Cheers, grilled food, touchdowns — that’s how every fall semester starts at the University of Wisconsin.
It makes coming back to school after a short summer that much better. Having the state of the art Camp Randall Stadium makes a football game day at UW an experience unlike any other. The stadium also just finished a $109 million renovation in 2005 and an $89 million student-athlete performance center, further securing Camp Randall’s position as a top-flight stadium.
But last week the UW Athletic Department sent out an email to supporters detailing more possible major renovations. Those renovations could include improvements to club seating and suite seating. One of the more interesting options would be a field-level club. Other improvements would include improved concessions areas and renovated restrooms.
According to Justin Doherty, the senior associate athletic director for external relations, nothing is set in stone or imminent, they are simply trying to gain feedback. But they wouldn’t have sent the email, including details of possible renovations, if they didn’t have an idea of what they want to do. The reason to renovate Camp Randall again is the decrease in ticket sales over the past two years.
The possible plans of another Camp Randall renovation begs the question, how is a stadium that had renovations 10 years ago already outdated and why are fewer and fewer people coming to games? If anything it is the football team’s results on the field and UW athletics should focus on the on-field product — but that is a topic for the sports section.
Wouldn’t the logical thing to do is put all the money garnered from college sports should be spent back into athletic programs, rather than facilities?
From 2012-13 UW ranked second among public colleges in both athletics revenue and expenses, trailing only the powerhouse of the University of Texas. UW had a revenue of almost $150 million and but also had expenses of almost $150 million.
Now, I’m a huge sports fanatic, I’ve been to every Badger home football game since I started attending school here and I’ve been to as many other sporting events as I could get to. I’m never going to say funding sports programs or giving back to UW athletics is bad, but spending more money on an already state of the art facility is not necessary.
Camp Randall is the crown jewel of this campus, but the stadium doesn’t need renovations all the time to keep it that way. Spending millions on something that isn’t really necessary is an absolute waste.
UW athletics gets an ample amount of donations, so naturally they look at places to spend those funds. But, besides the fact that in this instance the money would be going to the wrong place, donations should be given to the university in general instead of the athletic department.
That way donations could be used to help fund scholarships or help off-set budget cuts.
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Did I come to UW because I grew up in Wisconsin and grew up watching Badger games every Saturday? Sure. But I also came here to get a world-class education. Moreover, some of these renovations are ludicrous. Fans come to the game to watch the game, not to party in an end zone club or spend $6 on a brat.
Would it be nice to be able to piss in a better urinal at football games? Maybe. But I’d rather graduate with a diploma that’s worth a damn.
Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science.
