Can Fresno State renovate its decrepit football stadium and carry Save Mart Center debt?

Fresno State is carrying heavy debt on the Save Mart Center, its basketball and entertainment facility. But what, if anything, does that mean for potential upgrades or a full renovation of Valley Children’s Stadium?

The aged football stadium has been in dire need of a full makeover for years.

The university’s past two athletics directors, Jim Bartko and Terry Tumey, introduced ambitious plans to refurbish the stadium, which was opened in 1980 and last saw substantial upgrades in 1992 with the addition of sky suites on the east side of the venue. New athletics director Garrett Klassy, who has been on the job less than one month, soon enough will take a good, long look at the place; its warts, and its potential as a revenue driver for a department in need of greater financial resources.

But is president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval willing to take on more debt to renovate another athletics venue, while the university deals with cuts in state funding that will hit every campus in the California State University system?

A renovation plan that was abandoned in 2018 by former president Joseph I. Castro had a price tag between $60 million and $80 million. Said Castro at that time: “It would have required an enormous financial structuring from the campus to make it work, and I felt like that was too risky for the university.”

Will any renovation have to wait until 2031, when the university is scheduled to be out from under the $36 million remaining on the Save Mart Center capital lease obligation? That includes a $10.3 million principal and interest payment in 2024-25.

“Fresno State remains committed to maintaining and enhancing our facilities to provide the best possible environment for our students, athletes, and the broader community,” Jiménez-Sandoval said in a statement to The Bee. “With the recent hiring of Garrett Klassy as our new athletic director, we are confident in our path forward. Garrett brings extensive experience in capital improvement projects, which is a critical asset for advancing our ‘Elevate’ athletics master plan.

“As we navigate our next steps, our goal is to strike a balance between necessary investments in our facilities and maintaining the university’s overall financial health.”

Klassy had brief opportunities to tour the stadium following his introductory press conference and the team meeting when football coach Jeff Tedford announced he would step away from coaching due to heart-related health issues.

“We’ll look into it and we’ll see what we need to do,” the new AD said. “The only thing I will tell you, obviously, there’s a great need based on what I’ve read throughout the years. There are some amenities we need to improve, whether that’s restrooms, ramps, ADA accessibility. Those things are important. We can’t keep expecting our fans to support us at a high level if we don’t give them at least the minimum amenities that they need to enjoy a football Saturday.

“We’ll look at it, but like everything there’s going to have to be a business model and we’re going to have to have the funding before we can move forward with anything.”

There are other sports, too

Klassy also is dealing with other financial forces within the athletics department, with operating revenue a constant concern with 18 sports programs to fund. Fresno State athletics had a budget deficit of $2.8 million in 2022-23, according to the most recent annual financial report submitted to the NCAA.

Another seven-figures loss is expected in 2023-24 and university funding to the department, its largest source of revenue, is likely to be cut again this year.

Fresno State, which ranked third in the Mountain West in athletics revenues not that long ago, was down to seventh in the conference last year.

If money and revenue are tight, then what is the priority: facilities upgrades, or generating more operating revenue to remain competitive in the Mountain West?

Klassy was hired in part for his revenue-generating chops, and he has a history of working capital projects at University of Nebraska and before that at George Washington University in Washington, D.C..

“I think with the hire what we will see is strategic entrepreneurship on the one hand and then on the other hand we will see someone who gets down to work and reaches out to people and brings them into this movement of supporting a vision that makes sense,” Jiménez-Sandoval said, after Klassy was introduced as athletics director in June. “Garrett is very quick on his feet, but he’s also very grounded in what he wants to do. He’s not afraid of change. He’s not afraid of challenges.”

But will he run into the same reality as Bartko and Tumey? Raising funds for renovation projects is not easy. Then, there is that Save Mart Center debt. Then, there is an operating revenue deficit.

Another campaign?

Tumey in May 2023 unveiled the “Elevate” campaign, and planned renovations and upgrades to the football stadium and other athletics facilities on campus.

The plan was centered on new revenue generation to retire debt on future projects.

The suites on the east side of Valley Children’s Stadium were renovated last summer with the addition of retractable windows, new flooring and seating and new televisions. The seed money for the project came from the $1.5 million buyout that Fresno State received from University of Washington when former Bulldogs coach Kalen DeBoer was hired away toward the end of the 2021 football season, as well as private donations.

The new revenue generated by the upgraded suites was to cover a large part of the debt service for the second phase of stadium renovations, which focused on the north end zone and additional revenue generating opportunities. There would be new premium seating for fans, as well as branding opportunities for potential stadium amenities, such as a patio area, a sports bar or lounge and entry gates off Barstow Avenue.

That revenue would then spur additional development in or around the stadium.

It was to be done step by step. It included taking on debt, but also realistic and measured ways to service that debt.

But more than a year later and the north end zone remains untouched, and the speed with which college athletics is moving is evident. While Fresno State sits idle, DeBoer already has moved on to Alabama after spending two seasons at Washington, where he led the Huskies to a 25-3 record and the national title game last season.

Bartko, who dealt with personal issues toward the end of his tenure, struggled to raise money for the project before he was forced out in 2017. Tumey and the university parted ways less than one year after the Elevate plan was introduced.

Falling behind

Fresno State ranked third in the Mountain West in football investment in 2017-18, and was $3.6 million away from the top spot. The Bulldogs last season ranked sixth, and they were $12.9 million behind the conference leader in football spending.

It also is behind in the facilities race. San Diego State opened a new football Stadium in 2022. San Jose State completed a renovation of its football stadium in 2023.

Elsewhere in the Mountain West Conference, Colorado State opened its on-campus football stadium in 2017. Boise State added seating to its football stadium in 2012 and has plans for a $65 million renovation of the north end that will include field-level suites and other premium seating options for fans. UNLV moved into Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, in 2020. Air Force broke ground in January on a $90 million modernization of the east side of its football stadium.

Fresno State replaced the artificial turf playing surface and installed a new lighting system in 2019, but it has not made significant structural changes to the stadium since 1991 and ‘92 when 22 suites were added on the east side and more than 9,000 chairs and bench seats were added to expand capacity to accommodate 40,000 fans.