Michigan State football "for the first time in a long time ... has been paying to keep up with the big boys" with "renovations to the west side of Spartan Stadium in 2005, the Duffy Daugherty Football Building in 2007, the scoreboards in 2012 and the north end zone project currently underway," according to Chris Vannini of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. While MSU football for a long time "got along on the cheap," MSU AD Mark Hollis and the administration realize "that doesn't work anymore." They are "doing everything they can to squeeze every dollar possible and keep the athletic department making a profit -- one of the few in the nation that does." MSU fields 25 varsity sports, "the fourth-most in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan." But MSU "doesn’t have the revenue those schools do, sitting in the middle of the conference in that category." Spartan Stadium seats 75,005, but that "will decrease by about 5,000 when the current north end zone and other concourse renovations are complete." MSU "has its fair share of donors, but not compared to the top departments in the Big Ten." A renovation of the east side with luxury seats "would be very valuable, but only if they can be sold," and it is "hard to see any scenario in which a possible upper deck to the south end zone would be needed or worth it." Vannini: "MSU has to be smart with how it uses its money" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/11).
