Boston College AD Brad Bates already has "made a potentially tenure-defining hire" in football coach Steve Addazio and is "developing a strategic plan for the department that he hopes will both outline the BC athletics vision and define how to achieve it," according to Jack McCluskey of ESPN BOSTON. Bates said, "Sports in our society are highly valued. They inherently have a marketing aspect to them. And if you’re having success and your students are leaders in the community it’s a very effective and successful marketing vehicle for the entire university." Addazio during the offseason wanted to "redo his office and the Eagles’ locker room in Alumni Stadium and to give the football offices in the Yawkey Center a facelift." He also wanted to "upgrade the video system the team uses." All those requests "were met." Addazio said of the new video system, "That’s pretty expensive stuff. We upgraded all that. ... We’re right where we need to be there. So the administration is real committed to going about the business." Bates knew before he took the job in October '12 there "were game-day deficiencies on and off the field." BC has announced "expanded tailgating options, new hospitality tents outside Alumni Stadium before football games and a new student ticketing plan." Bates said, "We need to create a waiting list. We need to sell out our events. There’s a resource side to that, clearly. But it can’t be exclusively focused on the money and resources." He added, "Not only are we competing against the local professional teams and our ACC counterparts, but there are a lot of ways you can spend your entertainment dollar in the city of Boston" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 8/28).
