As the MSU football team’s success and popularity has elevated over the past few years, the MSU athletic department decided Spartan Stadium needed a bit of a makeover.
On Friday, the MSU Board of Trustees approved an authorization to plan for an $18 million renovation of the north end zone of Spartan Stadium.
But some are wondering where exactly the money will come from.
Deputy Athletic Director Greg Ianni said the multimillion-dollar renovation will be completely financed by donations and fundraising through the Spartan Fund.
The fund raises money specifically for Spartan athletics, and anyone can donate.
The athletics department is a self-funded organization and receives no money from the university or the State of Michigan, making fundraising and donations a vital part to its financial stability, Ianni said.
He also said it is university policy for the athletics department to raise its own money for facilities, and in his 20 years with the program, no project has been funded otherwise.
The proposal for the renovations came after the athletics department saw a glaring need to update the current facility.
“It’s been 50-plus years since anything has been done to that (area of the stadium),” Ianni said. “There have been some painting and carpet put in, but there hasn’t been any major (renovation).”
The renovation will include updated home and away locker rooms, a room for the media, a room for officials, a recruiting center for all sports and updated concessions and restrooms, as well as maintenance needs.
Supply chain management sophomore Charles Miller said MSU needs such renovations to stay atop of the Big Ten.
“We’re a competitive university,” Miller said. “We need it to stay with the top-ranked universities.”
MSU Trustee Brian Breslin said it shouldn’t be overlooked that this project is not being paid with any tuition or general fund money.
“The athletic department has a very unique ability to attract donors from the private sector,” Breslin said after the trustees’ meeting last Friday.
This renovation is crucial for not only the football program, but for every MSU sport, Trustee Faylene Owen said.
“Football and basketball profits pay for almost all of … the rest of our athletic programs,” Owen said. “That is why it is important that football be competitive with the very best programs, and is why we need to upgrade our facilities so that they are as good as those of our competitors.”
Ianni said the athletic department already has begun project fundraising.
They would like to submit an authorization to proceed to the MSU Board of Trustees by spring, but must finalize a design, select an architect and generate full funding for the project, he said.
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