UNC-C football funded

After years of planning, UNC-Charlotte has finally secured most of the funding needed for a varsity football program.

The student fee increase approved last week by the UNC-system Board of Governors will provide $40 million of the $45 million needed to construct a football stadium and accompanying facilities.

UNC-C proposed adding a new fee of $120 specifically earmarked for funding the football program.

Revenue generated from seat licenses covers the $5 million not provided by the fee increase. About $4 million has already been raised from selling the licenses, and the university expects to raise the last $1 million, said Darin Spease, the senior associate athletic director of business affairs.

Seat licenses allow people to own a set of seats for games and the right to own or sell tickets for those seats.

The economic downturn hurt the university’s fundraising efforts, but officials are hoping that the Board of Governors’ approval will boost donations.

While construction is now almost entirely funded, the university still needs money for the actual football program — coaching and recruiting, among other things.

Approval by the Board of Governors makes the football program more concrete and definite, said Ruth Shaw, chairwoman of the UNC-C Board of Trustees.

“(It’s) a big next step in the maturation of UNC-Charlotte,” Shaw said.

The last step in the construction approval process is final building approval from the N.C. General Assembly, which should be voted on sometime this summer.

The university already has architects on board for the project, Shaw said.

If approved, construction crews should break ground in spring 2011 for the facilities that will accompany the stadium, such as locker rooms. Construction on the stadium itself will follow soon after.

The facilities are expected to be finished by fall 2012 and the stadium by summer 2013, Spease said.

Joey Lemons, UNC-C student body president, said that reactions from both faculty and students have been positive and that the fee increase received widespread support in spite of economic difficulties.

Lemons said that about 15 students accompanied him to the Board of Governors’ meeting last week to see the fee approval go through.

But the Board of Governors’ fee approval isn’t the last step in the process, Spease said. The legislature needs to approve all fee increases approved by the Board of Governors.

The real celebration will be after the final plans are set and football is brought to the Charlotte campus, Spease said.

“It instills a certain amount of pride.”


Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.