Finley Stadium executive director Paul Smith received a 15-percent pay raise Tuesday during a quarterly meeting of the Stadium Corp. board.
Smith, who took over operations of the 20,668-seat facility from Merrill Eckstein in December 2013, is nearing the end of his first full year from a fiscal standpoint. He has been earning an annual base salary of $75,000 but will receive a base of $86,500 moving forward.
"Paul makes us pull in the reins and tighten him because that's his style," Stadium Corp. chairman Bryan Patten said. "It's a perfect transition from Merrill Eckstein, who was careful and defensive. Paul is offensive, and it's the right time to be that way.
"He has earned every bit of the increase that we agreed to, and we have a lot of forward momentum."
Finley Stadium, which houses the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team and the Chattanooga FC soccer team, is on track for a record revenue and potentially a record surplus. The Mocs averaged 10,500 fans last football season and hosted their first FCS playoff game in early December, while the Chattanooga FC has been averaging roughly 2,500 fans so far this season according to Finley officials.
UTC tight end Troy Dye, left, puts his shoulder into defensive back Lucas Webb during the Mocs' spring Blue and White football game Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga. The white team won 6-0.
Chattanooga Football Club's Sias Reyneke and Atlanta Silverbacks' Ferrety Sousa chase the ball Wednesday at Finley Stadium.Smith had a projected surplus of $132,000 in March but has readjusted that to $82,000 following recent upgrades to air-conditioning units, ice machines and carpet in the stadium club and in the elevators.
"Now that we have a bit, we're going to start spending things the right way," Smith said.
Longtime board member Ryan Crimmins called it "the best financial report I believe we've ever seen."
Smith considers his raise a validation of all the hard work his staff has been putting in, and he also credited UTC's athletic success. The Mocs have averaged 10,600 fans a game since Russ Huesman's hiring as head coach before the 2009 season, which also featured the transfer of former McCallie School quarterback B.J. Coleman from Tennessee.
UTC averaged just 5,767 fans at Finley in 2008.
"What they've been able to accomplish as an athletic department is second to none," Smith said.
Smith said Finley Stadium has some big events on the horizon, including the FCS top-10 showdown of UTC and Jacksonville State on Sept. 5. The Chattanooga Marathon, which has a March 2016 debut, will be using the facility and surrounding area as its base site and finish line.
When asked about today's big announcement from the Chattanooga Sports Committee and the Chattanooga FC, Smith declined comment. The potential of bringing the U.S. women's soccer team to Finley following the current World Cup was discussed when the Stadium Corp. met in March.
Patten provided an upbeat update on the Friends of Finley Fund, which is in the middle of a two-year campaign that was established mostly to cover Finley's newly installed turf. Already $700,000 has been privately donated, said Patten, who added that the total does not include an anonymous $200,000 gift for the purchase of a field cover that would be used for concerts.
"We could substantially exceed $1 million in fundraising," Patten said. "The new field was a major maintenance expenditure, so this is refreshing to see. This announcement that's coming tomorrow makes this a very logical time to make an approach to the broader public.
"Things are going about as well as we could possibly hope, and it's very different from where it was six or seven years ago."
A budget for 2015-16, which projects $991,600 in revenue and $983,500 in expenses for a surplus of $8,100, was approved in Tuesday's meeting.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.