i dont know if this can actually happen but reading that gave me wood. cant lie
THE WOOD IS EFFECTING YOUR BRAIN IF YOU THINK AFTER POSTING THIS ARTICLE THE AD IS DECIDING THE COACH INSTEAD OF RUIZ AND THE BOT…
Hard Rock is world class so why even bother?
But, as long as he pays for it, why not?
2 Likes
Isn’t Hard Rock an hour drive from Campus? That’s far for the fan base no?
Someone wrote it was 21-26 miles from UM depending on the route taken to get there. Then I looked it up…
33 min (22.2 mi) via FL-836 E and I-95 Express
36 min (25.9 mi) via FL-826 N
So what? The U runs buses to the stadium from campus. Any student who wants to go goes.
Miami missed the boat on the campus stadium 50+ years ago.
Tropical Park is about 5 miles from campus, you are driving either way.
Whatever, if the booster wants to build it no problemo.
I just think there’s something to having your stadium on campus or as close to it as possible. It’s a morale thing. An atmosphere thing.
Miami home games for these guys probably feel like neutral site games in my opinion.
Yes but, as the article states, they’re looking at the Gables High lot, which is less than 2 miles from campus. That’s walkable.
This is an area to the WNW of Ponce De Leon, WSW of Granada, and behind Pearson and Mahoney Halls. It’s actually ON campus. There is a well regarded magnet elementary school there, the West Laboratory School. But there is already a lot of open space on those ~17 acres that the university already owns. It’s already a lot of open space.
Those buildings are old… I would imagine this school could use a fresh new facelift in a different location in Coral Gables.
Could this site possibly work?
Hardrock stadium only holds 65K and the stadium sits on 18 acres. I went to a Miami game at the University of Maryland, and their football stadium is right on campus and it’s on only ~11 acres of land. It seats 54K. I have been to Kenan stadium at Carolina, and that seats 63K and the stadium is on ~14 acres. Heck even Clemson’s Memorial stadium, which seats 81K, is on 15 acres.
Here are the stadium capacities for the ACC schools
|Alumni Stadium|Boston College|ACC|44,500|1957|
|BB&T Field|Wake Forest|ACC|31,500|1968|
|Bobby Dodd Stadium|Georgia Tech|ACC|55,000|1913|
|Carrier Dome|Syracuse|ACC|49,250|1980|
|Carter Finley Stadium|NC State|ACC|57,583|1966|
|Doak Campbell Stadium|Florida State|ACC|82,300|1950|
|Hard Rock Stadium|Miami|ACC|65,236|1987|
|Heinz Field|Pittsburgh|ACC|65,500|2001|
|Kenan Stadium|North Carolina|ACC|62,980|1927|
|Lane Stadium|Virginia Tech|ACC|66,233|1965|
|Memorial Stadium|Clemson|ACC|81,500|1942|
|Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium|Louisville|ACC|55,000|1998|
|Scott Stadium|Virginia|ACC|61,500|1931|
|Wallace Wade Stadium|Duke|ACC|40,004|1929|
Anyway, you guys get the picture. I think it’s doable If the benefactors are willing to rebuild Coral Gables High someplace else, certainly they could move the West school.
1 Like
I’m indifferent. I don’t think it is a big deal either way.
UM students aren’t going to walk 2 miles or 5 miles. Especially the latest generation.
The biggest obstacle these new stadiums face is generally the enormous opposition from local government and residents who don’t want to deal with the traffic, the parking hassles, the crime, etc. I don’t see Coral Gables as being too welcoming of this concept.
Miami should have built the on campus stadium in 1940 or 1950 when the surrounding land was cheap as dirt and widely available. In 2021, that train has long since sailed. We’ll see what happens.
1 Like
I’d rather stay at hard rock than build at tropical park…. As already mentioned you still have to drive to get there which defeats the purpose. The coral gables high school site can be walked to from campus. If Ruiz can’t follow through just invest that 300m into facilities…. With that amount invested we would have the nations best digs.
1 Like
This I agree is the sticking point. Nobody wants a stadium built across from their house or even in their neighborhood. We’ll see how it goes.
This is my thing. You go to a stadium 7 times a year? Spend money where it matters. What matters?
- Practice facilities
- Dorms
- Food
- Gameday atmosphere
5 Likes
Exactly. Put the money into the on campus facilities that will make recruits drool.
If Hard Rock is a good enough venue to host the Dolphins and Super Bowl …
2 Likes
Well, also worth considering is how much playing at Hard rock costs us versus a homegrown alternative.
The majority of the local alumni and major donors live in Broward and WPB. Hard Rock is centrally located, to where anyone can get there easily. Building closer to Coral Gables would eliminate a lot of our most loyal and cash rich fans and alumni, because there’s no way in hell most people would willingly deal with the parking lot of US-1 or the 836. The fans that love to flap the most about “Playing on Campus” have NEVER BEEN ON CAMPUS AND KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE CITY OF CORAL GABLES. If Ruiz could find a way to build a facility either directly adjacent to, or within legitimate walking distance of campus, then I’m all in.
Unfortunately, there’s no way in hell CG will ever let UMiami build anything resembling a legit stadium within city limits. They fought the Watsco Center for years, and that only holds 8500 people. If you aren’t building near campus, then there’s no point. Playing in Tropical Park is STILL PLAYING OFF CAMPUS. Why spend hundreds of millions of dollars and you are still playing off campus, in a facility that is tougher to get to than the one you play in now. If Miami starts winning, and starts bringing in legit revenue for the Dolphins, this deal can be great for everyone. Miami gets a world class stadium to utilize, Dolphins get additional revenue, even though Miami splits with them.
I appreciate what Ruiz is trying to do financially, but this is straight up BS by a guy that is playing to the crowd. Frankly, I was disgusted by him going after Dr. Shalala for stating the obvious, but he’s your typical new money guy: Loud for no good reason. Makes you wonder if he’s a wannabe like one Nevin Shapiro. He is banking everything on a SPAC transaction and we know what’s up with those.
1 Like
If you are going to try to build on land used for a public school, Ponce Middle is across US1. Make a land grab for the surrounding houses (>$200M worth) for a good plot and us campus fields and parking along with the Metro. We are likely talking $1B for a $300-400M stadium. Get Ponce, get the houses, get the daycare + temple, build a new Ponce at a different location, build stadium, all after spending millions to lobby the city and citizens. The city and county would have to address 826/874, likely Miller Dr (If built on campus or Ponce), and a means of getting people across US1.
Is it possible, sure! Should we do it? IMO, no.
That’s a plan I can tolerate. Even then, you are talking about more than a Billion, especially if you want to build a stadium that anyone would find tolerable. Miami fans aren’t going to be cool with sitting on some garbage bleachers, with no premium seating options, just so they can say “We’re across the street from campus”. In today’s sports landscape, where more and more people are opting out and staying home, you have to have those premium seating options. I don’t know if Ruiz would be down to spend 2 billion plus to have that kind of stadium. That’s what it is going to cost, especially when you consider the land you’d have to acquire. I don’t think that temple is moving. That would be a huge issue.
HERE COMES SLANDERCANE DEFENDING SHALATRASH…
COMMUNIST BITCH BASICALLY DESTROYED UM…
RUIZ IS JUST ANOTHER DUDE THE BOT AND FRENK ISN’T INVOLVED AND RUIZ DOESN’T OWN UM…
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT FRAUDSTER?