MSU AD on the Gallatin Valley Sports Show

[SACCAT]

I will be interviewing Leon Costello next week for my show. A lot of it will be about the project, so let me know what you want to find out, and I will add it to the list. I will also be talking to him about MSU athletics as a whole, so anything other that Project questions are welcome as well...

[bpcats20]

In regards to academic center what are some of the features they are addressing as they convert coaches offices besides adding study desks/tables?

Confirm hydrotherapy pools are part of the project and talk about advantages for student athletes and recruiting selling points.


Based on his prior experience at SDSU how has this fund raising effort compared, and his most realistic guess on how long it will take to make this final push?

[bobcatbob]

Please ask about painting of the bleachers. When will it be completed. Will they make it look more colorful? Also, how long will it be before we see the stadium bowled in?

[codecat]

Will outdoor seating in the north end zone be forever limited to 2,000 seats?

[bobcatozzy]

Ask if ozzy can take pictures of the project like I did the south endzone.

[allcat]

Weber has an indoor practice facility. i would have thought that would have been more of a priority. Why the order it is being done? I know a lot of what they are building can be used by other sports, but the reality is it i being built by the football stuff and will mostly benefit the football stuff.

[iaafan]

Weber has an indoor practice facility. i would have thought that would have been more of a priority. Why the order it is being done? I know a lot of what they are building can be used by other sports, but the reality is it i being built by the football stuff and will mostly benefit the football stuff.

It’s being done in the order of what everyone involved thought it should be done.

Football is easily the #1 revenue generating sport. So it has a big say. But this project does a ton of things for other sports. The space they’re vacating is much more than just the area being used as an academic center. It’s a big win for the entire athletic department.

[allcat]

Weber has an indoor practice facility. i would have thought that would have been more of a priority. Why the order it is being done? I know a lot of what they are building can be used by other sports, but the reality is it i being built by the football stuff and will mostly benefit the football stuff.

It’s being done in the order of what everyone involved thought it should be done.

Football is easily the #1 revenue generating sport. So it has a big say. But this project does a ton of things for other sports. The space they’re vacating is much more than just the area being used as an academic center. It’s a big win for the entire athletic department.

I get all that, it's just that for years, even under Ash they talked about the value of the indoor practice facility. Weber has gotten good since they built their facility. I know coaching has been good, just wondering about how much of a difference it makes. It seems the top teams, other than EWEU seem to have them. Plus this seems a better discussion that weak armed qb's and short lb"s

[iaafan]

Weber State has a joint facility with Weber County. It’s a $9.2 million renovation that only cost WSU $3.4 million. It has a 60-yard practice field.

They’re almost done with construction on their end zone facility similar to the one we’ll be constructing. However it’s smaller.

[AFCAT]

I believe the new football facility is a lot cheaper than an indoor facility too, $18 mil versus around $30 mil. I know Choate talked about the football facility being his top priority. Better to build something they can use (meeting rooms, weight room, training rooms, etc.) all the time and the facility helps with recruiting too. Indoor will be next unless someone specifies a big donation for a different priority (e.g., East Grandstands).

[91catAlum]

Choate also mentioned something about "throwing a practice bubble up" which could be done temporarily and cheaper until an indoor facility is built. Realistically we are at least 10 years out from raising that additional 30 million.

[Hawks86]

Choate also mentioned something about "throwing a practice bubble up" which could be done temporarily and cheaper until an indoor facility is built. Realistically we are at least 10 years out from raising that additional 30 million.

Took 2 years for 18 million. So, 4 years for $32 million.

[bcats]

That’s what I’m curious about. Once this drive is done do they immediately start the next phase of donations? Or do you give everyone a breather. I imagine they go to roughly the same people for each phase so how long must one wait before asking for a bunch more money. Or can the indoor stadium and track be looked at as an overall university need that could be financed by MSU without as much needed in private donations. Say you decide to add a sport like Soccer and that facility would be needed.

[SACCAT]

Just got done with the interview with Costello. Interview included

*Phase one
*Athletics Health as a whole
*Athletics part in the remodel of collapsed buildings
*Beer in stadiums
*Next step in fund raising

[blueandgoldblitz]

Just got done with the interview with Costello. Interview included

*Phase one
*Athletics Health as a whole
*Athletics part in the remodel of collapsed buildings
*Beer in stadiums
*Next step in fund raising

Sorry if it's been posted before but can we listen to that online somewhere?

[RobertCats]

Just got done with the interview with Costello. Interview included

*Phase one
*Athletics Health as a whole
*Athletics part in the remodel of collapsed buildings
*Beer in stadiums
*Next step in fund raising

Sorry if it's been posted before but can we listen to that online somewhere?

[blueandgoldblitz]

Just got done with the interview with Costello. Interview included

*Phase one
*Athletics Health as a whole
*Athletics part in the remodel of collapsed buildings
*Beer in stadiums
*Next step in fund raising

Sorry if it's been posted before but can we listen to that online somewhere?

Thank you!

[kennethnoisewater]

Great interview, nice job Ian!