Pepsi Donates $12 million to Sac

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:07 pm

University secures $25 million for Recreation Center, arena projects
$12 million contract with Pepsi Co. announced
Gamaliel Ortiz
State Hornet

April 06, 2006

Sacramento State has reached its goal of raising more than $25 million to begin the first phase of the Recreation, Wellness, and Events Center and Sports Complex, the university announced on Thursday.
The cost of the entire project is estimated around $120 million, which includes a new fieldhouse along with the Recreation and Wellness Center and a separate 6,000 to 8,000-seat arena.

Nearly 5,000 students, 55.2 percent, voted for a $110 a semester fee increase to kick in after campus president Alexander Gonzalez raised $25 million.

The arena, which was initially a part of the recreation center along with renovations to the stadium, will be put on hold until the university can secure more funding.

The funding for the massive project has come from various sources including $10 million from Alex G. Spanos, $2 million from Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation and now $12 million from a long-term contract with the Pepsi Co., which was announced Thursday.

The first phase will include a new field house, with the ground breaking expected by the fall.

Ground breaking for the biggest piece of the project – the Recreation and Wellness Center – might begin as soon as late next year, according to a press release from Sac State public affairs, and is estimated to cost $50 million and could be completed by June of 2009.

The recreation center will include a fitness center, athletic courts, rock-climbing walls and other amenities, but the programming and design are still in the works.

The architect is Ellerbe Becket, which has a partnership firm in San Francisco and has built various sports buildings – including Charlotte Arena for the NBA Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C., the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., for the NBA Memphis Grizzlies, and Gonzaga University's McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.

I wouldn't mind seeing something like this at MSU. It would be annoying to see Pepsi/Coke logos everywhere, but if it helped us bowl in the endzone and get new bleachers, I'd put up with it.

longhorn_22 · Post by **longhorn_22** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:11 pm

No shi*. Why can't one of these companies ever step up for us? Sac St.? What have they done lately? I hope something can happen soon so we can get this stadium thing finished without any question.

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:21 pm

We do have a contract with Pepsi. If I'm not mistaken they paid a large chunk of the scoreboards when they were updated

Post by **rtb** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:25 pm

catamaran wrote:We do have a contract with Pepsi. If I'm not mistaken they paid a large chunk of the scoreboards when they were updated

Indeed, I don't know the size of our Pepsi contract, but it is a large sum that they pay to sell only Pepsi at the games, etc. I am sure some digging could turn up the actual numbers, but don't worry there is something in place.

longhorn_22 · Post by **longhorn_22** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:27 pm

rtb wrote:
catamaran wrote:We do have a contract with Pepsi. If I'm not mistaken they paid a large chunk of the scoreboards when they were updated
Indeed, I don't know the size of our Pepsi contract, but it is a large sum that they pay to sell only Pepsi at the games, etc. I am sure some digging could turn up the actual numbers, but don't worry there is something in place.

Is that in reference to the stadium renovation/additions?

Post by **rtb** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:48 pm

longhorn_22 wrote:Is that in reference to the stadium renovation/additions?

No just a general contract is in place. I am sure the money can be spent anywhere.

vike_king · Post by **vike_king** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:35 pm

At the high school level those contracts with Coke or Pepsi have been 10 year agreements. Maybe the colleges have shorter terms, I would hope so since they should have more leverage than a class C school.

BobCatFan · Post by **BobCatFan** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 10:04 pm

This is what is really sad about te Pepis deal. The Chairman for Pepsi has is mansion between Bozeman and Park County. This is nothing but a slap in MSU's face.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:31 pm

BobCatFan wrote:This is what is really sad about te Pepis deal. The Chairman for Pepsi has is mansion between Bozeman and Park County. This is nothing but a slap in MSU's face.

???? I thought the goal of Pepsi spending money on sponsorships was to drive sales. Sacramento has more people than the entire state of Montana so ... spending money in Sacramento on marketing makes sense .... even if it is more than it spends at MSU.

I assume this arena will be used extensively for Sacramento area concerts and other major events (in addition to sparsely attended Sac State basketball games), and will be called "Pepsi" something.

I don't know how anyone could consider this an insult (slap in the face) to MSU. MSU has a contract as well (apparently), but simply because somebody has a vacation home in the area does not obligate their corporation to enter into business arrangments that don't necessarily make sense (spending as much or more cash on the Bozeman market than the Sacramento market for marketing). In fact, that would be a breach of the Chairman's fiduciary duty to Pepsi, which is to make decisions in the best interest of the corporation.

theblackgecko · Post by **theblackgecko** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:25 pm

Bay Area Cat wrote:???? I thought the goal of Pepsi spending money on sponsorships was to drive sales. Sacramento has more people than the entire state of Montana so ... spending money in Sacramento on marketing makes sense .... even if it is more than it spends at MSU.

I assume this arena will be used extensively for Sacramento area concerts and other major events (in addition to sparsely attended Sac State basketball games), and will be called "Pepsi" something.

I hope so. The more popular Class C schools have more fans and better attendance than Sac State.

Egg Salad · Post by **Egg Salad** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:38 pm

Bay Area Cat wrote: ???? I thought the goal of Pepsi spending money on sponsorships was to drive sales. Sacramento has more people than the entire state of Montana so ... spending money in Sacramento on marketing makes sense .... even if it is more than it spends at MSU.

I assume this arena will be used extensively for Sacramento area concerts and other major events (in addition to sparsely attended Sac State basketball games), and will be called "Pepsi" something.

I don't know how anyone could consider this an insult (slap in the face) to MSU. MSU has a contract as well (apparently), but simply because somebody has a vacation home in the area does not obligate their corporation to enter into business arrangments that don't necessarily make sense (spending as much or more cash on the Bozeman market than the Sacramento market for marketing). In fact, that would be a breach of the Chairman's fiduciary duty to Pepsi, which is to make decisions in the best interest of the corporation.

I completely disagree BAC. By saying this, it makes it sound like Bobcat sports are NOT the center of the universe. How is that possible? Also, isn't it a God-given right to be able to tell others how to spend their money? Or maybe it's just in the Constitution or something? Either way, you are WAY wrong.

Kadeezy · Post by **Kadeezy** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:14 pm

Guys, guys, guys... You have to realize that these updates are long overdue for Sac State. How can you expect a school to excel at the DI level with a 1,200 seat basketball venue? It makes what Jerome Jenkins has done the last four years (making the BSC playoffs) even more amazing. If he can start telling High School kids now that if they sign with Sac State that they'll be playing in a state of the art arena their Junior year, he's going to start pulling in big time recruits. If you've never been to a Sac State home basketball game it's hard to understand the atmosphere. It's like a sardine can with temperatures reaching what seems like 100 degrees. We're due...