New turf at the Alerus

[GeauxSioux]

And now I don my tin foil hat.... Maybe the reason the interlocking "ND" isn't at midfield is because it is known that UND is not going to be a long term tenant. It is okay to put North Dakota in the end zones, because... It is still North Dakota.

[108498]

The interlock "ND" has been the logo for football for quite a long time. You see it on the helmets and on the turf at the outdoor stadium. I do not remember a time myself in recent years when the team used the mascot of the sioux anywhere.

[Siouxperfan7]

The Alurus got a mulligan on the turf and they still shanked it in the woods. I will give them some credit for the black end zones and the better big sky logos. I am not going to lose sleep over the midfield logo, but definitely unfortunate.

[82SiouxGuy]

All of this was negotiated and paid for. If UND didn't want the Altru logos, they shouldn't have accepted the check for $1,000,000 that Altru gave as a payment for advertising on the turf. If UND didn't want to have the Alerus Center logos on the turf, I'm sure that the Alerus would have accepted a bigger check from UND to pay more for the turf. This is all about business and dollars. Why should the Alerus Center voluntarily give up something that they legitimately and legally are entitled to have? Just because a few people don't like to see it? Do your neighbors have the right to tell you what color to paint your house? Of course not. If this issue was really that important to anyone other than the few on this board, I'm sure that the University would have made an effort to change things, but they didn't. Next people will start complaining about the shade of green for the new uniforms again.

The turf that has been installed is the top of the line, the Cadillac of turf. The other turf would have been average quality. It is used on football fields all over the country. It is the Chevrolet of turf. Installing that turf would not have increased the Alerus Center's potential liability, that is a strawman argument. Do you think that the average quality turf would have been more dangerous than a frozen field that the 15 year old plays and practices on every day? Of course not. Do you think that the top of the line turf will eliminate all concussions? Of course not.

Just because the interlocking ND has been used for UND football in the past doesn't mean that it will continue being used forever. UND hasn't changed it's nickname since 1930, no one knows what the new name or nickname will be. And no one knows how individual teams like the football program will react to a change in nickname and logo. So don't assume that the football team will always use the interlocking ND.

It really must be the off-season if this actually bothers people.

[dakotadan]

i guess the reason why some people find the alerus center logos stupid is they are actually too big for tv!! they would get more visibility if they moved them to the hashes, made them smaller, and maybe even block scripted them for ease of viewing on tv....

The placement of the Alerus Center logo on the turf is contractually obligated in the naming rights contract that the city of GF and Alerus Financial agreed to before the Al even opened. If people on here want to pony up the $$$ to buy out the naming rights contract for even more $$$ than Alerus Financial is paying, I'm sure the city would be interested & put whatever logos on the turf that the SS.com poster(s) who buy it out want.

[dakotadan]

Are you suggesting that a new version of the same steel wool AstroTurf surface would have been acceptable? Notice how the Fargo dome had enough tact to put a big ugly bison logo at the 50? The alerus just doesn't get it on some things.

Once again, the details are in the contracts. UND & the Al/GF's original contract required the Alerus Center to replace the turf at their own cost after 10 years. Very reasonable since the Al purchased the original turf and owned it 100%. Because of this it makes sense that the Alerus Center has final say over what logos can go on it. When UND & GF were negotiating the current contract, both sides had to agree to the terms. The 2 came to a mutual agreement & one of those agreements was to put off the turf replacement for a year or 2 while they discussed the turf replacement & the upgrades UND was requesting & working out who would cover the costs of the additional upgrades. If it had been as simple as buying a better turf I'm sure the Al/GF would have replaced it with the newer version turf. But it required rebuilding the entire turf pit & conversion system to get the turf that UND wanted. The two sides came to an equitable agreement where the city paid for basically the turf replacement and the two sides split the cost of the pit/conversion system replacement. But in order for UND to come up with the $$$ to cover their share they had to find a donor. Altru Health stepped up to cover UND's costs. GF saw the benefit of the upgrade & gave UND the right to give Altru logo placement on the turf system that Altru, an independent 3rd party, was willing to help pay for. On top of this, UND & GF agreed to extend the current lease contract an extra year to cover the 10 year life expectancy of the turf. If you ask me, the three parties came together very well and worked out an agreement that was in the best interest of all three parties!

[dakotadan]

What I have yet to see the people complaining mention is that the original turf that the CITY purchased before the Al even opened did say "SIOUX" in one endzone. I'm pretty sure UND didn't pay a penny for GF to put that there. If the name hadn't been changing, I'm sure the new turf would say "SIOUX" in the same endzone. And in the 11 years of the previous turf, I don't remember the lack of a center field ND ever being this big of a deal.

And speaking of name placement, I don't remember ever hearing or seeing anyone complain about the ice sheet that the UND hockey teams play on saying "Ralph Engelstad Arena" and not "North Dakota - Home of the Fighting Sioux" at center ice because he had every right to the naming and it's placement. However, I have said before that it would be nice to see "University of North Dakota" on the boards in front of the penalty boxes to show up on TV similar to what the Kohl Center has. But I also realize we live in a corporate sponsorship world where advertising and name placement rights pay the bills.

It's a corporate world. How about we just be happy and say thanks that Alerus Financial and Altru Health are helping support UND athletics and helping us grow into a full DI athletics department.

[darell1976]

Who cares about a logo at the 50 yard line. Shouldn't we care more about the end zone than midfield? The end zones look great with the black, the Alerus Center and Altru logos are fine too. Maybe in 2015 with the new nickname we may get a logo on the 50 but if we don't so what. It's just turf. Bison fans bitch about their dome not being bison enough outside while UND fans are bitching about the playing surface not UND enough. How about we just get over the turf and get ready for the season.

[FSSD]

I think the new field is very sharp and I hope that UND will be able to use the old turf in the IPF. As I stated last year, Grand Forks and UND are fortunate to have a company like Alerus on board supporting the center. It would have been nice to have a UND logo in the middle of the field but it is not the end of the world and the Alerus is paying a very competitive price for the naming rights.

(see previous post from last year)

I know that many people have been on Alerus Center for not allowing the UND logo. But, Grand Forks got a nice deal with the Alerus Center naming rights. The new arena in Lincoln, NE just signed Pinnacle Bank's to a $11.25 million, 25-year naming rights deal. I believe that they will be hosting Husker basketball. The Alerus Center deal with Grand Forks is $7.2 million for 20 years. I would like to see the logo, but that is strictly a decision for Alerus Financial. I believe that Alerus Center naming rights runs through 2021.

Here is a list of other deals per http://journalstar.c...720f1535aa.html:

1.35 m/y - KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.: $13.5 million for 10 years

1.25 m/y - Comcast Center, Maryland, $25 million for 20 years

1.00 m/y - Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates, Ill.: $10 million for 10 years

0.93 m/y - CenturyLink Center, Omaha: $14 million for 15 years

0.76 m/y - Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, N.H.: $11.4 million for 15 years

0.56 m/y - Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa: $11.5 million for 20 years

0.50 m/y - United Spirit Arena, Texas Tech, $10 million for 20 years

0.50 m/y - Cox Pavilion, UNLV, $6 million for 12 years

0.46 m/y - Colonial Life Arena, South Carolina, $5.5 million for 12 years

0.45 m/y - Pinnacle Bank's, Lincoln, NE, $11.25 million for 25-year

0.36 m/y - Alerus Center, Grand Forks, N.D.: $7.2 million for 20 years

0.35 m/y - Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan.: $8.75 million for 25 years

0.31 m/y - Werner Park, Omaha, NE, $1.525 million for 5 years

0.30 m/y - Sovereign Center, Reading, Pa.: $9 million for 30 year

NOTE: The City of Fargo/Gate City deal is field naming rights for $1m. As part of that agreement, it must have allowed the NDSU logo. I am sure that the deal with Alerus Center included field naming rights and I don't believe that the UND logo has ever been at midfield in the Alerus Center. I believe that they allowed the Sioux name in the end zones and I believe that are allowing North Dakota in the end zones with the new field. But, adding the NDSU logo at midfield is new this year for the Fargo Dome.

Naming rights can get very interesting here are a series of articles about the recent Lincoln, NE naming agreement (NOTE: Pinnacle deal does not include Court naming rights):

http://journalstar.c...c7550fa3b5.html

http://journalstar.c...7eb83e8006.html

[UNDvince97-01]

The Alerus Center name is going to be on the turf because UND doesn't own the building. Get over it or pay for a new stadium.

Some of us just disagree with you and want a UND logo and presence at midfield. Get over it.

[darell1976]

Some of us just disagree with you and want a UND logo and presence at midfield. Get over it.

Why? Memorial Stadium never had a midfield logo, or even an NCC logo. Just Sioux in the endzones. (oh how I wish I could see that in the black endzones)

[108498]

Logo at Memorial Stadium

https://www.google.com/search?q=memerail+stadium+in+grand+forks&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=IIbQUc_FGeGIygGv6YHgCQ&biw=1440&bih=719&sei=JIbQUceyBbHeyQHBt4DwDQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=716uX002qmKnVM%3A%3BRhICak8QMAc6bM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sprinturf.com%252Fphotos%252Fcentral%252Fcentral47.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sprinturf.com%252Fcentral_region.html%3B500%3B300

[darell1976]

Logo at Memorial Stadium

https://www.google.c...on.html;500;300

Wasn't there when UND was playing as far as I remember.

[fightingsioux4life]

I guess I care way more about the team that plays on the turf than what logos are on the turf. This is a very important season for Mussman and his staff and the program in general. If the team goes 3-8 again, we'll have bigger problems than how big the Alerus Center logos are.

[fightingsioux4life]

The Alerus Center name is going to be on the turf because UND doesn't own the building. Get over it or pay for a new stadium. And they would have new turf whether UND helped pay for it or not, they just wouldn't have the same quality new turf. The Alerus Center had enough money to pay for new turf, they just weren't willing to pay for the same grade of new turf as UND wanted. The building is owned by the city of Grand Forks and is used for plenty of others. They have every right (including a legal right in the contract) to put their name on the field, why would they do something different.

I would be willing to bet that at least part of the reason that the interlocking ND isn't on the turf is because UND will have a new nickname and logo within a couple of years. No one knows whether anything will change for the football program as far as which logo they may use. But why would they put the ND logo on the field when there is at least a decent chance that they may have to change it again in a couple of years.

The really funny thing is that only a very select few could even tell you what is on the field, much less care about it, yet a few people on here get so upset about what is painted on a football field that will be seen 5-8 times per year.

'

And what makes you think UND wouldn't sell all the rights to the turf signage even if they did own the stadium? I don't really care one way or the other about the logos on the turf, but it wouldn't matter who owns the stadium, everything would be auctioned off to the highest bidder regardless.

[82SiouxGuy]

And what makes you think UND wouldn't sell all the rights to the turf signage even if they did own the stadium? I don't really care one way or the other about the logos on the turf, but it wouldn't matter who owns the stadium, everything would be auctioned off to the highest bidder regardless.

I agree, UND might sell the naming rights. My point is that if UND wanted to control the logos on the field, either they would need to own the stadium or they would have to make it financially worth while for the owner of the building.

[The Sicatoka]

Complaining about a roof over our heads and new state-of-the-art turf under our feet.

Seriously? What next? Your ice cream too cold?

It's nearly as bad as complaining that the free $104 million hockey facility only added on a 3500 seat basketball facility ... for free.

That's almost $200 million in facilities that UND plays in that they've payed ... zero ... for.

For perspective, we're still waiting to close out raising the $20 million to do Phase 2 of the yet started Phase 1 of the indoor training facility.

Complaining about a mid-field logo suddenly seems pretty petty to me when all the other gifts and blessings are considered.

[UNDvince97-01]

Complaining about a roof over our heads and new state-of-the-art turf under our feet.

Seriously? What next? Your ice cream too cold?

It's nearly as bad as complaining that the free $104 million hockey facility only added on a 3500 seat basketball facility ... for free.

That's almost $200 million in facilities that UND plays in that they've payed ... zero ... for.

For perspective, we're still waiting to close out raising the $20 million to do Phase 2 of the yet started Phase 1 of the indoor training facility.

Complaining about a mid-field logo suddenly seems pretty petty to me when all the other gifts and blessings are considered.

Sorry if wanting a UND presence at midfield of our home stadium is asking too much for you, Sic.

My apologies.

[82SiouxGuy]

Sorry if wanting a UND presence at midfield of our home stadium is asking too much for you, Sic.

My apologies.

Wanting it is one thing. Complaining about it over and over again is another. Especially when you are complaining about people and organizations doing what is in their legal rights to do because the rights were negotiated by the parties with fiduciary interests. But, I guess the names and signage on the walls, hanging from the rafters, in the end zones and probably several other places just isn't enough.

[Irish]

Let's face it - the Alerus Center has never gone out of its way to be known as the home of UND Football - I can't wait until the day we have our own facilities. We were sold a bill of goods to pay for that white elephant - although I'm sure that everyone has been enjoying the great concerts they have been scheduling.

[UNDvince97-01]

Wanting it is one thing. Complaining about it over and over again is another. Especially when you are complaining about people and organizations doing what is in their legal rights to do because the rights were negotiated by the parties with fiduciary interests. But, I guess the names and signage on the walls, hanging from the rafters, in the end zones and probably several other places just isn't enough.

No it's not.

In my opinion, they have done the field turf twice and have missed the boat both times.

If me wanting a UND logo at midfield and "complaining about it over and over again" as you so eloquently put it is too much for you, then again, I guess I'm sorry. I'm not sure what else to say.

I'm not asking for miracles here. Just a UND presence at midfield. I understand the business aspect to all of it, I really do. I just don't agree with how it has been handled by Alerus Financial. There can still be Alerus logos on the field with a UND logo, cant there? You can also change them out in a couple years if need be.

Like you said earlier, "get over it".

I'll try keep my whining and complaining to a minimum for you from here on out.

[The Sicatoka]

If you want a UND logo at mid-field, buy out the naming rights from Alerus Financial and put it there.

Short of that, those who own the rights will do what is within their rights.

You don't have to like it; heck, you don't even have to agree with it; you just have to deal with it.

[Matt]

No it's not.

In my opinion, they have done the field turf twice and have missed the boat both times.

If me wanting a UND logo at midfield and "complaining about it over and over again" as you so eloquently put it is too much for you, then again, I guess I'm sorry. I'm not sure what else to say.

I'm not asking for miracles here. Just a UND presence at midfield. I understand the business aspect to all of it, I really do. I just don't agree with how it has been handled by Alerus Financial. There can still be Alerus logos on the field with a UND logo, cant there? You can also change them out in a couple years if need be.

Like you said earlier, "get over it".

I'll try keep my whining and complaining to a minimum for you from here on out.

Hey-don't you get it? Groupthink only here! We are implementing the bisonville model. Nothing is more exciting than a message board with monolothic thought and dull opining.

[Feff]

Personally I think the field would get rather busy if they tried putting a UND logo at midfield. Where do you move the Alerus logos to? Do you get rid of the Big Sky logos? Maybe you get rid of Altru (you know, the other donor)?

[Siouxperfan7]

I think we need to be more concerned about the product on the field than the actual field itself.