Stadium expansion ideas
- Thread starter Croomp
- Start date
Let me first say I am totally against expansion right now. Until we get 50,000+ on a regular basis, there's no need. Let's make the tickets hard to get before we expand, or else we'll just be giving them away and/or looking at empty seats.
And in addition, this drawing - which I did probably 5 years ago - features no sky boxes/suites. If we are going to expand, that's the area where it should be. Those things bring in big bucks without bringing in a bunch of extra seats to fill.
And in addition, this drawing - which I did probably 5 years ago - features no sky boxes/suites. If we are going to expand, that's the area where it should be. Those things bring in big bucks without bringing in a bunch of extra seats to fill.
I agree, and honestly that's where a lot of the money came from for our South Endzone expansion. I believe we sold something like 13 year deals on our boxes, so basically they had to be bought in advance to help pay for the expansion. If you expand without adding luxury seating, you're basically doing all the construction out of pocket. Simply add some luxury suites, and if you can sell them, you're getting a good amount of the money on the front end.
And I agree that your next expansion should be in that endzone opposite the Seal building. I'd build out a whole horseshoe before I'd consider building in front of the Seal Building. Basically Arkansas's stadium is what I'd say your goal should be for expansion.
And I agree that your next expansion should be in that endzone opposite the Seal building. I'd build out a whole horseshoe before I'd consider building in front of the Seal Building. Basically Arkansas's stadium is what I'd say your goal should be for expansion.
is about right. All those extra seats are empty. Expansion needs to wait until the place is full on a regular basis.
G
Goat Holder
Guest
but is it feasible? Probably not. If we win this year, we need to be all over season ticket sales and expansion. I would, however, just bowl in the bottom part. I probably wouldn't even bowl it in, just make permanent concrete seats that are bigger than the temporary bleachers.
with enough premium seating might could pay for the whole thing. We could sell the premium seating. I do think we would most likely have a bunch of empty seats. So, if fear of empty seats (that really don't matter from a revenue point) is a concern, then we should hold off. But, I think we can pay for it.
There is a waiting list for sky boxes and premium seating which bring in much more revenue than regular seating. The stadium should be bowled in something similar to UM or Arkansas with the student section being moved to the endzone seats opening up more sideline seating for paying customers. Get the capacity up in the 60-65k range. If MSU waits five years to expand it will cost double as compared to now. I can only imagine how loud it will get with the jumbotron side being bowled in. That will be a helluva home field advantage.
I think you need to leave the students where they are. They are the ones that show up for every game whether its Florida or Southeast Florida Technical Institute. They show up when its 85 and sunny or its 35 and sleeting. Yes, I know they are already in town and there isn't much else to do in Starkvegas, but that is the future of your alumni base. Speaking from personal experience, you don't want them to leave campus pissed off with the athletic department. I can see moving the band, so both sides can hear them instead of only half the stadium.
Granted, there needs to be some consistent enthusiasm surrounding football first, but it's an error to wait too long. In this game, if you're standing still, you're falling further behind. Growth and success are sort of self-fulfilling prophecies. Plus, so much of this game is a quest to keep up with the Joneses, a task that must be addressed like it or not.
Start with a little success on the field, get donors excited, expand the stadium. An expanded stadium adds excitement to the program and keeps the ball rolling. Excitement brings recruits, donors and fans, which create success.
On-field success is cyclical though, so if you wait until we're packing the house to expand, chances are good you'll miss the wave instead and fall further behind. I don't expect our stadium to become as big as Tennessee's, but our team competes in the same league as theirs, we hire coaches to compete with theirs, so why not grow as we can? I don't expect to catch all the way up, but it would be nice to stay on the lead lap.
If there's a waiting list for skyboxes and premium seating, every year we don't fulfill that demand we're watching money and opportunity go down the drain.
Start with a little success on the field, get donors excited, expand the stadium. An expanded stadium adds excitement to the program and keeps the ball rolling. Excitement brings recruits, donors and fans, which create success.
On-field success is cyclical though, so if you wait until we're packing the house to expand, chances are good you'll miss the wave instead and fall further behind. I don't expect our stadium to become as big as Tennessee's, but our team competes in the same league as theirs, we hire coaches to compete with theirs, so why not grow as we can? I don't expect to catch all the way up, but it would be nice to stay on the lead lap.
If there's a waiting list for skyboxes and premium seating, every year we don't fulfill that demand we're watching money and opportunity go down the drain.
If I recall correctly, there is a rule that students can't be behind an opposing team's sideline area unless they are a certain distance back. Hence the notch in the student section next to the band.
...but the students absolutely suck. They can't roll out of bed and walk 200 yards to go support their school? Bunch of pansies. Even when we're bad, the students should be there. It's not like it costs them anything.
You'd open up prime seating and keep the students together. You'd also create an end zone where we'd have the potential for a real crowd advantage.
I was a student before and during the time when the student section was split, and I can tell you splitting the students up is not the way to go - sort of like scattering the coals too far apart in a campfire, half here and half there was never even close to as loud and fun as all in one spot. (Plus they made us cut way down on throwing stuff when touchdowns were scored, but that was probably a good thing anyway).
I was a student before and during the time when the student section was split, and I can tell you splitting the students up is not the way to go - sort of like scattering the coals too far apart in a campfire, half here and half there was never even close to as loud and fun as all in one spot. (Plus they made us cut way down on throwing stuff when touchdowns were scored, but that was probably a good thing anyway).
Splitting the student section would be horrible. They split the student section when they expanded Dudy Noble while I was there in the late 90s and killed it. We had the first 4 or 5 rows in section A, when I first got there and it was great. Then, they gave us the 4 seat wide strips up both sides of the chair back section and the student atmosphere died. We all moved into the outfield and the bleachers. </p>
Until last year, the students had almost nothing to be excited about. A student who went to State for 4 years in the 90's would have had at least one winning season with a bowl trip. The 5 football seasons I had included the '99 and '00 seasons and still a majority of the seasons I was at State were bad losing seasons. If the students don't pack the stadium for the first home game this year then I will be all for shrinking the student section until they start packing it in. I remember the aisles being filled with students by the end of the '99 season, and even the expansion bleachers weren't enough in 2000.
...but I don't have any sympathy for them. As a student, there should be no fair weather fans. It takes very little effort to go to a football game, especially if you live on campus and don't even have to fight traffic. If I can drive 2 hours to watch bad football, then they can roll out of bed and go watch it. I was there from 2000-2005, and I didn't miss a football game, but I was in the minority because many students decided it wasn't the cool thing to do anymore.
When I came to State in 1991, the student section for football was about where it is now. A year or two later, they split the section and put the other half on the far south end of the same side (this predates the upper deck on the east side, of course). It completely sapped the student mojo. We were loud when the rest of the stadium was loud, but otherwise we were a non-factor.
M
MasterDawg
Guest
a 5 spot everytime they go out. some places jump it to 7 or 10 when a band is playing. Any student worth their salt should be sneaking booze in, so it is equivalent to going to a bar. Student ticket prices need to be a minimum of $10 per game.
I don't want to hear the crap about part of your tuition going to athletics ... etc.etc. Students still need to pay. Also, they should have to pay for basketball games as well. More games so a lower price may be in order but they should be charged none the less.
I don't want to hear the crap about part of your tuition going to athletics ... etc.etc. Students still need to pay. Also, they should have to pay for basketball games as well. More games so a lower price may be in order but they should be charged none the less.
I roll my eyes every time I read that we need 50,000+ on a weekly basis before expanding. What was our average attendance the last time we expanded? Hint - it was not 95% capacity. You do not need near 100% capacity before expanding.
Yet, we expanded and guess what happened. Did all those new seats go empty? Did more of the older seats go empty? No! After expanding, we had regular crowds much larger than the pre-expansion stadium would have held. And we did this despite the worst stretch of losing football in modern bulldog history.
It has been shown countless times - build it, and they will come.
Yet, we expanded and guess what happened. Did all those new seats go empty? Did more of the older seats go empty? No! After expanding, we had regular crowds much larger than the pre-expansion stadium would have held. And we did this despite the worst stretch of losing football in modern bulldog history.
It has been shown countless times - build it, and they will come.
when Rockey was at the height of his suckitude, I had two choices:
1. Walk from the fraternity house with date to the ball game.
2. Sit at said fraternity house with date.
It was not a difficult choice to make. Hell, if a student doesn't want to go to the game, it's a free country.
1. Walk from the fraternity house with date to the ball game.
2. Sit at said fraternity house with date.
It was not a difficult choice to make. Hell, if a student doesn't want to go to the game, it's a free country.
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