Pack makes final push for new scoreboard, sound system

The push to get a new video board and sound system at Mackay Stadium for the 2015 season has hit its home stretch, with the fundraisers having two months left to secure the final funds.

Brantly Compton, a Wolf Pack fan who started a grassroots micro-donation campaign last May to outfit Mackay with the new scoreboard, sound system and grand entrance called Champions Plaza, said the volunteers need to sell 300 large corporate tiles and 703 small tiles to hit the project's $4 million goal.

"We make progress every week," Compton said.

The small tiles cost $391; the large tiles cost $4,999. The tiles, which are engraved with the name of the donor, will stay in the Champions Plaza past the north end zone for eternity. The goal was to raise enough to complete the project for the 2016 season, but Compton has pushed for phase one (the video board and sound system) to be completed in time for the 2015 opener against UC Davis on Sept. 3.

Compton declined to say how many tiles have been sold, but said the video board and sound system would cost $2.8 million, with the rest of the $1.2 million going to the creation of the Champions Plaza, which will provide a gateway to Mackay from the north to match the entrance near the south end zone.

The 300 large tiles and 703 small tiles left would raise an additional $1.775 million as part of the the $4 million project. The group has a May 1 deadline to raise enough money (about $1.6 million, according to Compton) for the scoreboard and sound system to be in place for the 2015 season. If they don't meet the May 1 goal, the video board would go in for the 2016 season, along with the plaza.

"If we don't have it done by May, it will be ordered, but it won't go in until right after the season," Compton said. "It's about a five-month process, but once we have the design and engineering done, it goes pretty quickly. The designs aren't that extravagant. It's basically a big, huge video board."

Compton, who runs an online fundraising company (MYMFunding.com), has taken on the project with no compensation. He initially sought 125 volunteers to get 40 tile pledges each. He then changed the formula slightly, building teams in Winnemucca, Elko, Carson, Las Vegas and the Bay Area to get donations from those areas. Compton said there were 320 volunteers trying to sell tiles.

Some of the groups have already hit their sell goal but have continued trying to get more pledges. The micro-donation campaign has aimed to get donations from people who don't typically give to the Pack.

"Some of the groups are done, but a couple of guys from Winnemucca, who are some of the bigger promoters and have done really well, they've just kept going because they love the project and have good traction," Compton said. "There are a couple of guys in Carson who are doing the same thing."

The Champion Plaza project dovetails with a larger renovation of Mackay Stadium, an $11.5 million project that was approved by the Nevada Board of Regents in December. That is a bond-funded project.

That renovation plans to add an 8,500-square-foot club level to the stadium's west side; add "loge boxes" near the club level; add 4,062 permanent chair-backs to replace bleachers; expand east-side suites to include outdoor patio space; make the stadium more ADA compliant; and add restrooms.

Whether the video board and sound system is in by 2015 depends on how quickly the tiles are sold over the next two months. But it's appears a slam dunk that the project will be completed in time for the 2016 season, a big achievement given how long the Wolf Pack has been trying to improve Mackay.

The Champions Plaza push started on May 12 last year and Compton said his goal then was to finish the fundraising in one calendar year.

"If we can finish in one year, that's be phenomenal," he said. "I told (Wolf Pack athletic director) Doug (Knuth), 'The last administration was working for 10 years trying to get a remodel of Mackay done,' so we'd be thrilled if we can finish this in one year."

Wolf Pack fans interested in buying a small tile can do so at ChampionsPlaza.com. Those looking to buy a larger corporate title can contact Champion at brantly@MYMfunding.com.

CHAMPIONS PLAZA

What: A grassroots micro-donation campaign to raise $4 million to help renovate Mackay Stadium

Goal: To install new video board/sound system in 2015 and a "grand entrance" in north end zone in 2016; the video board/sound system costs $2.8 million; the rest of the project costs $1.2 million

Donations: Fan donations are $391 (you get an engraved tile in the plaza); corporate donations $4,999

To donate: Contact Brantly Compton at brantly@MYMfunding.com or visit ChampionsPlaza.com