Vandy HAS in fact poured an incredible amount of money into all of its athletics ventures, including football. ESPECIALLY football. In fact, there is no doubt they put more money into football than any other sport, maybe all of them combined!
But Franklin pushed the agenda of building a new stadium, or significantly renovating the current one, and VU allowed him to set the agenda because they felt he could successfully lead it. But then he left, and Mason came in,and the rest is history.
David has said that they inadvertently made the stadium the biggest and only issue on the table, and have basically hit a dead end until someone shows up with a lot of money that can get the ball rolling. I think David actually addressed this earlier this year on Chris' show. That person doesn't yet exist in the Vandy family of donors, and unfortunately the last year of football has been a massive distraction to any fundraising efforts for obvious reasons.
I think VU is doing everything it can, given their current financial realities — with the exception of no one having any clue how/where the SEC network money is being allocated. Now that's a big one, and I have said that unless VU is more transparent about that issue (and I'm not saying they will be because they just don't reveal their private financial statements or plans) it's going to be very difficult to attract donors to the family. It's just too big of a media headline and too big of a number to just go away without some discussion.
My biggest concern is, the reason it's not being discussed at all is because they know no one will like the answer. Which is what it is, I guess.
My other concern is one that is pretty obvious: Eventually Vandy is going to have to do something about the football stadium. If not this decade, then next decade. I don't think anyone can imagine a scenario where things remain stable with football if this topic remains in play ad infinitum.
But Franklin pushed the agenda of building a new stadium, or significantly renovating the current one, and VU allowed him to set the agenda because they felt he could successfully lead it. But then he left, and Mason came in,and the rest is history.
David has said that they inadvertently made the stadium the biggest and only issue on the table, and have basically hit a dead end until someone shows up with a lot of money that can get the ball rolling. I think David actually addressed this earlier this year on Chris' show. That person doesn't yet exist in the Vandy family of donors, and unfortunately the last year of football has been a massive distraction to any fundraising efforts for obvious reasons.
I think VU is doing everything it can, given their current financial realities — with the exception of no one having any clue how/where the SEC network money is being allocated. Now that's a big one, and I have said that unless VU is more transparent about that issue (and I'm not saying they will be because they just don't reveal their private financial statements or plans) it's going to be very difficult to attract donors to the family. It's just too big of a media headline and too big of a number to just go away without some discussion.
My biggest concern is, the reason it's not being discussed at all is because they know no one will like the answer. Which is what it is, I guess.
My other concern is one that is pretty obvious: Eventually Vandy is going to have to do something about the football stadium. If not this decade, then next decade. I don't think anyone can imagine a scenario where things remain stable with football if this topic remains in play ad infinitum.
