According to a survey released today, NCAA athletic directors (ADs) are increasingly focused on enhancing athletic facilities to attract top student athletes and maintain or grow their fan base amidst an extremely competitive environment.
The Trends in Collegiate Athletics survey, conducted by AECOM and Ohio University's Center for Sports Administration, was completed in July-August 2014. The survey gauged the sentiment of 136 ADs from all three major NCAA divisions, including over 60% from Division I conferences, on topics related to venues, facilities, and student-athlete and fan experience.
According to the survey, more than eight in 10 participating ADs plan to make significant investments in facilities over the next five years to target potential recruits and spectators. Of those, one in five plans on spending more than $50 million on renovations and new construction projects. Nearly 95% of ADs are concerned about the funding of their programs.
The majority of participating ADs are investing in upgrades and amenities that they believe will drive game-day attendance and enhance the fan experience, notably connectivity, better food and beverage options, and, particularly at the Division I level, premium seating.
“This survey shows that, as traditional funding streams become less viable, ADs are increasingly focused on fiscal responsibility and making their programs sustainable,” said Jon Niemuth, AECOM Director of Sports, Americas. “One way they are doing this is by investing in upscale amenities, once reserved for the professional level, that will attract fans willing to pay a premium for a unique game day experience.”
“A big issue keeping athletic directors up at night is the funding and performance of their programs,” said Dr. Heather Lawrence-Benedict, Associate Professor of Sports Administration and the AECOM Professor of Sport Business, Ohio University. “ADs are caught in a cyclical pattern—to generate funding they need talented recruits, to attract recruits they need the top facilities, and to build those facilities it goes back to funding. On top of this, they need to appeal to alumni and donors. An unexpected donation, a breakout athlete or a Cinderella season can all be major catalysts for an athletics program.”
To help generate awareness for their upgrades and promote games and game-day activities, the vast majority of ADs (96%) in the study find social media to be an effective marketing tool for drawing fans or first-time visitors to games. That compares to 59% who view paid advertising as effective. Lowering ticket costs was ranked as the least effective option to draw fans by one-third of participating ADs.
ADs are also focused on facility upgrades that will enhance the student athlete experience, and ADs overwhelmingly agree that practice and training facilities are a primary force that attracts recruits, while academic, housing and dining facilities are also rapidly becoming important. If funding was not a factor, ADs would invest heavily in practice and training facilities and locker rooms to appeal to potential recruits.
AECOM and Ohio University’s Center for Sports Administration developed the Trends in Collegiate Athletics through a collaborative effort as part of their ongoing strategic partnership, which began in 2007. The joint effort, which was extended for the third time in 2013, is aimed at educating the next generation of sports business leaders.
To view the full results of the survey, click here.
Related Stories
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Research facility added to Texas Medical Center
Situated on the Texas Medical Center’s North Campus in Houston, the new Methodist Hospital Research Institute is a 12-story, 440,000-sf facility dedicated to translational research. Designed by New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox, with healthcare, science, and technology firm WHR Architects, Houston, the building has open, flexible labs, offices, and amenities for use by 90 principal investigators and 800 post-doc trainees and staff.
| Mar 11, 2011
Blockbuster remodel transforms Omaha video store into a bank
A former Hollywood Video store in Omaha, Neb., was renovated and repurposed as the SAC Federal Credit Union, Ames Branch. Architects at Leo A Daly transformed the outdated 5,000-sf retail space into a modern facility by wrapping the exterior in poplar siding and adding a new glass storefront that floods the interior with natural light.
| Mar 11, 2011
Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University
Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.
| Mar 11, 2011
Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care
The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.
| Mar 11, 2011
Oregon childhood center designed at child-friendly scale
Design of the Early Childhood Center at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., focused on a achieving a child-friendly scale and providing outdoor learning environments.
| Mar 11, 2011
Guests can check out hotel’s urban loft design, music selection
MODO, Advaya Hospitality’s affordable new lifestyle hotel brand, will have an urban Bauhaus loft design and target design-, music-, and tech-savvy guest who will have access to thousands of tracks in vinyl, CD, and MP3 formats through a partnership with Downtown Music. Guest can create their own playlists, and each guest room will feature iPod docks and large flat-screen TVs.
| Mar 11, 2011
Construction of helicopter hangars in South Carolina gets off the ground
Construction is under way on a $26 million aviation support facility for South Carolina National Guard helicopters. Hendrick Construction, the project’s Charlotte, N.C.-based GC, is building the 111,000-sf Donaldson Hangar facility on the 30-acre South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center, Greenville.
| Mar 11, 2011
Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living
HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.
| Mar 11, 2011
Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church
The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.
