Hamilton County has stopped funding the stadium. The Convention Center is backing out of its financial liability for it, as well. And while Stadium Corporation head Ryan Crimmins said last week that there is “no way” the community “will walk away from Finley,” the community isn’t going to stand around outside an empty stadium, either. He says that an improved UTC Moc football team—and 3,000 to 4,000 more people in the stands—will really help cash flow. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

UTC never pushed for the stadium to be built in the first place. The university reportedly only jumped on board (with enthusiasm and, more importantly, money) after it was clear that the stadium would be built anyway, as they didn’t want to go against overwhelming sentiment from those “in the know” (but admittedly not so) who predicted that Finley would rejuvenate the Southside. Finley really hasn’t been a factor. And it’s not UTC’s fault.

Even when they were played on UTC’s campus, football games were not particularly well attended. And when fans came to games, it was at least as much due to Chamberlain Field’s convenient location on campus as it was the Mocs’ on-field exploits. With the Mocs perennially playing (often quite poorly) in the shadow of the vastly more popular Vols, it would probably have been better for UTC to think small and keep the Mocs at Chamberlain. They could’ve completely renovated the field at a fraction of the Finley cost. Alongside UTC’s other brand new buildings, a restored Chamberlain field would look really nice right about now. The Mocs are not as a big a draw as one might think, especially when you have to drive across town to watch them. And with increasing rumors that the school is going to drop football in the near future anyway, it’s no wonder that the university is continually unwilling to take sole financial responsibility for something it never really wanted and might soon not even need.

Of course, the UTC football situation would be almost irrelevant if the facility was being used to its full potential. Gerald Mason, a local promoter bringing an upcoming concert (see “Old School Jam,” page 24) to Finley Stadium, says the venue is a great facility that is sadly underutilized. He couldn’t be more right.

Pride, fear, finger pointing, and endless excuses need to be thrown out the window. What the facility needs are events that bring will people and money. Period. Concerts, tractor pulls, tournaments. Nobody has ever argued that Finley Stadium is a poor facility, only that it’s being managed poorly, and that it’s not used enough.

As a visitor to a local message board recently surmised, “Think of all the productive, job-creating capital that could be freed up if most of the public/private partnership money was also redirected back into the private sector” instead of into subsidizing projects like Finley Stadium.
Heck, maybe Wal-Mart could buy it.