(A)Luxury Seating Building 66 luxury suites and 500 mezzanine seats along the east and west of Tyser Tower (To be done by start of 2009 season). (B)ADA Accessible Improving ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) seating and installing handrails in the lowe
On his first day on the job in 2001, football head coach Ralph Friedgen dreamed of someday expanding Byrd Stadium. When Athletics Department officials toured each ACC football venue, they brainstormed ways to increase Byrd Stadium’s capacity. Even as administrators celebrated new facilities, such as the Comcast Center and the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex, they pondered plans to enlarge Byrd Stadium.
“The problem was we could never figure out how to pay for them,” university President Dan Mote said.
Chevy Chase Bank solved that issue last week with a rare $20 million naming rights deal to help fund a luxurious stadium expansion project. As part of the deal, Byrd will be known as Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium until 2032.
“It’s fair to say that as an Athletics Department we’re extremely proud we’re able to proceed with Byrd’s renovation and expansions,” said Brian Ullmann, associate athletic director for external operations. “We’ve wanted this for a long time and Ralph has wanted this since he got here so we’re anxious to get this project underway.”
With the first addition since 1994, university officials are hoping to add revenue sources and aid recruiting by upgrading a stadium The Sporting News’s Matt Hayes recently ranked as fourth-least intimidating in the 12-team ACC.
Athletics Department officials said they are planning a $50.8 million redesign that increases stadium capacity by 2,000-3,000 through 50 to 60 luxury suites and about 500 mezzanine seats. The suites and seats will be built onto the east and west sides of Tyser Tower – the five-tier structure that houses the press box and 300 exterior luxury seats – resulting in a more symmetrical look for the 56-year-old stadium.
The Athletics Department also plans to better accommodate handicapped fans and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act by installing hand rails in the lower bowl. Specific terms of the expansion won’t be decided until a design firm is selected in the next few months. Athletics Department officials hope construction begins after the 2007 football season and concludes before the 2010 season.
In upgrading Byrd’s facilities through a naming rights deal, the Athletics Department is adding conventional amenities through unconventional means. Every ACC school except Duke and Wake Forest currently offers luxury suites.
However, no school nationally has sold the naming rights to its football field. Only a handful of colleges nationwide have naming right deals for their football stadiums. Of those few, none have separate agreements for their football and basketball venues, as this university now does with Chevy Chase Bank Field and the Comcast Center.
Zach Wahl, president of the student cheering group Red Army, said he does not mind the Athletics Department commercializing the athletic facilities “as long as they’re not compromising the integrity of Maryland athletics.”
“Money helps in recruiting and recruiting helps field a better team with better facilities,” he said.
The university was extremely careful about conspicuous displays of corporate influence on the campus, Mote said. He required any naming rights deal not include logos on the exterior of the stadium.
“I can’t stand the idea that someone would drive across this campus … and it’d be like driving down Baltimore Avenue,” he said.
Collegiate athletic venues have traditionally carried the names of large individual donors or extraordinary alumni. Byrd Stadium is named after Dr. H.C. “Curley” Byrd, a former multi-sport athlete, football coach and university president.
But the national landscape is changing, said David Carter, professor of sports business at the University of Southern California. State governments have grown reluctant to finance new and renovated stadiums and universities are growing more open to sponsorships with corporations, which are hungry to reach the college-age demographic.
“There is a lot of corporate interest in reaching this coveted market,” Carter said. “Companies like to have a chance to develop relationships with students at a time when they’re making preference decisions – which initial bank account to open, which initial cell phone service to use. They see reaching the students and reaching the alums as a great way to go.”
Chevy Chase clearly did. After months of intermittent talks with the Athletics Department earlier this year, the bank agreed to limit their logo exposure as well as generously cover the difference between the $35 million loan the state gave the Athletics Department and the $50 million expected cost.
“I think we get a great deal from this commitment,” said Pat Clancy, executive vice president of Chevy Chase Bank, at the press conference Thursday. “But perhaps as important, I think the entire community gets a great deal. It’s a great institution, the University of Maryland, and Chevy Chase Bank is a great institution. We’ve been a team for 10 years. This just develops that team a little more.”
The deal is the latest agreement in a decade-long partnership between the bank and the university. Mote estimated 76 of the bank’s senior officials are alumni of the University System of Maryland. Over the years, the bank has donated millions of dollars to the university and has a strong campus presence through many of its branches.
While the infusion of corporate cash will fund short-term plans, Carter said funding for long-term projects could be hindered by some boosters who may think there is no longer a need for their individual donations.
“You have to consider just how much more difficult the argument might become for boosters to give when they see corporate money flowing into the universities.”
The Athletics Department disagrees; to that end, Ullmann said plans are being made for a major fundraising drive. The department is also looking into selling naming rights to individuals for other facilities such as the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex and the Comcast Center Auxiliary Gym.
Wahl said students should cheer the naming rights deals because the more money a program takes in, the more money it can put into its teams.
“Money helps in recruiting and recruiting helps field a better team with better facilities,” he said. “You’re going to see a better football team on the field.”
Senior tailback Josh Allen believes the naming rights announcement has already helped the team.
“It gives us confidence,” he said. “It feels good to know that people are willing to invest and believe in us.”
POTENTIAL RENOVATIONS
To be completed after initial expansion
Lowering the field 30 inches to reduce the obstructed views of the first 10 rows of the lower bowl
Installing a new FieldTurf playing surface
Adding a retractable winter practice bubble
Eventually the department would like to enclose the upper deck (around the north end of the stadium) to the new Tyser Tower to create a whole horseshoe.
Senior staff writers Sara Murray and Stephen Whyno contributed to this article. Contact reporter Brendan Lowe at lowedbk@gmail.com.
