COPPELL, Texas — By an unusual coincidence in my work for Verizon, I am in the Dallas area this week and took the opportunity to do a walk-through of the stadium in the bidding against Salem Stadium for future Stagg Bowls. (Not for 2007, which is in Salem.)
Shockingly, like a typical Texas high school football stadium, Buddy Echols Stadium Google map is big. It is listed at 12,000 capacity, though I actually thought it seated more.
They are in the midst of installing artificial turf — the grass was all out and the playing surface was stripped down to dirt. There’s certainly plenty of parking. It’s less than 10 miles from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Those are the positives. The negatives are that the D-III crowd will get swallowed up in a stadium that size, unless an ASC team makes the Stagg Bowl every year. How many Mount Union fans are making the 19-hour drive to Coppell? (Or, how many are paying through the nose for plane tickets on short notice?) Even if they draw 8,000 fans, how many empty seats does that leave? Who in the local market cares one bit about the Division III championship game while the Texas high school football playoffs are going on? Would the game generate even a blip on the local news radar, as opposed to the minutes upon minutes of coverage it receives in Salem? And who will pick up the mantle from Stone Station, which has been the Division III welcome wagon (photos) in Salem the past couple of seasons? Will those fans make the 1,200-mile drive? Will the Division III community come out in force the way it has the past couple of seasons?
The scoreboard is sufficient, though not as new as Salem’s, and the press box accommodations don’t appear to fulfill the need I have seen at recent Stagg Bowls. There’s a box on one side that seats 15-18 people across, six partitioned booths on the other side of the stadium, but not a space similar to Salem for television to build out of.
But these concerns are secondary to the location and the size. I just don’t think the Stagg Bowl works here. But I’m glad I got to see it to make sure.
Pat, I am glad that you have provided specific comparisons as to what the Coppell entry needs to improve if they wish to have a competitive bid for the Stagg Bowl.
The lack of TV accommodations and the insufficient press box facilities will only raise the bar. Attendance parameters and revenue to the NCAA from the event also need to be considered in the Coppell projections.
Would a $50,000 subsidy from the Coppell Visitors and Convention Bureau swing the difference in gate attendance and receipts? Just a thought…
The main problem I see with moving the Stagg Bowl to Texas is an overall lack of interest. It is not secret that Division III football does not have as strong of a following in the south/southwest compared to in the midwest and northeast. I attended the stagg bowl before and the atmosphere is amazing, and this was in 2000, it was a spectacle that was deserving of a national championship game. It provides a location which is very convenient for most national championship teams in the last several years(with the exception of trinity). The town fully embraces the game and the teams and makes it a top notch place to be for that weekend. As Pat stated the fact that Texas Highschool football playoffs are going on would do nothing to help the DIII national championship game. Texas highschool football is king in texas, not DIII. I say leave the Stagg Bowl where it is, if its not broke, dont fix it.
I have no idea. And would a subsidy be worth disenfranchising the high percentage of Division III fans within an eight-hour drive of Salem? Not sure.
All I know two years in a row we had a great time in Salem/Roanoke. Field has been upgraded and the locker rooms so why move. Attendance in Texas would be way down in my opinion……Why ruin a good thing just for the sake of change…..
The one thing we know about the NCAA, it’s always about the money. If Texas can put more money into the NCAA coffers, then they will have a chance to steal it away. The NCAA has proved time and again that DIII means nothing to them. It would be an absolute shame to move this game out of Salem, especially with the good turnouts they are getting. The only positive I can see out of this would be a chance for much better weather, but that certainly isn’t enough.
Please do not take my first post as an enthusiastic endorsement for moving the Stagg Bowl to Texas. On that weekend in December, we might have either the semifinals or the finals occurring in each of the 10 Classifications which award a football State Championship in the University Interscholastic League. There might or might not be a game in the DFW area. And, there might be 75 degree weather with 35 mile per hour winds or 35 degree temperatures and sleet.
I really believe that the best chance for a meaningful Stagg Bowl must be something of a “neutral site pilgrimage” to a place where history has been created.
If Stone Station, a D3 Walk of Fame or some media-based history exhibit can augment the experience, then that might give us in D3 something upon which to build.
Right now, I think that place is in Salem VA.
Gotta say that the feeling I get looking at the Texas site reminds me a lot of Phenix City, Ala. — most likely without the great, cheap raw oysters. The Stagg I attended there had nowhere near the atmosphere of Salem, where I’ve seen three title games.
Salem’s stadium is so nicely framed by the surrounding hills, it can be football heaven on a decent December day. A matchup of good programs and good weather usually have the potential to bring in supportive locals who will give the stands a big-game feel.
While Salem isn’t all that convenient for the West teams, it makes up for it in the warmth of the hosts.
RT’s points in the now penultimate post are right on.
It’s going to make bargaining with my wife the weekend before Christmas a whole lot more costly. As long as Kevin and I could leave one night after she’s in bed and get back the next night before she wakes up, it’s not a big deal. Go further south if you must, but please stay on this side of the Mississippi.
Phew — glad I wrote this when I did, considering the NCAA announced this morning it was awarding the Stagg Bowl to Salem for 2008 and 2009. 🙂
Great decision by the NCAA. Hope to be in Salem in December for the third straight year…..
Very interesting.
I think the geography is a very big deal here, but by the same token, the Stagg Bowl likely won’t be in Salem forever. Good for Coppell, Texas for showing interest.
“East Coast Bias” is pretty relevant in Divsion III, since probably 200 of our 237 football-playing schools are in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.
For any map geeks out there, you know the thing where the geographic center of the U.S. is somewhere in the middle of Kansas, and the population center is like Branson, Mo.?
Pat has long since determined that the “population center” of Division III would be somewhere like Columbus, Ohio.
Good to know should we ever need to build a headquarters.
For anyone looking for more detail on this topic, it’s been discussed in vivid detail on [url=http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4975.0]Should the Stagg Bowl find a better site or stay in Salem, Va.[/url] on Post Patterns.
Actually, Columbus would be a great place for the Stagg if it’s ever moved. There are number of outstanding facilities to choose from. I’ve never been to Salem but I can tell they really get into it. That may be the biggest drawback for Columbus.