New $4.9M OU Athletic Dome Partners with Private Sports Company

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Oakland University’s students and sports teams aren’t the only ones benefiting from the school’s new 108,000-square-foot athletic dome, which opens Friday.

As part of a public-private partnership, the $4.9 million facility will be leased to Total Sports Complex during off-hours, allowing the Wixom-based company to further expand its presence in Michigan.

“It’s a win-win (situation),” says Tony Moscone, owner and general manager of Total Sports Complex, which will reimburse Oakland University over the course of a 15-year agreement. “The university is there during the day, which for us, as a private business, is our slow time since most kids are at school. So by the time (OU) is done at 5 p.m., our kids are out of school — it works out great.”

The Rochester location bumps Total Sports’ portfolio up to eight complexes throughout Michigan. The business provides indoor sports facilities and opportunities that vary depending on the given venue. At Oakland University, the company provides baseball, softball, and soccer, and may introduce lacrosse at some point.

The partnership also increases exposure for both organizations, says Moscone, who graduated from the university in 1989. While the dome, at 2200 N. Squirrel Rd., allows Total Sports to better reach customers in Troy, Berkley, and Birmingham, it also brings potential students to OU’s campus.

“On weekdays, we’re probably getting people from about a 30-minute radius (of Rochester, but on Saturdays and Sundays, we’re attracting people from all over the state, from northern Ohio, an Indiana,” Moscone says. “So people from Toledo may come out and walk the grounds, and you never know — they could be a future student.”

Looking forward, Moscone says he hopes to open one to two more Total Sports location in the state, before expanding into Ohio or Indiana. He notes that the company has a similar partnership with Eastern Michigan University, where they lease the school’s athletic dome on the weekends.

“Hopefully, this can be a model for us going forward, and can be one of the ways we grow regionally,” he says.