To round out funding for a proposed South Alabama stadium, university officials are seeking financial contributions from both the City of Mobile and Mobile County.
The University of South Alabama is looking to construct its own on-campus football stadium, a move that would allow its football program to move home games from the off-campus Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The estimated cost of the facility is about $75 million, and part of the proposed funding model includes Mobile and Mobile County contributions.
Under the current proposal, the City of Mobile would contribute $10, with an additional $5 million coming from the county. South Alabama is planning to have supporters at city and county meetings on Tuesday, though it remains to be seen if the contributions can be secured. More from FOX10 News:
Dr. Joel Erdmann, the Director of Athletics, said, “We’re currently on the agenda for the city council. We think we might be discussed for the commission, so we’re going to be there just in case.”
Erdmann says the school is asking the city and county to support the project at a reasonable level, but that the university will shoulder the majority of the cost over time from sources like what he terms auxiliary money, re-purposing of money currently spent to rent Ladd Peebles Stadium and transport people there, and new revenue.
The new revenue would come, Erdmann says, “through the sale of premiere seating and suites, which, currently, we don’t get suite revenue. We don’t have a club to sell, we don’t have loges to sell, we don’t have chair backs to sell.”
In return, South would provide the city with $2.5 million for renovating and re-purposing Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
The proposed South Alabama stadium has been estimated for a 2020 opening, and would feature a seating capacity around 25,000. The university’s football program has played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium since it began play in 2009.
Rendering courtesy University of South Alabama athletics.
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