The Stadium Corp. met today for the first time since the NCAA’s decision last month to take the Football Championship Subdivision title game from Finley Stadium and place it in the Dallas suburb of Frisco.
Board chairman Bryan Patten congratulated Frisco on landing the event and quickly stated that he wants it to return.
“I look forward three years from now to competing again to get that championship game,” Patten said. “We want it back, and I want Chattanooga playing in that game.”
Finley Stadium executive director Merrill Eckstein said operating the FCS game was a “break even” process, adding that its departure would not put the Stadium Corp. in a financial disadvantage. The FCS title game was held in Chattanooga from 1997 to 2009, with the ’07 game between Appalachian State and Delaware occurring before a Finley-record crowd of 23,010.
Eckstein said there will be more than 100 events this calendar year in the stadium, the stadium club or the adjoining pavilion, and board member Jerry Summers hoped for a stronger push for high school football games.
“Now more than ever, this is a community stadium,” Summers said. “We ought to go the extra step to get those games in here. A lot of these kids never have a chance to play in a college stadium, and the non-monetary worth is immeasurable.”
Finley will host the Baylor-McCallie and Central-Sequatchie County games later this year, as well as a four-day jamboree in mid-August.
Before the meeting was adjourned, Dan Thornton, the manager of real property for the city, mentioned to Stadium Corp. members that the new owners of Parkway Towers may ask for assistance in their desire to turn the rundown area into a commercial facility that possibly could contain retail and condominiums. Part of that renovation would include temporary use of the gravel lot next to the pavilion that is in a 40-year lease agreement with the Stadium Corp.