Completed Event: General versus Arizona on January 18, 2002
Final Score
General
vs Arizona
Quotes From The Stadium Expansion Press Conference
11/14/2018 10:53 AM | General
Statement from President Ruth V. Watkins
"Rice-Eccles Stadium is a spectacular iconic symbol not only for our community, but for Salt Lake City. There is a great history, great success and remarkable things have happened here. The stadium serves as more than a home for athletics. It is a gathering place for our community and it serves many needs at the University and beyond. It convenes thousands of people every year around some of our shared missions. It is also a very impressive place with a remarkable record. I understand that our football team has played 56 consecutive crowds here at Rice-Eccles Stadium and there are about 3,000 people on a waiting list for season tickets. We think about the needs of this expansion and today, we get to talk about expanding to meet some of those needs and those interests. This is a multi-year process to create a resource for the University of Utah and the Salt Lake City community for many, many current and future needs. This is a very exciting day indeed. I want to express my confidence in Athletics Director Mark Harlan and his team for the work that they are doing. I know that they will work together and collectively with our community and our campus to create a facility that will be exciting and that will meet our needs for a long time to come."
Statement from Athletics Director Mark Harlan
"I certainly want to start by thanking President Watkins and the board of trustees for their leadership, not only for this important project, but for really setting a high bar for this department, which we appreciate. Today, we move forward with the south end zone project, thereby expanding Rice-Eccles Stadium. Let me take a moment to acknowledge a few incredible people that helped get us here today. First of all, Vice President John Nixon, who I see back there and his team in auxiliary services. They partner with athletics to get us to this point today. John and his team oversee the stadium and they take great pride in doing so and we are very grateful. Also, the senior staff in athletics has been so patient with me and getting me up to speed on all of the work that has already been done in this project prior to my arrival this summer. Of course, the incredible gentleman to my left and the incredible teams and young men that he has coached in the many years he has been here, allow us to have the momentum to do this project, so thank you coach Whittingham. And then of course, Chris Hill. Chris did an amazing job with this. He initially hired two very elite stadium expansion feasibility firms, CSL and Populus to conduct an in-depth analysis regarding the appetite of community support for expansion along with the quantity and the type of seating. Chris has done a fantastic job in providing me with all of the necessary prep and data to study this project. He just handed the football right over to me and I am very grateful as is this department and university. Thank you Chris."
"Today has been a few years in the making. After Chris retained these outside consultants, the firms provided verifiable data that showed overwhelming community support for this expansion. Work then began on a design as well as a cost assessment for our needs. Working alongside our internal Utah facility team, the firm estimated an $80 million budget for this project. Some of the initial design work is what you are seeing here today. My arrival to Utah this summer coincided with the ongoing analysis of the very critical financial model. Working closely with many stakeholders, we finalized a very conservative path to achieve the project goals. The project financial model necessitates us to raise $35 million in private philanthropy, and that, along with new revenue generated from the sale of premium standard seats, will be the primary driver to cover the costs of this project. The approval yesterday from our board to request non-state revenue bonds will be funded by athletic related revenues. Now I was adamant that we could only do this project the right way without jeopardizing the existing department funding model. What we found was an opportunity to not only repay the bonds but also generate significant new revenue for our programs in the future. I was also very insistent that before moving forward, that we were confident that the demand in additional seating was there and that we could continue to sell out Rice-Eccles Stadium. This new capacity of 51,444 will allow us to maintain and even improve upon the best home field advantage in college football while also allowing even more of our passionate supporters to experience game day with us. The president mentioned our waiting list is growing every year, students that graduate that are looking for seats, this will help us to get them into the stadium."
"Now let me give you a few facts about the planned expansion. We will have both premium seating and bleacher seating as a part of the project. A thousand new bleacher seats will be added to the already 2,700-plus seats in the south end zone. All of the current seat holders in the south end zone will have the opportunity to remain in the section and join together with a new group of 1,000 rowdy Utes. The remaining new seats will be premium seating, which will include suites, outdoor loge seating and rooftop terrace seating. There will also be club areas, including a field club where the guys will run out right by the club, and ample space for social gatherings with many having the views of the field. Our research has shown a very high demand for these premium spaces. Pricing and other specific information will be refined and announced in the months ahead. All of the new seats, both premium and bleacher, will help us accommodate our ever-growing waiting list for these tickets. In addition to the new seating, the south end zone project will include brand new locker rooms in a new building set below the new seating. These new facilities will serve our football student-athletes and coaches on game day to make sure they have the best in the nation. There will also be space for athletic training, equipment and media. And yes, we will create a visiting team locker room that will show respect for our opponent's needs. In closing, I want to thank everyone for working so hard on making this needed project a reality. I am grateful in advance for those who will contribute in the months ahead. This project will ensure the continued success of our football program and will put them in a position to win championships. The new revenue generated from the expanded seating will also support all of our sports in their pursuits of excellence. So together, we will build something great for generations to come and I want to thank everyone for being with us today and for the help we are going to need in the future."
Statement from head football coach Kyle Whittingham
"First of all, I want to echo and thank President Watkins, Mark Harlan, Dr. Chris Hill for getting the ball rolling on this project and especially the donors. So, just making this a reality is huge for our program. The players are excited about this project. It is going to help us on a lot of different levels like recruiting. That is the name of the game and it is going to be a great selling point for our recruits to come in and see the finishing touches to this stadium. It is going to make an already outstanding game day experience for the fans that much better. We are excited about it and it is something that we can't wait to actually get to play in there in the future. Many thanks to all who are involved, we appreciate it."
Â
"Rice-Eccles Stadium is a spectacular iconic symbol not only for our community, but for Salt Lake City. There is a great history, great success and remarkable things have happened here. The stadium serves as more than a home for athletics. It is a gathering place for our community and it serves many needs at the University and beyond. It convenes thousands of people every year around some of our shared missions. It is also a very impressive place with a remarkable record. I understand that our football team has played 56 consecutive crowds here at Rice-Eccles Stadium and there are about 3,000 people on a waiting list for season tickets. We think about the needs of this expansion and today, we get to talk about expanding to meet some of those needs and those interests. This is a multi-year process to create a resource for the University of Utah and the Salt Lake City community for many, many current and future needs. This is a very exciting day indeed. I want to express my confidence in Athletics Director Mark Harlan and his team for the work that they are doing. I know that they will work together and collectively with our community and our campus to create a facility that will be exciting and that will meet our needs for a long time to come."
Statement from Athletics Director Mark Harlan
"I certainly want to start by thanking President Watkins and the board of trustees for their leadership, not only for this important project, but for really setting a high bar for this department, which we appreciate. Today, we move forward with the south end zone project, thereby expanding Rice-Eccles Stadium. Let me take a moment to acknowledge a few incredible people that helped get us here today. First of all, Vice President John Nixon, who I see back there and his team in auxiliary services. They partner with athletics to get us to this point today. John and his team oversee the stadium and they take great pride in doing so and we are very grateful. Also, the senior staff in athletics has been so patient with me and getting me up to speed on all of the work that has already been done in this project prior to my arrival this summer. Of course, the incredible gentleman to my left and the incredible teams and young men that he has coached in the many years he has been here, allow us to have the momentum to do this project, so thank you coach Whittingham. And then of course, Chris Hill. Chris did an amazing job with this. He initially hired two very elite stadium expansion feasibility firms, CSL and Populus to conduct an in-depth analysis regarding the appetite of community support for expansion along with the quantity and the type of seating. Chris has done a fantastic job in providing me with all of the necessary prep and data to study this project. He just handed the football right over to me and I am very grateful as is this department and university. Thank you Chris."
"Today has been a few years in the making. After Chris retained these outside consultants, the firms provided verifiable data that showed overwhelming community support for this expansion. Work then began on a design as well as a cost assessment for our needs. Working alongside our internal Utah facility team, the firm estimated an $80 million budget for this project. Some of the initial design work is what you are seeing here today. My arrival to Utah this summer coincided with the ongoing analysis of the very critical financial model. Working closely with many stakeholders, we finalized a very conservative path to achieve the project goals. The project financial model necessitates us to raise $35 million in private philanthropy, and that, along with new revenue generated from the sale of premium standard seats, will be the primary driver to cover the costs of this project. The approval yesterday from our board to request non-state revenue bonds will be funded by athletic related revenues. Now I was adamant that we could only do this project the right way without jeopardizing the existing department funding model. What we found was an opportunity to not only repay the bonds but also generate significant new revenue for our programs in the future. I was also very insistent that before moving forward, that we were confident that the demand in additional seating was there and that we could continue to sell out Rice-Eccles Stadium. This new capacity of 51,444 will allow us to maintain and even improve upon the best home field advantage in college football while also allowing even more of our passionate supporters to experience game day with us. The president mentioned our waiting list is growing every year, students that graduate that are looking for seats, this will help us to get them into the stadium."
"Now let me give you a few facts about the planned expansion. We will have both premium seating and bleacher seating as a part of the project. A thousand new bleacher seats will be added to the already 2,700-plus seats in the south end zone. All of the current seat holders in the south end zone will have the opportunity to remain in the section and join together with a new group of 1,000 rowdy Utes. The remaining new seats will be premium seating, which will include suites, outdoor loge seating and rooftop terrace seating. There will also be club areas, including a field club where the guys will run out right by the club, and ample space for social gatherings with many having the views of the field. Our research has shown a very high demand for these premium spaces. Pricing and other specific information will be refined and announced in the months ahead. All of the new seats, both premium and bleacher, will help us accommodate our ever-growing waiting list for these tickets. In addition to the new seating, the south end zone project will include brand new locker rooms in a new building set below the new seating. These new facilities will serve our football student-athletes and coaches on game day to make sure they have the best in the nation. There will also be space for athletic training, equipment and media. And yes, we will create a visiting team locker room that will show respect for our opponent's needs. In closing, I want to thank everyone for working so hard on making this needed project a reality. I am grateful in advance for those who will contribute in the months ahead. This project will ensure the continued success of our football program and will put them in a position to win championships. The new revenue generated from the expanded seating will also support all of our sports in their pursuits of excellence. So together, we will build something great for generations to come and I want to thank everyone for being with us today and for the help we are going to need in the future."
Statement from head football coach Kyle Whittingham
"First of all, I want to echo and thank President Watkins, Mark Harlan, Dr. Chris Hill for getting the ball rolling on this project and especially the donors. So, just making this a reality is huge for our program. The players are excited about this project. It is going to help us on a lot of different levels like recruiting. That is the name of the game and it is going to be a great selling point for our recruits to come in and see the finishing touches to this stadium. It is going to make an already outstanding game day experience for the fans that much better. We are excited about it and it is something that we can't wait to actually get to play in there in the future. Many thanks to all who are involved, we appreciate it."
Â
Utah Volleyball's Kamryn Gibadlo - ESPN+ Feature
Wednesday, September 10
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham weekly press conference - 9.8.25
Monday, September 08
Utah Soccer's Ava Hetzel - ESPN+ Feature
Monday, September 08
Ute greats Ron McBride and Roy Jefferson Ring of Honor Induction
Monday, September 08