Visitors to Duke on Saturday for the school's home football opener against N.C. Central saw a "historic departure -- an emphatic and enthusiastic embrace of the accouterments of big-time sports," according to Barry Jacobs of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. An athletic fundraising effort launched in '12 "sought a quarter of a billion dollars to realize the plan’s goals," and already it has "brought in a staggering" $350M, $100M beyond its original target. That is "good news for Duke, where some think a half-billion dollars in contributions dedicated to athletic facilities, operations and endowments is now within reach." The school overall has raised $3.25B in six years, the "original target for a 'Duke Forward' fundraising campaign." Now "additional touches" to the school's athletic facilities, from "paving stones replacing asphalt to a Nike store featuring Blue Devil garb, will be made throughout the next year." But the "major work" is already done. The "most obvious change" on campus is the 110,000-square-foot, five-story Blue Devil Tower atop Wallace Wade Stadium's western stands, "complete with private suites, catered food and alcohol, media spaces, and the school’s own in-house, ACC Network-ready TV studio." School spending on football has grown "in virtually one gulp," as Duke has "added a quarter of a million square feet of new structures at its athletic core." That square footage "doesn’t count numerous Olympic sport improvements, among them a new East Campus softball stadium." Thanks to the ongoing fundraising effort, many Olympic sports "anticipate an infusion of scholarship support." A 30,000-square-foot addition to Cameron Indoor Stadium "expanded the lobby and hospitality space." But the "key change" reflects "beyond campus." Where once basketball "drove TV revenues, particularly for the ACC, now the preponderance of income is derived from football" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 9/5).
