COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Missouri athletic director Mike Alden has a message for Tiger fans: The looming move to the SEC requires a sizable increase in private giving for the school to compete in its new conference.

Alden spoke Wednesday evening to members of the Tiger Quarterback Club, a football booster group, at a new $5.6 million gymnastics facility and dance studio. He used the new building as an example of the financial commitment Missouri expects to make when it joins the Southeastern Conference on July 1.

Alden told the donors that “it’s going to take all of us to step up.”

Missouri plans to unveil a long-range plan to improve its athletic facilities later this month. The plan requires approval by the university’s Board of Curators, which next meets on June 26-27 in Columbia.

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