ASU Football Competing On And Off The Field
by July 9, 2015 4:50 pm 114 views
The recent completion of nearly $40 million worth of construction projects at or near Centennial Bank Stadium will give Arkansas State University a greater opportunity to compete in the business of college sports, an official with the Red Wolves Foundation told a chamber group Thursday.
Adam Haukap, the executive director for the Red Wolves Foundation, spoke to the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Jonesboro Young Professionals Network group about the projects.
The projects include a $12 million Student Activities Center as well as a $20-$25 million renovation of the west side of the stadium.
The Student Activities Center will include an indoor practice facility for the university’s football, baseball, golf and rugby teams, while the renovation involved expanding the press box, coaches box and broadcast booth at the stadium.
Haukap said college sports has changed a lot in the past several years.
Haukap noted the creation of the College Football Playoff has increased the competition not only on the field, but also among programs.
“You have to not only compete against the Sun Belt. We are also competing against schools like Memphis and SMU,” Haukap noted, saying schools from the smaller conferences battle for one position in the College Football Playoff bracket and a multi-million dollar payout. “So you have to compete with the top level.”
Having new facilities as well as word of mouth can bring teams to Jonesboro plus recruit students and student athletes, Haukap said.
ASU starts its season Sept. 5 at USC in Los Angeles, then returns home Sept. 12 to face Missouri.
The new facilities as well as several consecutive bowl bids have gotten the interest of other schools.
ASU has several high-profile games on the schedule in the next few years.
The Red Wolves travel to Auburn and host UCA in 2016, travel to Nebraska and host Miami of Florida in 2017 plus has home games against UNLV in 2018 and SMU a year later.
The Nebraska game brings $1.6 million into the ASU athletic budget, while the other games help build name ID, Haukap said.
Another part of the picture is television.
ASU will have four games on television this season, with the USC game on the Pac 12 Network, an Oct. 13 game at South Alabama on ESPN2, an Oct. 20 game with Louisiana-Lafayette on ESPN2 and a Nov. 5 game at Appalachian State on ESPNU.
Two other games – the Missouri game and a Sept. 19 game against Missouri State – will be aired online on ESPN3.
Haukap said ASU and the Sun Belt have benefited from having a good contract with ESPN. The cable network typically airs Sun Belt games on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
“I am a conventional fan and I like the games on Saturday. But the Tuesday games, you would not believe this but they are one of the biggest draws each week (on ESPN),” Haukap said.