Missouri State AD finalist Roger Denny wants to invest $100 million in football and double the budget

Missouri State athletic director candidate Roger Denny said during a public forum that he would like to invest $100 million in the Bears football program and double the athletic department’s budget to be more successful.

Denny, currently the chief operating officer and executive associate director of athletics at the University of Illinois, was the first of the three finalists to speak to the Missouri State community. Appalachian State associate athletic director Patrick Ransdell will be on campus Friday and Arizona State associate athletic director Vince Volpe will visit campus next Monday.

The three were the announced finalists to replace Kyle Moats, who left Missouri State in June to take the same position at Eastern Kentucky.

Addressing about 25 community members in Glass Hall on campus, Denny said his top priority would be to get in and get Missouri State’s day-to-day operations where they need to be. The focus would then turn to providing student-athletes with the resources they need.

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Missouri State athletic director candidate says Plaster Stadium and football program need $100 million-plus renovation project

Some of that attention will go toward building renovations. There may be no greater need on campus than the renovation of Plaster Stadium, the home of the football team.

“That project is going to have to become a full-scale community partnership to do it right,” Denny said. “If they told me yes, we need to do a $5 million project to update some markings, fix some bathrooms and paint some things, yes, we’ll figure that out, but that’s not going to change things.”

“I’ve spoken to President Williams and I know he’s said this… it’s going to be a $100 million-plus project.”

Denny said he had not taken a tour of the facility, but had toured Plaster Stadium. He noted that the parking lots south of Grand St. were a place that could provide Missouri State with some “unique opportunities to develop a new business venture.” He compared it to a recent visit to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to see the Packers’ “Titletown” development near the historic stadium. It’s somewhat similar to what’s been built around Busch Stadium in St. Louis with Ballpark Village.

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“That’s nothing new,” Denny said. “The NFL went into this strict environment where 51 percent of football-related revenue goes to the players. They had to find ways to generate non-football revenue. What they did was develop large multi-use districts right outside the stadium.”

Denny doesn’t anticipate the $100 million-plus going toward Plaster Stadium, but it needs to be spread out among the needs of the football program. He said he’s heard the football facilities are “really lacking” in terms of locker rooms, etc., but the rest of the money would go toward the fan experience.

Roger Denny would like to double Missouri State’s sports budget

In addition to a nine-figure project to improve Missouri State’s football facilities, Denny spoke of his desire to have the university essentially double its athletics budget.

According to Missouri State’s NCAA financial report for fiscal year 2022, the university operated on a $30 million athletic budget. When the university announced it would move to Conference USA in May, Missouri State’s previous administration said the budget would increase to around $36 million and would be budget-neutral.

“I think we need a $50 to $60 million program to have the success we want,” Denny said.

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Denny singled out schools like Nevada, Colorado State and East Carolina, with $50 million to $60 million programs in a metropolitan area similar to Springfield, as having been successful. He said those schools have designed ways to use resources wisely to make a bigger impact.

“I think if this community is really engaged, that’s very possible,” Denny said. “If we’re going to do it, we’ll do it at a time when it’s at no cost to the campus. We’re not asking for any additional contributions from the campus.”

Plaster Stadium is getting $100 million and the sports budget sounds good, but who’s going to pay for it?

In theory, Denny might be the most confusing of the three finalists because of his 15 years of legal experience as a tax attorney. He has only been with the Illinois athletic department for three years. His work as a partner at his previous law firm included many athletic-focused duties, allowing him to represent coaches and create various databases for university spending.

Some of his roles also helped him build relationships in the Springfield area. He hopes those relationships will help him fund some of the big-ticket projects he has in mind.

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“There’s also a transactional way of engaging the community, and I bring some unique skills,” Denny said. “Especially when you think about Plaster Stadium and some of the other facilities in the area that need attention. I’ve gotten to know the budget. We’re going to have to leverage this community and the affinity in this community in a major way just to get the operating budgets in this department up to a level where our teams can compete in Conference USA and win at the level the same way we’ve historically done.

“If we’re going to do that, we’re going to have to start tapping into some of that capacity and we’re going to have to find new ways to do things like a big, large-scale project at Plaster Stadium or otherwise. One of the answers I think needs to be evaluated is through a large public-private partnership involving multiple units of government, private companies and public companies and see if we can bring a community and its assets together in a way that benefits much more than just athletics.

“It’s not the most humble thing I would say today, but you won’t find anyone in college athletics who has done more of that type of work than I have.”

This article originally appeared in the Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State AD finalist wants to invest $100 million in football