Gamestop winner Deep****Value (K Gill) to build indoor track in Brockton MA ?!

ricroll wrote:

If Gill could jump start this with a $8 mill matching donation, and got other alums or boosters to match to $16, you better believe they could find another $16 or so of state/fed money to make it happen. Particularly if they put solar panels on it and rolled it into the ‘green new deal’

See my earlier post, but bottom line is that it seems like his total gain after federal taxes will be between $10-15 million (no one knows if he's held his positions for the past 2 weeks). State taxes probably knock more off. Assuming he'll want to buy a house, put away a solid amount for retirement savings, etc I can't see him wanting to put more than 3-4 million into a project like this.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

There's got to be a decent niche for a banked indoor track in Brockton. Massachusetts' widely used tracks are all in the immediate Boston area (Reggie, BU, Harvard, Tufts). So you'll have entire high schools conferences doing mega-duel meets at Reggie (other 3 aren't usually available for high schools). Now you could take all of the schools closer to Brockton (could attract some RI schools as well) and have them do meets there. Add some invites here and there. Put in some membership passes/work out some deals with local running clubs for some extra revenue. Don't think this will be booming or anything, but certainly could get some pretty steady use.

Call me optimistic, but I actually think it would be a booming enterprise if done properly.

A lot of high schools from south of Boston put kids on buses all winter long to practice on and have dual/tri/quad/league/regional/state meets at Reggie, frequently an hour+ drive away. In a well-constructed facility you'd siphon those league contracts immediately as any parent would demand their kids local. So basically every school south of the 95 belt plus Rhode Island. And during the week, schools could pay to practice there.

The south of Boston metro area is pretty affluent and, no doubt, you'd have an individual or club membership payment stream. Imagine all the typical Boston Marathoners that can't train on some days in snowy/icy condition during their lead-up to Boston, that's $150/head for a season pass. Market it as yet another "piece of the marathon training". Get community runs centered around the facility (a la what Tracksmith does).

Please include an extra large warm-up loop around the outside of the actual track - perfect for the marathon sloggers on their early Sunday long runs.

Throw in some tennis and basketball courts (like BU with the drop-down dividers), a small Dunkin franchise, and this place would be packed every month outside of the Summer.

I'm a little biased here because it's also been my dream, if I ever hit it rich, to do something like this (indoor track facility) in my home town not far from Brockton. So I hope Gill can figure this out (but no pressure, do what's smart).

Could be right for sure. I don't know the costs of track upkeep and so on. Assuming you need to generate a lot of business to pay the bills. There's certainly a huge market of people who would love to use an indoor facility given the weather.

tycobb wrote:

You're clueless. You think the normal high school or club kids and going to fly down to Florida from Massachusetts for track.

Normal high school kids don't have indoor tracks available. Typically it's a privileged private school thing. Normal club runners, why not travel? An outdoor time is infinitely more meaningful than indoor.

Colleges like UW may benefit from having a track for training purposes, but how does it make sense for UCLA or Arizona to travel up there for meets, instead of the other way around?

A few years ago nationals was held at Texas A and M. Teams from around the country all traveled south and ran indoors, even though it was sunny and 70s weather outside on TAMU's nice outdoor 400m track. Seeing this made me realize indoor is traditional bordering on mentally ill.

Of course the one to get mad about all this is from Massachusetts. Don't blame the messenger.

2600 bro wrote:

And the boomers on this board still push that you should "passively invest" your way to wealth!

moist wrote:

Initial investment was around $55k.

And...there’s Flagpole’s calling card

Clearly not from the Northeast, Wiggins.

Kremlin knows what's up. Sure indoor track isn't really a thing in the south, they don't need it. Just like hockey or skiing isn't a thing in the south.

But for those in the north without indoor, track season is only 1-2 months before school ends & the state-level meets happen.

And the biggest challenge, as Kremlin points out, is lack of access to facilities.

I'll also point out that Gill could very well have netted significantly more than the $13 million that he documented. And obviously there are ways to avoid a lot of those taxes. He clearly seems smarter and more community-oriented than those who would waste those earnings/winnings on a big house.

The Hillhouse track in CT was $25 million built in 2002. So that's $36 today. And with a flat track.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0277.htm

Well, we knew this was coming.

But still not good.

Hope he's got enough left for that track after all the legal fees to fight this frivolous litigation

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/17/business/roaring-kitty-sued-securities-fraud-over-gamestop-rise/

Yes and no. I grew up in the area and we had an agreement with the only other school with a 200m indoor track (Weaton) which was mentioned in this thread earlier and they used our outdoor track and turf field. It helped that their track coach went to my high school.

I went to a public school and while I was in school we had one of if not the best program in the state. (F Tewksbury for having a pole value program and cleaning up points in the state meet) so I wouldn’t say these facilities were just for private schools.

Being able to run intervals twice a week was a huge benefit to our mid and distance runners. Sure you can utilize a hallway for sprints and hurdles (which we did) but where we cleaned up in meets was in middle and distance events (and field events)

While I haven’t really paid attention in recent history there are other facilities outside of Reggie but the area could use another one. Frankly it was an over site in the development of other indoor facilities like forekicks in Norfolk or RBI in Mansfield to not to add a track.

2600 bro wrote:

And the boomers on this board still push that you should "passively invest" your way to wealth!

moist wrote:

Initial investment was around $55k.

1) I suspect you are referring to me, but I am NOT a Boomer. Too young to be a boomer, brother.

2) You can and should passively invest -- well-diversified mutual funds. It can and will make you wealthy if you start early enough.

3) You can ALSO invest in a more risky way IF you are debt free and own a home AND continue to invest 15% or more of your income. I have been in that situation for a few years now and COULD have (given my own criteria) invested in individual stocks, but I have more than I need now with still 5 more years before I plan to take any of it.

4) The VERY rare example of a guy who invested $55,000 and quickly made $17 million, especially when it was a very artificially pumped up stock, is NOT a good reason or evidence to not invest in stocks within mutual funds.

ricroll wrote:

The Hillhouse track in CT was $25 million built in 2002. So that's $36 today. And with a flat track.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0277.htm

I am not a hater, but this is no business plan. He would lose money. The Hillhouse example above does not include site acquisition, which is a big piece of the coast. Hillhouse had the site, the permits, everything...

This would not be a business decision. This would be charitable, and that is fine. I am not sure he is going to find a bunch of other investors who will do it for the love of the sport.

They would need to find a site in an opportunity zone and avoid taxes.