PEPSI MAY RULE AT SHOW ME CENTER; UNIVERSITY REGENTS TAKE UP CONTRACT

Show Me Center patrons would be drinking only Pepsi products over the next decade under a contract being considered by Southeast Missouri State University.

Pepsi would pay $200,000 the first year and from $1,500 to $30,000 annually for the next 10 years under an exclusive contract the Southeast Board of Regents will take up at its meeting Thursday.

Southeast previously has not engaged in exclusive contracts with soft-drink vendors but has left open the option.

"The primary reason we put out an RFP (Request for Proposals) is we saw some revenue opportunities there," says Bill Duffy, the university's vice president for finance.

"It's a fairly significant amount. It's $200,000 we wouldn't have."

The Pepsi bid for the contract was considerably higher than that submitted by Coca Cola, which offered $100,000 the first year and $5,000 annually for the next 10 years, a total of $150,000.

David Ross, director of the Show Me Center, was disappointed in the Coke bid.

"When you have local ownership of one company and the other is corporate, you have different philosophies toward these type of contracts," he said.

Harry and Rosemary Crisp, owners of the Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., have donated more than $1 million in property and cash to the university over the years, including the former Pepsi bottling plant that now houses the Bootheel Education Center in Malden.

Said Duffy, "I can only surmise that Pepsi wanted it more than Coke."

Phone calls to the Marion Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. and Central States Coca-Cola in Jackson were not immediately returned.

The advantage of seeking an exclusive contract is that companies pay for exclusivity, Ross said. "They pay a premium to be involved with us."

After the first year of the contract, Pepsi would pay the university an amount dependent on how many gallons of syrup were purchased. That amount would be between $1,500 and $30,000.

The Show Me Center would have to sell more than 5,000 gallons of syrup to make $30,000. The amount sold in an average year is about 2,500 gallons, Ross said.

The contract also covers exclusive indoor and outdoor advertising rights at the Show Me Center. Coke would not be allowed to advertise except in the case of a single event it might be sponsoring.

If the contract is approved, it would not go into effect until November because the university's contract with Coke does not expire until then.

The Marion Pepsi company also has exclusive pouring rights with Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, John A. Logan College at Carterville and Eastern Illinois University at Charleston. Those contracts have been criticized because they were contingent on the Crisps making major donations to the schools. Illinois Gov. George Ryan threatened to ban such contracts but has not done so.

The Illinois contracts cover the sale of soft drinks campuswide while the Southeast contract would apply to the Show Me Center only. Other brands of soft drinks would be sold elsewhere on campus.

Ross previously has said that Show Me Center patrons prefer Coke products to Pepsi products by a 3-to-1 ratio. "I'm sure initially it will have an impact as people get used to an exclusive provider," he said. "At the same time, they either won't mind or they will drink whatever's available."

He pointed out that Pepsi represents a number of different brands, including Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew.

The money from the contract would be used to increase storage capacity at the Show Me Center from 3,500 square feet to 9,000 square feet, Ross said. The construction of extra storage space would occur on the north side of the building.

Ross said the Show Me Center currently is stacking some of its 1,800 chairs along hallways. It also has 32,000 square feet of carpet, six basketball goals and a basketball floor that must be stored when other events occur.

Thirty sections of stage have been added to the 50 the Show Me Center opened with.

"If you catch us on a good day we might be able to close the door to the storage area," Ross said. "On events where we're doing tight turnarounds we've got equipment all over the building."

The equipment is so tightly packed in the storage area that getting it in and out becomes laborious, he said.

Duffy said the length of the contract is not unusual for exclusive agreements. The exclusivity contract would not affect catered events at the Show Me Center.

The university has to balance the financial needs of the Show Me Center with possibly disappointing some patrons who prefer Coke products, he said.

"Potentially this will save us from having to raise ticket prices or student fees. It's not put on the backs of the students or the taxpayers."