls on-campus as soon as you can. Although it will take much more than another piece devoted to ranting on the subject such as this, it needs to be kept in the forefront of the minds of those that really need this type of experience in their city. It’s more than just a football stadium, it’s an experience–something no amount of money can replace. An experience that “identifies” with being a Bull.