Rome Keeps NAIA Title Game Through 2010

Initially, the game was supposed to be up for grabs after the 2009 season, but the NAIA and the city of Rome, Georgia got to agree on keeping it around for another year. ((Pictured, are the co-chairs of the title game committee- Shorter AD Bill Peterson and Bob Berry, thanks to our own selves))

The biggest issue for keeping the football championship game around long-term will be a SPLOST vote on November 3rd. Part of that sales tax will go toward a proposed US$3.36-million improvement of Barron Stadium- which would include the installation of SprinTurf at the facility.

The grass surface currently maintained by the city of Rome takes an absolute beating during football season with high school and college games taking place ((sometimes on back-to-back days)) from August through December.

The previous host city was Savannah, Tennessee. The facility was the home of the title game for 11 seasons, but did not draw the raves that Barron Stadium and Rome have drawn by comparison.

"The entire host committee did a fantastic job hosting this event in 2008,” said NAIA Manager of Championship Sports Dennis Green. “The Rome community truly embraced the event and we look forward to coming back in 2010. Shorter College, the city of Rome, and Floyd County have committed to making this a memorable experience for everyone involved and the NAIA is excited about the possibilities for this event.”

Not everyone is in favor of the SPLOST and the turf... Frank Stephenson, an economics professor at Berry College ((the rival school to host Shorter College)) claims the following in an op-ed piece in the Rome News-Tribune...

"...it’s hard to imagine that these effects from hosting the NAIA Championship are large when the lodging benefits are apparently minuscule. Spending more than $3 million on Astroturf and other renovations in pursuit of economic benefits from hosting the football would be a dubious proposition in the best of times. Doing so now, with many families struggling and local unemployment exceeding 11 percent, is unconscionable."

Those of us at OSG HQ would maintain that:
A) To think it's just for the NAIA title game is extremely short-sighted. You have local high schools that get to play football on the surface, which turns into a mud pit by the time you get to the post-season in the first place.

B) The use of the facility expands into spring sports for local high schools and, possibly, other NAIA title games as well- once again counteracting the cost-benefit analysis and not making the stadium a one trick pony... AD Peterson alluded to that kind of a chase in his remarks.

Professor Stephenson, to the best of OSG's knowledge, did not garner that idea from the presser since ((we're fairly sure)) he wasn't in attendance.

Here's your highlights from the presser, thanks to the Rome News-Tribune


Shorter College AD Bill Peterson gets the last words here:
"We are certainly excited about this extension and the opportunity to host another NAIA Football National Championship,” said Shorter College Athletics Director Bill Peterson. “This is a big event for Rome, Floyd County and for Shorter College and we plan to do everything we can to make this a great game.”

It could be the start of something really big and long-lasting on November 3rd...