Paul SmithFinley Stadium executive director Paul Smith received a 15-percent pay raise today during a Stadium Corp. board meeting.
Smith, who took over operation 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. 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 new carpet in the stadium club and the elevators.
When asked about his raise, Smith said, “It’s validation of all the hard work that this staff and I have been putting into it.”
Smith said Finley Stadium continues to add events, with the debut of the Chattanooga Marathon in March of 2016 using the facility and surrounding area as its base site and finish line. He would not disclose the big announcement coming Wednesday from the Chattanooga Sports Committee and Chattanooga FC, but 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.
For more information, read Wednesday’s Times Free Press.