by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
By the time the Dr Pepper ACC Championship game comes to town, Alltel Stadium will have hosted eight Jacksonville Jaguars games, the Georgia-Florida game and the Southern Classic. Those 10 games will take a toll on the field, but according to SMG General Manager Bob Downey, it’s the paint that’s used to prep the field for the ACC title game that will create the need for about one-third of the field to be resodded before the Jan. 1 Toyota Gator Bowl.
At issue right now is: who will pay the $47,000 tab to resod the middle and end zones of the field.
“We are not sure of the wear and tear on the field, but we do know we have to paint huge logos on the field for the ACC Championship game,” said Downey, who runs the management company that oversees Alltel Stadium, the Arena and several other City-owned entertainment facilities. “We can’t paint over the logos with green because the colors will bleed through.”
There is a month between the ACC title game and the Gator Bowl. However, according to Downey the bermudagrass in Alltel will have gone dormant by then and the field will need to be partially resodded. Downey said SMG picked up the tab last year, but he contends the Gator Bowl Association — which runs the ACC title game and the Gator Bowl — is contractually obligated to pay for the sod and its installation.
“It’s the Gator Bowl’s obligation and we are putting them on notice,” said Downey, adding SMG absorbed the cost last year — $47,532 — but doesn’t intend to this year.
The Gator Bowl Association and SMG have recently traded correspondence over the matter. In fact, GBA President Rick Catlett has referred the issue to the GBA’s attorney.
SMG is under contract to the City, and according to Downey, the City informed him in early October that the resodding costs were the responsibility of the GBA.
Catlett said he expects to get the issue resolved soon.
“These kinds of issues come up all the time,” said Catlett. “It’s not unusual in discussions with SMG for all kinds of functions to come up like manpower and taxes. In the past, we have sat down and worked out the details.”
The dispute seems to revolve around the interpretation of the contract.
“The contract says the City of Jacksonville will pay for the normal cost of operating the stadium for the ACC Championship,” said Catlett, who believes the maintenance of the playing surface constitutes normal operating costs. “Anything beyond that is the responsibility of the Gator Bowl Association.”
Catlett said the issue may not be the paint used during the ACC title game, but rather the amount of wear and tear on the field during the course of the football season.
“What’s important to me is what’s necessary after the ACC Championship game vs. what’s necessary after 10 football games,” he said. “The paint is part of the discussion. But, is it the paint or is it the past three months?”
Downey said the biggest reason he needs to determine who’s paying for the sod is the fact he needs to order it soon. According to Downey, the sod will likely come from a turf farm in South Georgia. However, due to turf demands all over the country, there’s a need to secure one-third of a field’s worth of sod and the machinery needed to remove the old sod and install the new.
“Only a handful of U.S. companies have this kind of equipment,” said Downey.
Catlett said he expects to have the issue resolved soon so he can get on with selling tickets to both games.
“I really expect to reach an amiable agreement. “I don’t think we’ll have to pay for everything, but I expect to have to pay for some of it.”
With a little over a month until the ACC Championship, Catlett said there are about 20,000 tickets left. However, a vast majority of those tickets have been sold locally. When the two participants are determined — right now it may be a Georgia Tech-Boston College match-up — Catlett expects the two schools to sell a majority of the 20,000 tickets to their fans.
“We have sold 750 since Saturday night,” he said.