Greeson: The right team scores with Finley

Chattanooga is just over six weeks from welcoming the U.S. Women’s soccer team to town.

Yep, the Scenic City is hosting the team, which is playing at Finley Stadium on Aug. 19. If you don’t already have your tickets, well, here’s saying you’ll pay a pretty penny for them.

That’s right, Finley Stadium will have scalpers six weeks from Wednesday. Scalpers. There was a time when you’d have needed to pay people to show up at Finley; now it’s attracting top-dollar, world-class events.

It was not that long ago that among the most puzzling questions around town, one centered on the future of Finley Stadium. The multi-use facility was seldom used.

It was the home of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team but more than a decade ago that program struggled so mightily that the Mocs needed about as many seats as a good-sized Southern family reunion.

Yes, the formerly known Division I-AA title game was housed at Finley, too, and that was a cool event, even if the attendance numbers were hostage to the participants.

So Finley sat and aged. Local businessman Frank Burke tried valiantly to change the course of the venue, even spending a lot of his own money on various endeavors there.

Merrill Eckstein gave it a go, too, and his tenure started as Russ Huesman arrived to lead UTC’s football program and lift the hopes of Finley.

Today, with Huesman’s reconstruction of the Mocs leading UTC to the playoffs last year and a preseason No. 5 ranking in at least one Football Championship Subdivision poll, and stadium manager Paul Smith pushing every right button at Finley, the stadium is poised for its best fall ever.

“This USWNT game will be fun, but it’s only one day,” Smith said of the upcoming soccer match against Costa Rica. “I am just as excited about what (UTC athletic director) David Blackburn and Russ Huesman have accomplished. It is so impressive what the two-time returning Southern Conference champion Mocs team will bring to Finley Stadium. There is no way this won’t be the best fall ever including the years Finley had the title game.”

That’s right, Finley is in good standing financially, even turning a profit with limited governmental support. That all seemed like a pipe dream in the early 2000s.

Enter Smith and a collection of tweaks and support that have redirected the narrative of the home to Gordon Davenport Field.

“One difference is that we have brought all the revenue streams back in-house. We now have only one third-party contractual obligation and that is to Coca-Cola and in Chattanooga that is a good thing,” Smith said of the internal changes. “But probably the largest impact is that Chattanooga has changed. There is just an excitement and a love of life and who we are as Chattanoogans. The demographic of the city has changed, we get out, we’re active we obviously buy tickets.”

Like most successful things, the timing has been kind. But, like all successful things, timing means very little if there’s not preparation and productivity. And, as Smith is quick to note, plenty of support from a wide array of avenues, highlighted by the Stadium Corp.

“The Stadium Corporation has been a [decades-long] project for so many people that love Chattanooga – Bryan Patten, Gordon Davenport, Ryan Crimmins and Jerry Summers, to name a few,” Smith said.

That group worked with board member Mike Davis to generate the funds to resurface the field at Finley earlier this year.

It was a coup for Stadium Corp. as the long-standing past met the future – hello, soccer – to help Finley really flourish.

The Chattanooga FC has become more than a tenant at Finley; its a full-fledged compatriot.

“I just can’t say enough about the CFC board of directors,” Smith said. “They have brought this stadium to life in what was otherwise a quiet time of year.”

The U.S. soccer match sold out in less than a day. Smith believes the sellout power – as well as the national exposure on ESPN2 – will further showcase the facility and Chattanooga to other events, including potential concerts that would complete a stacked calendar.

“We have UTC and a championship football team in the fall. We have Chattanooga FC and soccer in the early summer and the Chattanooga Market almost year round,” Smith said. “We need to get music in here as the fourth leg so that we can have a more sound financial future. So stay tuned it is coming but it has to be the right thing.”

One thing is for sure, Smith running Finley is certainly the right thing.

Read Jay Greeson’s online column the “5-at-10” Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m. Contact him at jgree son @timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp.