Sid: Teague insists U will break ground on new facillities this fall

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,810
Reaction score
16,257
Points
113
per Sid:

Teague on new facilities

While others aren’t as optimistic, Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague insists they will be breaking ground on new sports facilities on campus this fall.

Teague admits they have raised only $70 million of the $150 million necessary to build all the facilities, but he believes he has a solution. After the initial $70 million, ongoing fundraising should raise $20-$30 million more by the time workers break ground.

Then Teague says the athletic department is in good enough financial shape that they could borrow $20 million as a mortgage. Finally, university President Eric Kaler has indicated the administration would loan the athletic department $20 million.

Teague says they will continue raising money while building takes place, and he is confident the complete amount will be secured to build all the facilities.

The university Board of Regents are expected to approve this plan in June.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/nfl/302321551.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 



Anyone else not trust Teague? He comes across as a slimeball to me.
 



SJUgopher said:
Anyone else not trust Teague? He comes across as a slimeball to me.
Click to expand...

Whether or not I trust him going forward will depend largely on whether or not we break ground this fall. He seems confident, so hopefully he is going to get it done.
 

SJUgopher said:
Anyone else not trust Teague? He comes across as a slimeball to me.
Click to expand...
No, wait, I think everyone else was calling him a car salesman (much worse than slimeball). I'm actually willing to wait on him and assess his performance.
 

Well at least some of you can stop bitching about the secret plan to break ground this fall...he has laid it out.

$20-30 mil more in donations to lock up before the June regents meeting, $20 mil loan from the U and $20 mil loan from the bank. Lets see, thats $70 +$20+$20+($20-30) = $130-$140 Mil. They need another $10-20 mil to finish the project and then ongoing fund raising to pay off the mortgage and loan. Plus the new B1G TV contract could close to double the money from TV in a couple of years...so paying off the debt could come sooner. And if Football keeps winning and BB starts winning..the new ticket donations will drive new revenue as well.
 

He did raise $70 million in private donations for facilities. Not sure why there is not more love.
 



It's interesting to hear Teague talk about 20 MM loans from the university, etc when higher education systems in less enlightened places are readying for large (Wisconsin) and in some cases (Louisiana) catastrophic cuts.

Thank God we hail from a state that values education.

LSU drafting 'academic bankruptcy' plan

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/04/lsu_academic_bankruptcy.html#incart_river

Wisconsin looks to cut higher Ed by 300M

https://www.insidehighered.com/news...ut-higher-ed-300m-tries-give-something-return
 


GopherinPhilly said:
Well at least some of you can stop bitching about the secret plan to break ground this fall...he has laid it out.

$20-30 mil more in donations to lock up before the June regents meeting, $20 mil loan from the U and $20 mil loan from the bank. Lets see, thats $70 +$20+$20+($20-30) = $130-$140 Mil. They need another $10-20 mil to finish the project and then ongoing fund raising to pay off the mortgage and loan. Plus the new B1G TV contract could close to double the money from TV in a couple of years...so paying off the debt could come sooner. And if Football keeps winning and BB starts winning..the new ticket donations will drive new revenue as well.
Click to expand...

I'm not impressed if the "plan" is taking out more loans. That's a bit of a cheat, no? Sure, any loan can be replayed if amortized out for a long enough period. But is that wise? I'm not sure we are getting our money's worth. Just my opinion.

If they were straightforward about this plan from the beginning there may have been more discussions about controlling costs. What entity is auditing the bidding and construction processes? The dept will need to grapple with paying the students and family travel costs, etc which will eat into the revenue gains in the future. It is almost a certainty now with recent Power 5 missteps that athletes will be able to unionize in the relatively near future which will ignite an arms race.
 

If people are upset then donate some money. Put your money where your mouth is.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
I'm not impressed if the "plan" is taking out more loans. That's a bit of a cheat, no? Sure, any loan can be replayed if amortized out for a long enough period. But is that wise? I'm not sure we are getting our money's worth. Just my opinion.

If they were straightforward about this plan from the beginning there may have been more discussions about controlling costs. What entity is auditing the bidding and construction processes? The dept will need to grapple with paying the students and family travel costs, etc which will eat into the revenue gains in the future. It is almost a certainty now with recent Power 5 missteps that athletes will be able to unionize in the relatively near future which will ignite an arms race.
Click to expand...

Just because they didn't 'consult' with you, and keep you 'in the loop' on all details, doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing.
 

Sometimes they really don't know what they're doing.

Anyone can take out a loan or ask the university or state/taxpayers to back bonds. If fundraising isn't on schedule let's call a spade a spade. Hoping for future donations to repay fairly large loans belongs in the "hope" school of strategy.

We have not seen any details on the financials of these deals. Seems like there should be greater transparency on the associated costs.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Sometimes they really don't know what they're doing.

Anyone can take out a loan or ask the university or state/taxpayers to back bonds. If fundraising isn't on schedule let's call a spade a spade. Hoping for future donations to repay fairly large loans belongs in the "hope" school of strategy.

We have not seen any details on the financials of these deals. Seems like there should be greater transparency on the associated costs.
Click to expand...

As long as the end result is transparent. Sometimes you have let the people that were hired do their job and support them.

Just because every 'fan' hasn't been told every detail doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing or hiding something.

Who says they can't finance some it or use the BTN revenue increase....or even money from somewhere else.
 

Some people here want Denny's quid pro quo. That tells you all you need to know about how moronic this topic can be.

Let the process play out. Stop worrying so much.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Sometimes they really don't know what they're doing. Anyone can take out a loan or ask the university or state/taxpayers to back bonds. If fundraising isn't on schedule let's call a spade a spade. Hoping for future donations to repay fairly large loans belongs in the "hope" school of strategy. We have not seen any details on the financials of these deals. Seems like there should be greater transparency on the associated costs.
Click to expand...

You think the Regents won't have the same questions? I suggest you look at the agendas and minutes to come over the next months.
 

I'm not sure why any individual is concerned about the university basically taking out a loan from itself. I understand that technically it is a public university so it can be rationalized that it is "our" money, but it's not like you will ever feel the pinch or notice anything. Just get it done. People hated Maturi because he was just a limp placeholder. Teague is proactively raising money - I swear Minnesotans are never satisfied. Fundraising and sales are always going to be somewhat "slimy" because you are trying to extract money from people. I bet Teague is shocked at how un-slimy he has to be in this state. Slime away, sir!
 

GopherHomer said:
I'm not sure why any individual is concerned about the university basically taking out a loan from itself. I understand that technically it is a public university so it can be rationalized that it is "our" money, but it's not like you will ever feel the pinch or notice anything. Just get it done.
Click to expand...

The issue for some under this scenario is that Teague continues to change the rules (that he, himself, set). Because the initial plan was so bizarre, it ultimately had to happen (and has to some degree, but not enough).

I understand the perspective of those concerned and don't like the path Teague has taken so far. But changing the plans and the rules is how this "plan" can "work".

"Hey, this is important stuff. My plan wasn't going to get done fast enough so I had to change up the rules to the game. Pay up - we're building now."

Could get interesting...
 


To be fair, I see Teague being between a rock and a hard place. Teague more or less promised that the facility project would break ground this fall. He has a very popular FB coach who has been actively lobbying for this project to get done, and who also predicted that work would begin this year.

If they don't break ground in 2015, Teague looks bad, and Kill looks bad in the eyes of recruits who were told this project is happening.

In other words, Teague doesn't have a (good) choice. No matter how fund-raising is going, he has to find a way to break ground this fall - hence the "new" plan that relies on loans to cover 1/3 of the money needed to break ground. If Teague is the top-notch fundraiser (as he was advertised on his hiring), he should be able to raise the money to pay off the loans. If he can't come up with the money within a reasonable time-frame, then the do-do will really hit the fan.

And, to be fair, once construction starts, and they have some tangible progress to show people, that might grease the skids for the prospective donors who are still on the fence, or (apparently) taking a long time to finalize the amount of their donations.
 

Sit back and relax people. Let Teague do is job.

I'm sure if anyone here had a chance to visit with NT, and he were to tell him everything, they would leave saying 'I didn't realize that'.

Now what about uniform combos?
 

station19 said:
Sit back and relax people. Let Teague do is job.

I'm sure if anyone here had a chance to visit with NT, and he were to tell him everything, they would leave saying 'I didn't realize that'.

Now what about uniform combos?
Click to expand...

All white with black high top shoes!!!
 

It's my recollection that the initial plan was to raise $190 million over a period of five years. That was what, about two years ago? We then were told that they needed $150 million of that to get started. Assuming that NT is right that they are in the process of finalizing some significant donations, it would appear to me that the fundraising part of this is largely on track. I think what's happening is that JK started pushing for a faster construction schedule, which they are trying to accommodate.
 

Don't sweat it. As soon as I get my refund from the IRS, the project is pretty much covered.;)
 


Gopher Warrior said:
The issue for some under this scenario is that Teague continues to change the rules (that he, himself, set). Because the initial plan was so bizarre, it ultimately had to happen (and has to some degree, but not enough).

I understand the perspective of those concerned and don't like the path Teague has taken so far. But changing the plans and the rules is how this "plan" can "work".

"Hey, this is important stuff. My plan wasn't going to get done fast enough so I had to change up the rules to the game. Pay up - we're building now."

Could get interesting...
Click to expand...

My question would be why is this a concern to some? Are those that are concerned directly involved in the project? If not directly involved why so bothered by the process?

This is the U's plan. Unless they are asking for taxpayer dollars which I don't believe they have this notion of concern or the idea they need to share their plan is based on what?
 

scools12 said:
This is the U's plan. Unless they are asking for taxpayer dollars which I don't believe they have this notion of concern or the idea they need to share their plan is based on what?
Click to expand...

A sense of entitlement and general arrogance?
 

Gopher Warrior said:
The issue for some under this scenario is that Teague continues to change the rules (that he, himself, set). Because the initial plan was so bizarre, it ultimately had to happen (and has to some degree, but not enough).

I understand the perspective of those concerned and don't like the path Teague has taken so far. But changing the plans and the rules is how this "plan" can "work".

"Hey, this is important stuff. My plan wasn't going to get done fast enough so I had to change up the rules to the game. Pay up - we're building now."

Could get interesting...
Click to expand...

What effing rules? Difficult projects all have twists and turns.

He is NOT BREAKING ANY RULES. What a dumb statement.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom