Adding more luxury suites is a goal for Baker | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo courtesy of BlueGoldNews.com West Virginia University Athletic Director Wren Baker answers questions during a recent media briefing.

MORGANTOWN — Ever since it became clear that West Virginia — like every other team in the Big 12 and beyond — would have to find a way to cough up $22 million annually to pay the revenue-sharing settlement now awaiting court approval, athletic director Wren Baker has been trying to figure out where that money would come from.

He looked at the numbers and came to a conclusion “suite” idea.

With little money to save, he decided that one of the most important steps the Mountaineers’ athletic department could take to generate more revenue was to add suites to Milan Puskar Stadium.

To be fair, Milan Puskar Stadium is one of the best stadiums in the Big 12. A ranking of the league’s football stadiums by clutchpoints.com last month ranked Mountaineer Field third in the conference, behind Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City and Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium.

Puskar Stadium was on the list, ahead of TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth and Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

“Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia, is known for its raucous atmosphere and loyal Mountaineer fans. Opened in 1980 with a capacity of over 60,000, the stadium is a cauldron of noise, especially during night games and key matchups. Mountaineer fans are among the most passionate in college football, and traditions such as singing “Country roads“After home wins, add to the unique experience. Milan Puskar Stadium is a quintessential college football venue that every fan should experience,” read the article.

But in this era of football, when the most important statistic a stadium generates is not points scored or passing yards but revenue, Milan Puskar Stadium is lacking in one area: luxury suites.

Mountaineer Field has only 34 luxury suites, which is small for a Power 4 stadium. Plus, a luxury suite sold is worth a lot more to a football program in the long run than, dare I say it, the long run.

Most of the suites are not in the 20, but in the end zones.

That Baker was thinking along these lines became clear about a week ago when he sent out a questionnaire asking for opinions on improvements that could be made to the Milan Puskar Stadium.

Built in 1980, which surprisingly makes it the fifth “newest” The 16-team Big 12 stadium has undergone a number of upgrades over the years to improve comfort and facilities and to make optimal use of technology.

But now the greatest need is a financial one.

“Athletics is not the most important thing that the institution or the state does. I am the first to say that,” Baker said this during a recent visit to the Three Guys Before The Game Podcast. “I went to school on an academic scholarship, but athletics is the most visible. If you look at the periods when our enrollments were strong and growing, it almost always correlates to the periods when our athletic programs are the strongest.”

Baker argues that competing at the highest levels of athletics is necessary for the school, the athletes, the community and the state. And that can only happen if you are financially healthy and profitable.

The research keeps a finger on the pulse of the public.

“That survey should tell us (what the demand is for more suites), Baker said.There are those who will say that we are more of a working class fan base than the others in the conference, but I don’t believe that.

“You look at Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State… The demographics of the alumni in their states are not much different than ours.”

Baker said he had just read an article about the situation at Oklahoma State, which is seen as a much richer program than WVU.

“There’s an article in the Tulsa World today about Oklahoma State’s finances. Oklahoma State has 123 suites, No. 1 in a powerful conference, I think. Oklahoma has about 4 million people, but a lot of those loyalties are to the University of Oklahoma, so I would think their fan base is probably about the same as ours and their demographics are probably the same as ours.

“Their average attendance is about the same as ours and their demographics are about the same as ours. They’re making $20 million off of those suites for free,” Baker continued. “Well, compare their budget to ours and what is the net difference… It’s less than $20 million.”

In other words, the 90 extra suites account for much of the difference.

Based on the survey responses, Baker believes there is a large market for premium seating.

“It is imperative that we reach out to our fans and hear their ideas about how we can transform Milan Puskar Stadium into a venue that will proudly host West Virginia soccer for decades to come,” Baker said when the survey was released: “By working with CSL, we can gather the input needed to make major strategic decisions for the stadium to ultimately help the financial future of our department.

“I have said many times that expanding the premium options in the stadium would enhance the fan experience and comfort while helping the division generate revenue,” Baker added. “The survey will provide crucial information needed to properly implement future stadium modifications. I encourage all fans who receive the survey to complete it. We don’t just want to hear from you, we need to hear from you.”

Baker put it this way in the podcast:

“It’s a great prospecting tool. We don’t know how many suite owners we’re losing because we don’t have suites to sell. I do know that I’ve had 10 or 12 people tell me that if we had a suite for sale, they would definitely buy one. These are people that I know can afford it because I’ve seen their sponsorships with Learfield and other things.

“The survey will tell us a lot. We’ve had 1,600 responses already, which is incredible considering we didn’t send it to everyone. You had to have bought a single ticket or season tickets to get the survey. The responses have to come from the email survey we sent out. Not everyone can answer.”

Or, as the great comedian Jackie Gleason might have put it:

How “suite” it is!

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