Thompson Boling Arena at Food City Center

[Volfan1000]

This is the future of fund raising.

 

[YankeeVol]

It's TBA AT FCC. TBA is still in the name, and it's first. Plus the school is getting $20 million.

ZERO issue with it.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

 

[VAWL FAN]

Sports are revolved around money now.

Fans will still continue to purchase tickets regardless what the name of the stadium is.

Seems kind of a pointless thing to get upset about but that’s just me.

Agreed.Yes the name is horrible but I don't understand why people let this ruin their day when our athletics are doing so well.

 

[Velo Vol]

What a clownish statement.

 

[txvol19]

I'll be in the corner crying.

So much for making fun of Kentucky. My UK buddy has already texted me, "At least we picked a half decent grocery store."

 

[Ghost of Archvol]

you had me at "updated exterior." thanks UT and food city. and it could have been the clayton home dome so i'm okay w/ food city.

we need to do something with that clayton home dome look on the outside though.

 

[joevols89]

It's TBA AT FCC. TBA is still in the name, and it's first. Plus the school is getting $20 million.

ZERO issue with it.

It might be first but FCC is about 3 times the size of TBA on the outside of that rendering is accurate.

$2 mill a year seems low for this.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

It might be first but FCC is about 3 times the size of TBA on the outside of that rendering is accurate.

$2 mill a year seems low for this.

Do you have numbers for other basketball arenas?

 

[Volpocalipse]

I was proud that we didn't have some kind of crap like Kroger Field or Carrier Dome. Then we go out and do something even more dumb like use Food City. Seriously, does anybody even shop at that crap hole?

 

[joevols89]

Do you have numbers for other basketball arenas?

No. I did see Oakland sold theirs for $5 mill for 10 years. Unless we are hurting for fundraising this should be a last resort.

 

[Chris4Vols22]

According to Wikipedia, TBA originally cost $40M to construct, which is estimated to be roughly $103M by today's standards. So, $20M is roughly 1/5 of the adjusted construction cost, and that sounds like more than small beans to me. As others have said, updating the exterior alone more than makes up for any qualms with the renaming imo.

 

[cncchris33]

What a clownish statement.

Towing the company line. Nothing more, nothing less. Not sure what you expected. It is not like Barnes is a loose cannon with a sordid history of controversial remarks that paint his boss in a bad light.

 

[joevols89]

According to Wikipedia, TBA originally cost $40M to construct, which is estimated to be roughly $103M by today's standards. So, $20M is roughly 1/5 of the adjusted construction cost, and that sounds like more than small beans to me. As others have said, updating the exterior alone more than makes up for any qualms with the renaming imo.

What do you think they’re doing with the exterior? From the picture it looks like they’re just adding a bit of texture to it.

 

[vols 30]

My pro football team plays in stadium associated with Ketchup. This isn't the worst thing

 

[joevols89]

No. I did see Oakland sold theirs for $5 mill for 10 years. Unless we are hurting for fundraising this should be a last resort.

Staples center $700 mill over 20 years with Crypto.com. I would like to think we probably could’ve gotten $4-5 mill a year. Since it’s a large multi purpose facility it’s probably worth more than a lot of college football stadium naming rights.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

According to Wikipedia, TBA originally cost $40M to construct, which is estimated to be roughly $103M by today's standards. So, $20M is roughly 1/5 of the adjusted construction cost, and that sounds like more than small beans to me. As others have said, updating the exterior alone more than makes up for any qualms with the renaming imo.

It was a cluster getting that thing built. Originally it was supposed to cost $25 million and be completed about two seasons earlier. The original general contractor went bankrupt. There was a bottomless sink hole that kept eating endless truckloads on concrete. Then they couldn’t hang a center scoreboard because the roof wouldn’t support it.

 

[Chris4Vols22]

What do you think they’re doing with the exterior? From the picture it looks like they’re just adding a bit of texture to it.

I don't expect them to rebuild it or cover the exterior with a different one. I would guess some texture, a better color, and updated signage would go a long way. Don't get me wrong, I have no idea what the end product will be, but it's hard to imagine it won't improve.

 

[joevols89]

According to Wikipedia, TBA originally cost $40M to construct, which is estimated to be roughly $103M by today's standards. So, $20M is roughly 1/5 of the adjusted construction cost, and that sounds like more than small beans to me. As others have said, updating the exterior alone more than makes up for any qualms with the renaming imo.

Also I think building a TBA size/quality arena today would be closer to triple or quadruple that based on what our baseball stadium renovations cost.

Apparently the recent renovations at Rupp were 241 million (not just arena costs iirc).

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

What do you think they’re doing with the exterior? From the picture it looks like they’re just adding a bit of texture to it.

Spackle.

 

[VolGee4]

1. Nobody will give a crap about the name. Itll still be Thompson Boling Arena in the same way that Heinz Field will still be Heinz Field.

2. If it means money for upgrades to make it a better experience, then that's great.

3. It's good to see us invest in the basketball program, which is pulling its weight right now too.

I see no downside to this. Im sure they'll come out with a "Pick 5" promotion for tickets lol

The difference between TBA and Heinz Field is that TBA is still the first part of the name. Heinz Field is not Heinz Field anymore at all, as I sat in it last September.

But I do agree with you. This is the way of the world, and we didn’t totally change the name.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

No. I did see Oakland sold theirs for $5 mill for 10 years. Unless we are hurting for fundraising this should be a last resort.

So we are getting 4x that?!

Kentucky football is getting $1.85m a year for football stadium naming rights, and we all know football is the money sport. $2m for hoops seems like a pretty solid deal to me.

 

[VolGee4]

I wonder if we'll be a trailblazer on that front, or wait until someone else does it first. Maybe I'm forgetting one but I don't think a big time program has done it yet to their stadium.

I would be surprised if they do it to Neyland. Ohio State basketball has naming rights on its arena, and Texas A&M baseball does as well. Two big schools in other sports.

Edit: In 2018, USC agreed to a naming rights deal with United Airlines to L. A. Memorial Coliseum. But there was some resistance, and they modified it to name the field. So, there is a big program that has done it.

 

[Vol49er]

Well they didn’t rename it “Food City Arena.” It is “TBA at Food City Center” according to UT’s tweet. So it’ll just be called TBA like it has been. I’m not even clear what’s been renamed, it’s not like the floor is named TBA and the rest Food City whatever. The whole arena is apparently still “Thompson-Boling Arena”, just “at” Food City Center. So what exactly does Food City Center refer to? Odd

 

[joevols89]

So we are getting 4x that?!

Kentucky football is getting $1.85m a year for football stadium naming rights, and we all know football is the money sport. $2m for hoops seems like a pretty solid deal to me.

4x Oakland university’s arena is the standard?

As for Kentucky, football stadiums aren’t utilized year round though. And they cut that deal about 6-7 years ago now so that would be much higher.