UofO Matthew Knight Arena | Complete

[MarkDaMan]

Oregon arena could be most expensive of its size
11:24 PM PST on Sunday, February 25, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS


EUGENE, Ore. -- The price tag for the University of Oregon's sought-after new arena could be well above $200 million, making it one of the most expensive of its size ever.

According to documents obtained by the Register-Guard newspaper under the state public records laws, the University of Oregon estimated last year it would take $213.5 million to pay for the project once land costs are figured in. That's substantially more than the $160 million estimate university officials most recently used.

Allan Price, the UO's vice president for advancement, said the lower price was an estimate based only on costs directly related to construction. It did not take into account the cost of acquiring a former bakery and a former car lot, which would provide space for the arena and parking.

Still, the direct construction costs at the time the estimate was written early last year were put at about $175.5 million, Price acknowledged.

"The best-case scenario is we would be able to build an arena that is going to serve the needs of the university for the next 100 years ... a facility that's going to help stabilize the budget of the athletic department and move it from self-supporting to self-sustaining," he said. "A building like that is not inexpensive."

The UO wants a replacement for aging McArthur Court, which doesn't meet needs for fan amenities or revenue generation.

The university has struggled to get its arena project restarted after UO President Dave Frohnmayer pulled the plug on an earlier effort three years ago. At that time he said the cost -- an estimated $180 million not including parking -- were too high. That would have been the most expensive college arena ever.

But the UO still wants the best arena it can get.

The Web site of TVA Architects, which is working with the firm Ellerbe Becket on the design, calls the proposed facility a "theater of basketball."

The renewed effort seeks a 12,500-seat arena complex of about 400,000 square feet with a number of high-end amenities.

"I don't think the university has anything to be embarrassed about, and I think we have a lot to be proud of," he said. "I think we should aspire to greatness where that opportunity presents itself."

Price cautioned that the documents captured from correspondence with the athletic department are just a snapshot of the vision for the project a year ago and not the numbers that would be used in a final design. Those figures could vary greatly depending on construction and design plan changes, including changing the location.

The university anticipates that much of the money for the arena will come from private donors, one document estimated $123 million. Another $55 million would come from bonds repaid from arena revenues. Those two sources would cover most of the direct construction costs.

The university previously sold bonds to purchase the bakery and car dealer property.

The UO arena could be among the elite college arenas in terms of cost.

The next most expensive arena recently built is the 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia, with a construction cost of about $150 million, including a parking garage and new road.

The city of Louisville, Ky., is planning a 22,000-seat downtown arena that will be the home of the University of Louisville basketball teams. It is expected to cost $250 million, but that is for a far larger building aimed at hosting many non-basketball events.

http://www.kgw.com/sports/stories/kgw_022507_sports_oregon_arena.13c01080.html


renderings can be found at www.tvaarchitects.com

[JoshYent]

yes!

even though im a OSU student, i think this is great news for UO they NEED a new arena badly!

[WonderlandPark]

USC built their arena for $75 million, holds over 10K and was completed late last year. Built in a dense city, has plenty of nice amenities, and I think a parking garage went in as part of it.

The Rose Garden cost $262 million for a full on pro arena and grounds with luxury booths and the whole bit.

[MarkDaMan]

anyone have the financing specifics? I thought a majority of the costs would be paid through private donations.

[360Rich]

anyone have the financing specifics? I thought a majority of the costs would be paid through private donations.

excerpt taken from http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/02/25/a1.uoarena.0225.p1.php

Much, but not all, of the money for the arena is expected to come from private donors, a total contribution one document placed at $123 million. Another $55 million would come from bonds repaid from arena revenues, either by the university or National Championship Properties, the private nonprofit group formed by the UO Foundation that is expected to build, own and manage the arena.

[MarkDaMan]

C'mon, we all know Phil Knight will anonymously cover the difference...or at least we can always hope...

[360Rich]

^^Especially now that Kilkenny has replaced Moos as the AD.

As an Oregon alumnus, I have mixed feelings about the proposed arena. I'm up for progress and advancement of the athletic program, and realize that it is a great recruiting and marketing tool. However, the ambiance of Mac Court and the feeling of being right above the floor is hard to describe if you haven't been in there when it's packed and the upper deck is shaking.

[Chicago3rd]

Sorry...I never want to lose MacCourt.

[Fiat Lux]

Sorry...I never want to lose MacCourt.

I agree. It is a classic.

[Dougall5505]

I love mac court but I love UO basketball more and when you think of the recruits a new arena can lure (USC's new arena and #1 prep star O.J. Mayo) the good outweighs the bad. Here's to a deep run for the ducks in this years NCAA tourney! :cheers:

[65MAX]

C'mon, we all know Phil Knight will anonymously cover the difference...or at least we can always hope...

Of course, that's the ONLY way this will get built.

[zilfondel]

I went to UO for awhile before I transferred to PSU.

Gotta say, if they can pull off something this posh without making taxpayers pay for it, go right ahead! That would be a great asset for Eugene.

[westsider]

I love mac court but I love UO basketball more and when you think of the recruits a new arena can lure (USC's new arena and #1 prep star O.J. Mayo) the good outweighs the bad. Here's to a deep run for the ducks in this years NCAA tourney! :cheers:


Well, USC is on their own level. I would imagine that a promising young recruit would rather play for a good team in southern California than a good team in backwater Oregon.

[MarkDaMan]

a good team in backwater Oregon.

In all my travels, I've never met another person who thought Oregon was 'backwater' country. I have met people that didn't know where Oregon was, but never has anyone put us in the same category as Mississippi or Louisana.

I understand the importance of sports and the need to have some star players to get your school name on a national scale, like Joey's billboard in Time Square, but $250M in upgraded dorms, and than a second wave for updated classrooms would do a helluva lot more attracting thousands of qualified out of state students (paying out of state tuition), than the 15 or so students a year (mostly on full paid scholarships) coming because they can play in a fancy new stadium. I think the university, and their donors, need to be a little more rounded when it comes to appropriating their donations.

[PacificNW]

While I may agree with you Mark, those making donations can donate their millions to whatever cause they desire.

[MarkDaMan]

^I certainly agree, and am happy a donor stepped forward to start OHSU's first South Waterfront Campus building, even though there are those that said it should be put toward OHSU's part of paying off the tram. However, while sports at UofO are getting world class facilities, accomidating a handful of the total students, the rest of the college is cutting back, and the dorms, oh those nasty dorms...

[westsider]

In all my travels, I've never met another person who thought Oregon was 'backwater' country. I have met people that didn't know where Oregon was, but never has anyone put us in the same category as Mississippi or Louisana.

By backwater Oregon I meant Eugene. Think what you will about it but as far as I can tell UO is the only thing it has going for it.

[MarkDaMan]

they have Bus Rapid Transit now too...that's a start...and they aren't backwater...just granola.

[brandonpdx]

^UO also just built some brand new dorms that are probably some of the nicest in the country. Now, they do still have those dungeon dorms.

I don't see Eugene as a backwater either. In what way is it backwater country?

[pdxman]

No way is eugene backwater...try salem and its surroundings and vancouver and its surroundings--to me thats backwater.

[Ronin]

Wasn't UO accused recently of fielding "The best team money can buy?" (albeit that was for the football team)

I'm sure Phil Knight would be more than happy to foot some of the bill.

[oilcan]

Wasn't UO accused recently of fielding "The best team money can buy?" (albeit that was for the football team)

I'm sure Phil Knight would be more than happy to foot some of the bill.

Examples like outside funding for a Joey Harrington Heisman billboard in New York and the NCAA's best locker room at Autzen Stadium might suggest that to a certain degree but, the Ducks record in football since 2001 destroys any realistic truth to that.. USC, WSU alone in the conference since 2001 have had much better success on the field.

[65MAX]

^^^^
This arena won't be built without Phil Knight's $$$$

[360Rich]

http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics12/400/UB/UBRGAOEFJTSLYMJ.20070426231149.jpg

http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics12/400/TH/THNVCTHUABWHEYE.20070426231124.jpg

A 3 minute video as well at

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=876547

Kilkenny emphasized that the model, which also includes a practice court as well as other amenities, is an example of what the proposed arena could look like and that no definitive decisions have been made.

[Dougall5505]

looks good! I can't wait to see it built, although it will be hard to replace the pit
go ducks!

[WestCoast]

outside looks ugly and doesn't seem to fit in well with the rest of the campus.

really though, who cares, build the thing!

[Chicago3rd]

Save Mac Court! No new areana.

Backwater...that is a term associated normally with hillbillies and conservatives and Eugene is almost Marxist.......so that is an ignorant observation about Euguen.

That being said...many parts of Oregon, rural, are quite similar to West Virginia...economicially depressed.

[northface]

hmm...its okay...

[MarkDaMan]

HOLY CRAP!

Knight gift to UO draws gasps
Donation - The Nike co-founder pledges $100 million to Oregon's athletic department, the largest to a university in the state
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
RACHEL BACHMAN
The Oregonian

EUGENE -- Phil Knight, Nike co-founder and an ardent alumnus of the University of Oregon, and his wife, Penny, have pledged $100 million to Oregon's athletic department, the largest gift of any kind to a university in Oregon.

The donation, announced Monday in a news conference at the university's Casanova Center, will form an athletic endowment whose ultimate goal is to sustain Oregon's athletic department in perpetuity. In the short term, it will jump-start the university's stalled campaign to build a $180 million basketball arena to replace 81-year-old McArthur Court.

"This extraordinary gift, which it's hard to find words to describe, allows the University of Oregon and its athletic department to reach for new heights otherwise unthinkable," said university President Dave Frohnmayer.

Knight, 69, did not attend the news conference. Through a Nike spokesman, he declined comment.

Knight revealed the donation Saturday to about 100 Oregon donors he had invited to the Nike campus near Beaverton, and his guests gasped when they heard the news, Frohnmayer said. Pat Kilkenny, the former Oregon booster who was hired as Oregon's athletic director this year, recalled the moment with awe.

"Not to be sacrilegious, but it was almost spiritual," Kilkenny said.

Knight's legacy is entwined with that of the University of Oregon, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1959 and ran for legendary track coach Bill Bowerman, co-founder of what would become Nike.

Knight has donated an estimated $200 million to Oregon, including money for renovation of Autzen Stadium, endowed chairs, financing for construction of a law building and a renovation of Oregon's main library. Including Monday's donation, about three-fourths of that amount has gone to athletics.

Nathan Tublitz, a UO biology professor and critic of UO's athletic spending, said he was disappointed with the nature of the donation, which comes on the heels of more than $100 million in spending on Oregon athletic facilities in the past 10 years.

"The priorities of the university are totally out of whack when so much money can go to an ancillary activity of the university when the rest of the university goes begging," said Tublitz, who also is co-chairman of a national academic reform group, the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Frohnmayer said the direction of the donation was Knight's decision, and that the majority of construction projects in the past 10 years have been for academics.

Knight stepped down as Nike CEO in 2004 but maintains an active role in the company. He sold $1 billion of Nike stock in 2005, and he has just begun to part with it.

Last year he gave $105 million, his largest gift, to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he earned a master's in business administration.

After Knight's donation, Oregon needs an additional $50 million -- $20 million of which has been pledged -- to break ground on a basketball arena, said Jim Bartko, a senior associate athletic director who has been the department's liaison to Knight.

Dennis Howard, the Philip H. Knight Professor of Business at the University of Oregon, who has studied donor behavior in college athletics, said Knight's gift is tied for the second-largest ever given to a collegiate athletic department.

Last year, hedge-fund chairman T. Boone Pickens gave $165 million to Oklahoma State University to renovate the football stadium that bears his name and to launch a fund-raising campaign for a 100-acre sports complex. In 1998, casino owner Ralph Engelstad, a former University of North Dakota goalie, gave $100 million to build a hockey arena for his alma mater that now bears his name.

"Most of these legacy gifts don't go to athletic programs," Howard said. "They typically go in support of more traditional academic programs."

Knight's donation is by far the largest to an Oregon university.

Among recent donations in the state, Lois Bates Acheson donated $21 million to Oregon State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, the school announced in 2005. Acheson, a 1937 OSU graduate, and her husband, Robert, owned a regional trucking company and later started Black Ball Transport, a ferry service that operates between Port Angeles, Wash., and Victoria, B.C.

Portland State received its largest donation, $8 million, in 2004 from alumnus Fariborz Maseeh to the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Brian Meehan and Brent Hunsberger of The Oregonian contributed to this report.
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports/1187668514113150.xml&coll=7

[NJD]

posted 2-28-07

This arena won't be built without Phil Knight's $$$$

nice prediction 65MAX

[Okstate]

The priorities of the university are totally out of whack I don't understand, wasn't this a private venture by Knight NOT the University of Oregon? Here at Oklahoma State, we deal with the same criticism about Boone Pickens. Hate to break it to them, but acedemics WILL follow behind a notable athtletics program. Good players WILL go to top notch facilities.... end of story. I can't wait until the day Oklahoma State gets more in the spotlight as will the U of O. Our resumes will go that much further for us. Even if you're not an athletics kind of person, you should still understand the positive outcome that will occur. Just to prove a point, when Boone Pickens donated the $ to Ok State University, they pointed to the U of O as a positive outcome (their football program)

[Drew-Ski]

HOLY CRAP!

Knight gift to UO draws gasps
Donation - The Nike co-founder pledges $100 million to Oregon's athletic department, the largest to a university in the state
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
RACHEL BACHMAN
The Oregonian

EUGENE -- Phil Knight, Nike co-founder and an ardent alumnus of the University of Oregon, and his wife, Penny, have pledged $100 million to Oregon's athletic department, the largest gift of any kind to a university in Oregon.

Nathan Tublitz, a UO biology professor and critic of UO's athletic spending, said he was disappointed with the nature of the donation, which comes on the heels of more than $100 million in spending on Oregon athletic facilities in the past 10 years.

"The priorities of the university are totally out of whack when so much money can go to an ancillary activity of the university when the rest of the university goes begging," said Tublitz, who also is co-chairman of a national academic reform group, the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Brian Meehan and Brent Hunsberger of The Oregonian contributed to this report.
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports/1187668514113150.xml&coll=7


I find the arguments of Nathan Tublitz compelling....but , Its Phil Knight's money and he can do with it what he wants.

[Rhome]

I'm just going to assume that Phil Knight is giving where his passions are. In Aug. 2006, he donated $105 toward the new Stanford Biz School campus -- he graduated from there with MBA in '62. Give the guy a break, I'm sure he's not through giving.

[360Rich]

Prices, fees for new UO arena cited in report

At least 60 percent of the 12,500 seats will be reserved for donors; Oregon students would get 1,900

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
RACHEL BACHMAN
The Oregonian

A report released Monday offered the first glimpse at ticket prices for the University of Oregon's planned $200 million basketball arena, revealing that at least 60 percent of the 12,500 seats will be reserved for annual or one-time donors.

The report, issued by consulting firm CSL International, says annual ticket prices will range from $270 to $360 for an upper-bowl, general-admission seat to $1,600 to $2,000 for a reserved, lower-bowl seat that includes a mandatory annual donation.

University officials released the report just after 5 p.m. Monday. No one authorized to speak about it was available for comment.

Most of the arena's seats also would require a one-time construction fee, which the report says might be payable over three years, of $500 to $25,000 depending on seat location.

Each of 44 courtside seats would go for an average of $4,700 to $8,600 annually plus a construction fee of $50,000 to $100,000.

In all, at least 7,800 seats would go to annual donors or those who had paid a construction fee. Only about 1,600 seats would be available for general admission -- all in the arena's upper bowl -- and 1,900 for Oregon students.

Monday's report is the latest step in Oregon's quest to replace 81-year-old McArthur Court. University officials are racing to prepare materials that would persuade the Oregon Legislature in February to approve Oregon's use of $200 million in state-backed bonds to build the arena. Oregon officials hope to break ground next spring and open the arena in 2010.

The report's projections of ticket prices and donation levels are based on recent surveys of 1,334 Oregon donors and basketball and football ticket-holders, and Eugene and Portland corporations. Oregon's athletic department supplemented those surveys with an online survey of 1,537 members of the general public.

The report says Oregon faces "challenges and limitations with respect to the size of the local market, its buying power and its corporate base."

It shows that the 30-mile radius around the university has the ninth-ranked population in the Pacific-10 Conference, ahead of Washington State, and the seventh-ranked median household income. The Eugene area's "corporate inventory," defined as companies with at least 25 employees and $5 million in annual revenues, ranked eighth.

In 2006, Mac Court played host to 75 events and generated about $2.5 million after expenses. The report estimates a new arena could attract 65 to 100 events, including everything from sports competitions to concerts.

The report, compiled in 2010 dollars to reflect inflation, also offered the latest revenue projection for the arena: $9.6 million to $15.6 million in its first year.

That estimate is higher than CSL's 2003 report, which was $4 million to $7 million in 2006 dollars, and a university estimate from November of $8 million to $14 million.

Oregon's plan is to finance the arena by securing 40-year bonds for a total annual debt-service payment of $11.25 million.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1197960906175390.xml&coll=7

[Pavlov's Dog]

They'd might as well keep Mac Court if the students are going to get the squeeze. Frankly I don't know why all the rich cats want to go to an arena to root for the school team when there are no students there. Wealthy people tend to be quiet and sit on their hands. The atmosphere is half the point of going to a sporting event. You can't buy atmosphere.

[MarkDaMan]

^^^is that normal? Construction fees, $270 a ticket in the upper bowl...what the hell?

[360Rich]

The numbers sure don't look very promising to me....

Arena could thrive with proper management, study says

By Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

Published: December 19, 2007 02:00PM

Eugene is a pretty small town to support a major multipurpose university-owned arena, but with aggressive management, such a community edifice might succeed here, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the University of Oregon Athletic Department.

The arena would need aggressive sponsorships, an aggressive nonsports entertainment lineup and generous contributions from premium seat and season ticket holders to cover its costs, according to the report.

The analysis is another step along the way for the UO toward its long-held goal of building a new basketball arena along Franklin Boulevard in Eugene to replace the historic McArthur Court.

Alongside other Pac-10 cities with arenas, Eugene is comparatively puny in measures of market strength, according to the report:

The Eugene market’s population is 340,613, compared with a median population of 3.7 million in other Pac-10 markets.

Eugene residents are older, at 36.9 years, compared with a median of 35.8 in other Pac-10 cities.

Local residents have less to spend, with a median household income of $38,000, compared with $44,000 in other Pac-10 cities.

But what Eugene lacks in numbers, it makes up in enthusiasm, said Dave Sparks, UO Athletic Department accountant on the project.

“This is the major show in town,” he said, “and this community is very supportive of the University of Oregon Athletic Department. We’re probably disproportionately supportive as a community.”

The UO’s plan is to borrow $200 million to build the arena, seek to have revenue from the arena cover all operating costs and as much of the debt costs as possible, and then, if need be, use money from donors to cover the balance of annual debt service.

Under the report’s conservative scenario, the facility would need a donor subsidy of about $2 million a year to help cover the debt payments. Under the aggressive scenario, the facility would be able to cover all its operating and debt costs and would generate a surplus of about $4 million a year, the report said.

Dallas-based consultants Conventions Sports & Leisure based its break-even arena budget on the facility hosting as many as 28 concerts or family shows per year, in addition to 46 athletic events.

While McArthur Court can seat about 9,100 people, the proposed arena’s seating capacity of 12,500 would allow more than twice the ticket sales and a larger potential gross than any venue in Eugene-Springfield.

But it also offers a larger potential for loss, promoters say, and that will limit the number of shows that could be staged at a Eugene arena. Unnamed promoters interviewed by the consultants weren’t encouraging: They cited Eugene’s “relatively low population base” and lack of a track record for arena-scale events to explain their reluctance.

It’s difficult, in fact, to rally 2,500 concert-goers to fill the Hult Center’s main auditorium, said Jim Ralph, promoter and executive director of The Shedd.

Pop acts don’t draw like promoters expect, Ralph said. “The Hult Center has tried to target that audience, and they’re not doing it.”

In Ralph’s estimation, drawing an arena-sized crowd in Eugene two or three times a month all year isn’t possible. He books acts into The Shedd as well as into the Hult Center.

“In Portland, you’ve got a vastly bigger top-end potential for your concert, and generally your expenses are lower because flying in and out is so easy. Why come to Eugene when you can present in Portland?” he said.

Promoter Kit Kesey, who books the McDonald Theatre and the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, said 70 percent of the acts he narrowly loses in bidding wars he loses to Oregon’s biggest city.

“Portland is sitting up there with seven or eight times our population base when you really go into the sprawl. It’s less of a risk to put that size of show into a bigger city,” he said.

Another difficulty: Eugene audiences run out of concert dollars. Book too many similar acts in a row, Kesey said, and they compete with each other.

“You’re talking about entertainment dollars: how much there is and how far you’re going to spread it out,” Kesey said. “It gets segmented up pretty quickly.”

The Athletic Department also may have a tough time finding promoters willing to risk booking acts in such a large space, Kesey said.

“Eugene is a difficult town and a fickle town to come do concerts in,” Kesey added. “It’s borderline too small. Most of the promoters — and there’s only six in the Northwest — have been bit in Eugene.”

Kesey added that he’s a basketball fan with season tickets who supports the concept of a new arena for Eugene. “The university has all the power in the world, and they can pull anything off that they set their mind to, but from the view point of the industry, it would be a tough call,” he said.

Eugene’s most direct competitor when it comes to staging big events is the Rose Garden in Portland, which is home to the Trail Blazers, according to the feasibility study.

But a UO arena would have one advantage, said Laura Niles, city of Eugene cultural services director. The Rose Garden is a business, she said.

“It’s professional basketball; it’s not college. I see that as a very different model. My guess is if it’s a bad year, the university isn’t going to close it down. They have other ways to accommodate a low year.”

Ralph wondered if the Athletic Department was serious about attracting as many as 28 shows a year.

“I kind of suspect when they say they’re going to do shows there, it’s just a part of their prospectus,” he said. “I would be surprised if they made it an active part of what they’re going to do because it’s so hard to accomplish.”

Sparks of the UO said the concerts — although forecast to bring in as much as $1 million a year — are really negligible in terms of the financial package.

Does the university need the concert revenues?

“I’m reluctant to say ‘No’ because we want to maximize our revenue stream,” Sparks said. “That means we would have to sell more hot dogs if we don’t get that. To say we don’t need it would be an incorrect conclusion. We want to capitalize on every advantage this new arena would provide us.”

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=38022&sid=1&fid=1

[MarkDaMan]

Oregonian editorial

Tipoff time, with an assist from Salem
As long as Phil Knight stands between taxpayers and a UO arena, legislators should OK bonds for the project
Saturday, January 05, 2008
The Oregonian

W hen the University of Oregon's beloved McArthur Court opened in 1926, men's basketball was still just a game and women had to wait 50 more years for their own real team.

This arena is old, people. Older than television, older than the Great Depression, four generations older than the students who play in it. It needs to be replaced, and the Legislature should approve the bonds necessary for a new one.

The project itself has risk, but the risk to taxpayers is relatively low: The University of Oregon will rely on private donations to cover any shortfalls. Just as important, university officials know not to provoke the vindictive fury of legislators by asking for a sports-related bailout down the road.

Next month, arena backers will ask the Legislature to approve state-backed bonds for a $200 million arena to replace Mac Court. They'll describe the existing arena in all of its old-school glory, from the support beams that block views to the ultra-narrow seats designed before the invention of concession stands. They'll insist the new arena will be built to last.

"This thing's gotta last 80 years," university President Dave Frohnmayer said earlier this week.

University officials also will try to dazzle legislators with financial projections that support their cause. They'll stress that the revenue from ticket holders will cover the debt payments. They'll depict the new arena as self-sustaining through extra money from more seats and happier donors.

Legislators will wonder whether this is a sales job. As a general rule, it's safe to assume the numbers for any sports-related construction project are somewhere between accurate and too rosy. However, two entities help shield taxpayers from unrealistic projections and unforeseen events.

First are Ducks football fans who pump money into the Duck Athletic Fund. Their donations will subsidize basketball if necessary.

Second is Nike co-founder and UO alum Phil Knight, who pledged $100 million to a quasi-endowment fund that covers Ducks athletics. Money from this endowment can help fill gaps in the athletic department's operating budget if needed. As soon as the university has this money in the bank or under an airtight contract, legislators can feel comfortable proceeding.

Mac Court was a state-of-the-art facility once -- shortly after the era of peach baskets and hoop skirts. Today, it's worn out. The University of Oregon will benefit from a better venue for basketball and volleyball, not to mention for convocations and concerts. Eugene's economy will benefit as well. A well-timed assist from the Legislature can make this happen.

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1199498123260280.xml&coll=7

[zilfondel]

i love mac court

[MarkDaMan]

http://www.djcoregon.com/_images/articles/djc2nd-0117uoareana.jpg

Legislature could consider UO hoops arena in 2008
The Joint Ways and Means Committee today will decide whether to push the $200 million project forward
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PST Thursday, January 17, 2008
BY LIBBY TUCKER

The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means today will decide whether the full Legislature later this year will consider a $200 million basketball arena proposed for the University of Oregon, and builders anxiously await the committee’s decision.

“For us that’s very much on the radar, yet where’s the funding really going to land?” Nathan Gibson, a spokesman for Skanska USA, said. “How are we going to pass a bond? There’s quite a bit happening there right now, and it sure would be great to get a new stadium down there.”

The Oregon Board of Higher Education last year asked the Legislature to approve construction of the 380,000-square-foot arena. The state has already provided a $27.4 million bond to buy land for the project.

The board now seeks approval of a $200 million state bond to finance construction. Debt service on the bond would be paid entirely by the university.

“The U of O arena would be the largest (project) in the university’s history,” Bob Simonton, director of capital construction with the Oregon University System, said. “We’ve had stadium projects in the $100 million range, but not something that big.”

Private donors have promised more than $107 million to establish a new “legacy fund” for the university’s athletic department, but that promise is contingent on the university building the arena.

The state’s Legislative Fiscal Office says interest income from the fund and income from ticket sales at the new arena would be enough to cover the bond’s $22.5 million annual debt service.

If the Joint Ways and Means Committee today OKs a vote on the project, the bill will be forwarded to the full state Legislature in February. The project would then go back to the state Board of Higher Education for final approval.

“I think it will definitely be considered in the (Legislature’s) short session,” Sen. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby), a co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, said Wednesday. “I like the idea of taking athletics off the taxpayers’ dime, and the university agrees with this. Second, I’d like to reward the creativity of coming up with private funds and managing ticket sales.”
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2008/01/17/Legislature-could-consider-UO-hoops-arena-in-2008-The-Joint-Ways-and-Means-Committee-today-will-deci

[360Rich]

http://pmr.uoregon.edu/current-uo-news/archive/2008/january/current-uo-news/archive/2008/january/january-images/Arena_Rendering1-22.jpg/image_preview

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Jan. 22, 2008) -- The University of Oregon today released the latest conceptual design for a new $200-million arena, just days after a key legislative committee lent support to the project's financing package.

The architectural team of Ellerbe Becket/TVA Architects created the rendering as part of a pre-development effort that will continue to advance the design until a final decision is made on the project.

"We know more right now about the structure of the financing plan than we do about the final design of the arena," UO President Dave Frohnmayer said. "However this rendering illustrates why we have no doubt that the final product will be stunning."

While the design of the state-of-the-art, 12,500-seat arena is still taking shape, the financing plan received a boost after the Legislature's Joint Ways and Means Committee endorsed the plan last week. The financing package calls for 30-year state revenue bonds to cover the entire cost of the arena. The plan still must receive approval from the Oregon Legislature next month and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in March.

The current vision is the result of the design collaboration between Executive Architect Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City, a premier arena designer with extensive collegiate arena experience, and Design Architect TVA Architects, one of Oregon's preeminent design firms.

"It is our goal to create an outstanding facility that respectfully acknowledges the legend of McArthur Court and its historic role in collegiate athletics," said Bob Thompson, TVA Architects principal.

Ellerbe Becket has received acclaim around the world for creating high-performance sports facility design. The firm’s resume includes some of the world’s most notable venues – Centennial Olympic Stadium for the Atlanta Olympics, Madison Square Garden and Lambeau Field. Ellerbe Becket’s introduction to the University of Oregon came earlier this decade when the firm renovated Autzen Stadium. Other recent projects include the new John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia and the McCarthy Athletic Center at Gonzaga University. Approximately 90 million fans a year attend events in Ellerbe Becket sports and entertainment facilities.

TVA Architects Inc. is a nationally recognized architectural, planning and interiors firm based in Portland, Oregon. It is the recipient of over 50 local and national awards for excellence in design and is active designing projects throughout the United States and Asia. Established in 1984, the firm specializes in the design of athletic facilities, corporate headquarters, high-rise office and condominium towers as well as museums and private residences.

"We are very pleased with the most recent vision for a world-class arena to serve the University of Oregon and the entire state," UO Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny said. "I am personally extremely proud of our entire team, including the people who are working on the financing, marketing plan, design, construction and the many disciplines that it takes to make this project successful. Many exceptional people are putting in very long hours to create the best outcome possible."

The UO Athletic Department continues to evaluate ticket pricing concepts to ensure that the project remains financially solid while also continuing to provide opportunities for students and the community at large to enjoy the venue.

Frohnmayer acknowledged that the consultative process for the arena is not limited to the outcome of the financing package.

"We will continue to reach out to the many stakeholders on campus, in the surrounding neighborhood and throughout the community as the project progresses," he said.

The university and its development team will continue to release more details as the design process moves forward.

High res pic http://tinyurl.com/2udyhk

http://pmr.uoregon.edu/current-uo-news/archive/2008/january/arena?portal_status_message=

[Dougall5505]

wow the backside is reminiscent of autzen stadium. I love it!
http://www.tvaarchitects.com/flash.html (under current projects)

[pdxman]

Wow! That looks sweet :)

[pdxman]

I've been looking at more renderings on TVA's website and I must say, if this arena gets built this will be a huge step forward for sports in Oregon. The arena looks amazing and would definitely be the premiere sports place in the state. I for one hope this gets built. It would put Oregon on the map for college basketball and perhaps draw more NCAA events. I love it!

[MarkDaMan]

No suites for Duck fans at UO's new $200M arena
Portland Business Journal - by Don Muret Sports Business Journal

The most expensive college arena planned to date, the $200 million facility that the University of Oregon hopes to start building this year in Eugene, will not contain suites.

Projected for completion in 2010, it would be the first new arena in a Big Six conference to open without suites in 12 years. But that's the way big donors fueling the project, including Nike co-founder Phil Knight, prefer it, said officials principally involved in designing and developing the long-awaited arena.

"Suites don't drive interest in the program," said Jon Niemuth, Ellerbe Becket's principal designer for the project. Designers will instead focus on high-end club and courtside seats to help finance construction.

Texas A&M's Reed Arena was the last major conference men's basketball arena to open without suites, according to SportsBusiness Journal research. It didn't make sense to build suites at A&M in the late 1990s, when the basketball program was struggling and drawing crowds of less than 5,000, said sports facility consultant Bill Rhoda, who lives in Dallas but was not involved in the project.

"It's something colleges have to be aware of [because] they're a different animal," Rhoda said. "Suites are not as corporate-related as the pro products are."

Rhoda, a principal for CSL International, completed market research studies at Oregon, where the results proved that Ducks' season-ticket holders would rather pay a premium for sitting close to the floor than sit in a suite farther away from the action inside the 12,500-seat arena.

Ticket prices have not been determined, said Pat Kilkenny, Oregon's athletic director.

One reason for the absence of suites is that fans enjoy the old-school atmosphere at McArthur Court, the 81-year-old bandbox that gives the Ducks a distinct home advantage. Building suites in the new arena would eliminate that intimidating feel, Kilkenny said.

Throughout Division I, schools are conflicted over using luxury boxes to pay for new construction and renovations while maintaining a sense of egalitarianism on campus.

"The fact is, there are a lot of universities hesitant to create an 'us and them' atmosphere in their sports facilities," said Randy Bredar, vice president of marketing for J.E. Dunn Construction and a former college sports designer.

The challenge, Bredar said, is, "how do you create a finance model to support the facility itself?"

In Eugene, the 44 to 48 courtside and 4,000 to 5,000 club seats inside the new arena are tied to annual gifts, plus a one-time "construction fee."

"We felt we could sell club seating and other premium seats that would counterbalance the loss of the suites," Kilkenny said.

The financing behind Oregon's suite-free facility, 30-year bonds paid off by event revenue, has to be approved by the state Legislature and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in the next two months.

Don Muret is a staff writer with SportsBusiness Journal, an affiliated publication. Contact portland@bizjournals.com.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/02/04/smallb2.html?t=printable

[360Rich]

New website up for the new arena.

http://www.godunks.net/index.php

[Dougall5505]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2008/12/oregon_to_announce_arena_name.html

[WestCoast]

lots of excavation has happened, and looks like foundation work might start soon.

webcam (http://www.godunks.net/templates/uoaw_v1.0/webcam.html)

[zilfondel]

You know, this makes the MLS upgrade look pretty cheap

[ethirtysex]

I drove by today and was struck by the size of the hole they've dug. In terms of impressive holes it's a lot like PAW except more girth-y. I can't wait to see it start popping out of the ground.

[zilfondel]

^ you realize that you're supposed to take a picture of that hole too, right?

[ethirtysex]

Yeah I do, but my camera failed and no one likes phone pictures. When I get that taken care of and can find a good place to shoot from I'll have a picture of the big hole.

[PacificNW]

Here is a link to their webcam:

http://www.godunks.net/templates/uoaw_v1.0/webcam.html


Oops...sorry WestCoast....I didn't see your earlier post of the webcam...my bad!

[pylon]

I wonder if we'll see increased Amtrak ridership between PDX and Eugene when this is finished; and the PacNW in general with the Major League Soccer rivalry (PDX-SEA-VAN) coming 2011. If enough fans enjoy the convenience of Going by Train then maybe we'll see the beginnings of a tipping point for greater ridership in general.

Also, could Portland get some tourist spillover from Vancouver's Olympic games, and will Amtrak be ready?

[Okstate]

^ I could definitely see some higher ridership to/from Vancouver around that time (especially from PacNW areas) even if those visiting aren't going to the actual games but rather just to be around the "hub-bub". As for Amtrak ridership & the MLS I wonder if fan groups/tourism groups could reserve an entire car or two just for soccer fans much like they do with busses for such events.

[zilfondel]

^ I could definitely see some higher ridership to/from Vancouver around that time (especially from PacNW areas) even if those visiting aren't going to the actual games but rather just to be around the "hub-bub". As for Amtrak ridership & the MLS I wonder if fan groups/tourism groups could reserve an entire car or two just for soccer fans much like they do with busses for such events.

2nd train to Vancouver... only for the Olympics.

http://seattletransitblog.com/2009/04/02/2nd-amtrak-cascades-to-vancouver-approved/

[pylon]

Thanks, Zil.