Thompson Boling Arena at Food City Center

[Volfan1000]

According to a Rocky Top Insider podcast, Food City and Tennessee had been discussing this deal for a year.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I doubt that there’s any urgency in upgrading the TBA/FCC exterior. The Neyland hotel, entertainment district, river front, and pedestrian bridge to connect the campus (at the TBA/FCC) to south Knoxville are higher priority. When all of that is in progress then I’m sure that the TBA exterior will be included.

 

[VolArmy74]

Low rent move. You're never going to see "Duke's Mayonnaise Cameron Indoor Stadium" or the "Allen Fieldhouse at the Hy-Vee Plaza". Kentucky football is a trashy, low-rent program, so yeah, they will stomach Kroger Field. Good programs shouldn't pull moves like this.

 

[feathersax]

Well, if the corporate names on bowl games is any indication, then the horse is outta the barn.

 

[UneducatedGuess]

You're probably not considering Kentucky a big time program, and I'd certainly agree, but in terms of SEC teams, they sold their naming rights to Kroger. Vandy did to FirstBank.

USCw, Washington, Washington St., Arizona St., Maryland, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Houston, San Diego State, Rutgers, Syracuse, UCF, have all sold naming rights to their football stadiums.

Not exactly an elite set of names there to be part of, honestly. I don’t think “everyone” is doing it.

Why they lead with the middle video screen is beyond me. What’s the matter with the one they have?

$2M a year is NIL for 8 basketball players ($125K each).

Danny has been right about a lot. He’s generally right ahead of the curve. Never had the athletic department buzzing across sports like it is now.

That buys me some credit.

But also, cringe

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Low rent move. You're never going to see "Duke's Mayonnaise Cameron Indoor Stadium" or the "Allen Fieldhouse at the Hy-Vee Plaza". Kentucky football is a trashy, low-rent program, so yeah, they will stomach Kroger Field. Good programs shouldn't pull moves like this.

You’re going on record saying no “high level program” will sell naming rights?

 

[therickbol]

Imagine being such a Karen that this registers anywhere near the top of someone's radar of things to be irked about. I especially like all the professional Athletic Directors that are scoffing at how we got lowballed by only getting $20M. As if anyone on here has any clue how negotiations for naming rights actually goes down. $20M is a large check that can be productive within the athletic department. And NOTHING TANGIBLE changes. They added a name and didn't even remove the TBA name. If that means a few Karen's get up in their feelings then I doubt that will cause Danny White to lose any sleep.

 

[therickbol]

I also wonder if the Food City Center is going to be the name to that entire Riverwalk area once they add the new stores/restaurants/tailgate area to replace the parking garage.

 

[cncchris33]

I agree with that. Heinz Field became iconic. But "Food Center City" would never be iconic

Heinz Field is actually now Acrisure Stadium. They changed the name in 2022, but most people outside Pittsburgh don't hardly even realize it because it is still colloquially referred to as Heinz Field much like I'm sure Food City Center will still be universally referred to as TBA.

Incidentally, the Heinz company paid $57 million for naming rights across 20 years in 2001 when it opened. Having the name "Heinz" on it never bothered me because it was a family name that was also the name of their very famous company. Kraft Mac & Cheese Stadium would have been cringy. Heinz Field, not so much, at least for me, personally.

 

[jeff1vol]

Unfortunately, there's going to be a bunch of folks on this board who aren't going to like the future of collegiate athletics. Better get used to the sponsorship crap or find another hobby. No sense fussing about it, it's here to stay.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Imagine being such a Karen that this registers anywhere near the top of someone's radar of things to be irked about. I especially like all the professional Athletic Directors that are scoffing at how we got lowballed by only getting $20M. As if anyone on here has any clue how negotiations for naming rights actually goes down. $20M is a large check that can be productive within the athletic department. And NOTHING TANGIBLE changes. They added a name and didn't even remove the TBA name. If that means a few Karen's get up in their feelings then I doubt that will cause Danny White to lose any sleep.

I don't think not liking it rises to "Karen" level.

 

[Shadowboxer]

Can I scan my value card when I get tickets and get bonus points?

 

[therickbol]

I don't think not liking it rises to "Karen" level.

My response was not to people who commented that they were not thrilled with the name Food City or association with a mediocre grocery store. There have been lots of people, on here and social media, that have gone way past not being thrilled.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

My response was not to people who commented that they were not thrilled with the name Food City or association with a mediocre grocery store. There have been lots of people, on here and social media, that have gone way past not being thrilled.

If the over the top negative responses were made without a detailed review of all the fine print then they rise to IDIOTIC level fandom. Just like every other fanbase we have our share of those types too.
I am really looking forward to seeing some details on the exterior upgrades proposed. Guess giant checkerboards are out.

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

Its not like they removed Thompson-Boling from the arena. Its essentially a donation for $20 Million. Corporate sponsorships are here to stay. Get used to it. No AD is going to turn down Millions of Dollars to add a few words to the stadium or arena.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I doubt that there’s any urgency in upgrading the TBA/FCC exterior. The Neyland hotel, entertainment district, river front, and pedestrian bridge to connect the campus (at the TBA/FCC) to south Knoxville are higher priority. When all of that is in progress then I’m sure that the TBA exterior will be included.

I would love to see some weather sheltering structures on the upper level walkways and decks, especially the big one on the N. face. Provide some concessions and table tops to encourage tailgating of sorts for both BB and maybe create some additional walkup tailgating for football. if creatively constructed. Always hated lining up on rainy days. Maybe FC could provide several temporary Deli spots filled with their prepackaged foods and drinks that they have in the stores. I am getting ready to eat one of their sandwiches in about 5 minutes. Could maybe have a food truck court at the edge of the connecting parking lot.

 

[Volfan1000]

Good column by Adam Sparks on the Food City naming rights partnership in today's News Sentinel.

 

[VolArmy74]

You’re going on record saying no “high level program” will sell naming rights?

I'm saying it's trashy if they do. We just did.

 

[Weezer]

Does this mean we're going to start referring to TBA as "The City"?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It’s coming everywhere. I think that Danny made a good deal. A lot of schools will earn zero dollars over the next couple of years as they debate whether to participate and negotiate with businesses. 10 years is much better than 20. Who knows if the going rate might be $10 or $20 million/year soon? Mean while, the huge naming rights for Neyland are still on the table.

Down the road nobody will remember which schools were early to naming rights. Kroger, Yum!, and others already initiated the trend. It’s going to be everywhere in 5-10 years. UT will be in a much better bargaining position once the number of available sports venues is cut down. Right now Food City could have taken their $20 million to many other places instead.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

I'm saying it's trashy if they do. We just did.

Business marketing.

You think DW would turn down millions of dollars? Lol

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

It’s coming everywhere. I think that Danny made a good deal. A lot of schools will earn zero dollars over the next couple of years as they debate whether to participate and negotiate with businesses. 10 years is much better than 20. Who knows if the going rate might be $10 or $20 million/year soon? Mean while, the huge naming rights for Neyland are still on the table.

Down the road nobody will remember which schools were early to naming rights. Kroger, Yum!, and others already initiated the trend. It’s going to be everywhere in 5-10 years. UT will be in a much better bargaining position once the number of available sports venues is cut down. Right now Food City could have taken their $20 million to many other places instead.

Just checked and VT is 18 miles closer and in their home office state.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I would love to see some weather sheltering structures on the upper level walkways and decks, especially the big one on the N. face. Provide some concessions and table tops to encourage tailgating of sorts for both BB and maybe create some additional walkup tailgating for football. if creatively constructed. Always hated lining up on rainy days. Maybe FC could provide several temporary Deli spots filled with their prepackaged foods and drinks that they have in the stores. I am getting ready to eat one of their sandwiches in about 5 minutes. Could maybe have a food truck court at the edge of the connecting parking lot.

If they (the various government entities) spend millions for the pedestrian bridge I’m sure that somebody will also invest in the area around the northern terminus. But the plans are for it connecting to the area around the top of the western scissor ramp rather than the eastern one close to Neyland Stadium. I wonder how they will connect the two sides? Right now they won’t even fill potholes in the parking lot surrounding Andy Holt Tower.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Just checked and VT is 18 miles closer and in their home office state.

Naming rights on Cassell Coliseum are $500,000/year for 10 years ending in 2025. Carilion Clinic.

I think that Danny (and Food City) did the right thing. Collect a couple million dollars as things develop. UT will be in a good spot to renegotiate as the 20 year deal winds down. No competing team fan bases are going to be mad at Food City for sponsoring UT (FC already has been on a smaller scale).

 

[Freak]

Whoever is running the Weigel's twitter is hilarious.